This article is a complete rework of my original post about this Fishing Storylet by Stephen/Etienne, augmented by the unearthing of several more images and an original Kris brochure with thumbnails of the 6 images belonging to the set.
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| Stephen - Fishing is a Dangerous Sport |
Stephen produced this delightful little vignette to accompany the brochure entry. His characterisations of innocent/naive, young men (usually blond) who seem completely unspoiled by life and ripe for new experiences at the hands of other men are one of the recurring joys of his work.
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| Stephen - Fishing is a Dangerous Sport - 1 |
I salvaged this first image from the thumbnails in the brochure (which is included as a link at the foot of the post). It's poor quality, but suffices to set the scene, showing a scantily clad man, standing by a lake, holding a fishing rod in one hand and reading a very large book with the other. Presumably instructions on how to use his rod (!) It looks as if there's a campfire burning just behind him.
We can see he's quite muscular, with pecs and nipples showing through his tight T-shirt. He has legs are like the proverbial tree trunks and his skimpy shorts, accordingly, are slit open at the sides.
This is the sort of picture that is easily overlooked in isolation. Hopefully there's a copy out there somewhere.
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| Stephen - Fishing is a Dangerous Sport - 2 |
In picture 2, we see the results of the novice's first attempts at casting his line. At least, I assume he is practising because he's facing away from the water and I would hope he hasn't decided it's supposed to be cast back over his shoulder!
He has accidentally hooked another fisherman's pants and torn them wide open. The diminutive buns revealed are fairly typical of Stephen's work. His depiction of the novice is rather indifferent, but fear not, much better is to come!
This image looks as if it has been cropped* and the brochure illustration confirms that it has. Although we can't see the detail clearly, it also seems to show the angler's shirt being ripped off as well as part of his pants.
*This image has probably been scanned from a magazine, hence the cropping and the dark stain at the top, which would take a better technician than I to remove! I can't ID the source.
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| Stephen - Fishing is a Dangerous Sport - 2 (detail) |
Image 2 also circulates in this, more severely cropped form and with shaded details like the fisherman's skin and his hat band. It's primarily intended to draw attention to his exposure, I suppose!
This version is from Fizeek Art Quarterly No 22 (1967), a darker variant also exists (even more cropped), taken from Mars No 12.
Tom of Finland could lay claim to having used the pants-ripping fishing hook before Stephen (see my original post)
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| Stephen - Fishing is a Dangerous Sport - 3 |
Stephen's dramatic confrontation between the two fishermen is one of his most forceful and technically convincing images, but it's rarely seen, perhaps because of the lack of other images for context.
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| Stephen - Fishing is a Dangerous Sport - 4 |
The hapless novice is upended, and his shorts are unceremoniously removed, revealing his own, peachy bottom. He seems to have sustained a fair amount of collateral damage resisting his attacker, with cuts, bruises and a black eye visible. It's a trifle disproportionate. No wonder the fish in the basket is drooping!
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| Stephen - Fishing is a Dangerous Sport - 5 |
Image 5, taken from the brochure (sorry!) is equally oblique. The novice, facing downwards, is straddled by his opponent, who leans back, ripping his shorts to pieces. The victim's arms draped over the over man's knees are a nice detail, accentuating his utter defeat. Stephen uses it a lot.
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| Stephen - Fishing is a Dangerous Sport - 5a |
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| Stephen - Fishing is a Dangerous Sport - 6 |
In the final image, the scene moves to the Hospital. The careless novice sits on the bed, nursing his injuries. His arm is in a sling, there's a hefty bandage round one thigh, another round his head. Numerous sticking plasters can also be seen. In a neat symmetry, he's again reading a book, perhaps working out where he went wrong.
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| Etienne - Medical Sadism |
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