Vintage Bondage - Leonard Chambers chained, roped and nude

 Leonard Chambers was the subject of the very first Vintage Bondage post at mitchmen blog, back in 2015. Those images were chosen because they had more of a sense of a restraint about them than was usual in the 1950's. I added some more images from the same shoot to it not so long ago so you might like to check them out using the link just above.

Leonard Chambers in chains 1 (AMG)

The original post featured rope bondage on a bench. These images feature chains and upright poses but they also capture the special qualities of this popular model. His canted head in the image above conveys a sense of thoughtfulness and sadness, as though he's a man contemplating his choices and the punishment for them. There's a better sense of his luxurious physique than in the first set, nicely oiled. The position of his hands obscures enough of his pouch to give a good sense of nakedness (with scope for lewder interpretations of what's going on out of sight). 

Leonard Chambers in chains 2 (AMG)

This picture obliquely suggests that the punishment might be a visit to the whipping post. Chambers strikes a proud, or you might say arrogant, defiant pose while facing the prospect of a barrage of pain. His raised arms give another a great view of  his torso. The often maligned, posing pouch is fully visible but has the virtue of looking as if there is something inside it, neatly packaged. It's a puzzle to me why photographers didn't opt for a loin cloth design for images like this, when it was a common enough sight in the 'Sword and Sandals' movies of the time.

These images seem much influenced by traditional, medieval notions of martyrdom. That association may help to make them look more convincing but you have to give a lot of credit to the model here for creating a dramatic moment, when it is apparent on closer inspection that he is not secured to the post at all but holding it up and the supposed 'marble pillar' looks suspiciously like a roll of floor covering. 

Leonard Chambers in chains 3 (AMG)

He adopts the same look for this pose, but arguably looks more annoyed than defiant, perhaps because the level of restraint here is barely rudimentary. The chains don't look as if they'd withstand much force and even if convincingly secured it would be more symbolic than real. Just like the prison bars at the back, to be fair. Despite such quibbles, it's still a great image of a captive muscle hunk. The loop of chain brushing the front of his pouch adds an erotic frisson.

Leonard Chambers - Sheath 1

This extraordinarily atmospheric image is not an example of bondage exactly but the model has swapped his posing pouch for a 'sheath' that encloses his sex organ in fashion that seems to anticipate the chastity devices of recent years - symbolically again but still rather sexy. Notice that the background has become a classical ancient building, conjuring up fantasies of enslavement. It's the best image yet of Leonard's physique, when it's his turn to stand on the rostrum, he should fetch a good price!

Leonard Chambers - Sheath 2

In this open-legged frontal pose, Leonard looks more youthful, waiting with barely controlled agitation. His abs are tensed, clenched even, producing a startling effect of connectivity running down and disappearing into the sheath, which you can now see has a simple, draw-string hem, like a purse of olden days. It's a matter of taste whether this clever effect turns you on but it brings out something more widely appreciated - that the model's lower torso is shaved completely smooth for as far as the eye can see. The sheath may provide a cloak of modesty, but it draws attention to this nakedness. He is now seated before a Moorish arch raising the spectre of a different style of enslavement. No wonder he looks worried.

Leonard Chambers - Nude 1

After the tantalising sheath, a genuine, frontal, fully nude shot posed before a classical column.

We are fortunate that quite a lot of AMG images of Leonard like this have survived.

He looks relaxed and confident here having comfortably passed the male nudity size test.

Leonard Chambers - Nude 2

This image posed with a curtain pole brings out the full extent of Leonards shoulder development and upper body bulk. Model's training techniques in those days seemed to produce physiques with a natural, most attractive 'plushness'. Once again there's a vague connection with the bondage theme of this post, 

the pole keeps the model's hands out of the way behind him and leaves his treasure trove unprotected. You only have to image his wrists being tied to the pole.

Leonard Chambers - Nude 3

This image creates a dramatically different torso effect. With Leonard's arm raised we see the intensely detailed muscles and stand-out veins of a body-builder training for competition by shedding fat. Presumably this is the same shoot as Nude 1, but the effect couldn't be more different. 

Again there's a hint at bondage restraint, tied to the column.

Leonard Chambers - Rope 1

There's a strange affinity between naked men and thick rope. I suppose it hints at masculine labours. Leonard here looks back fearfully as if expecting a whiplash any minute to make him pull harder. 

Rope also has a phallic quality for those inclined to see it (especially when it's dangling just in front of the model's pouch). It alludes to bondage fetish too although this one is really too thick for that purpose.

Leonard Chambers - Sailor with Rope 

Ropes like this are also inextricably linked with with sailing ships and sailors and few gay models escaped from beefcake posing sessions without having had to don the US Navy's distinctive sailor cap. This image was probably inspired by the many War movies of the era which showed bare chested, hunky sailors sweating under the pacific sun. Leonard looks as if he's trying to diligently perform a routine task in the nude (acting on perverse orders) but without losing his modesty. It makes a charming image, suggesting a man of sensitivity, needing protection and whom anyone might fall for. 

Leonard Chambers - Nude 4

This was the barely legal nude in the 50's. It can be seen as a prissy, slightly feminine pose but Leonard gives it a great deal of dignity, preserving his modesty with a slightly anxious expression that suggests he's waiting for the call which will may oblige him to reveal all. Maybe an instruction to mount the rostrum he's standing on. His oily skin lends his lean physique a harder look here. The absence of hair on his flat, lower abdomen again creates a subtly erotic accent of total nudity. 

Leonard Chambers - Pouch

This version of the sitting pose is rather less dignified, positively coquettish, but it's interesting to see a very typical 50's glamour pose for ladies performed by a male. The angling of the lower body modestly obscures a woman's 'sensitive' areas but makes a man look uncharacteristically coy without hiding anything. The pouch too is less much elegant than a bikini but looks sexily loaded. If you've fallen in love with him, this image won't change your mind!

~

For more vintage bondage and related mitchmen posts click on the labels below

Art by Gyaku Xryona - 2

More sexy fetish fighting in Part 1 of this series 

Gyaku Xryona - Hercules Breaking Wolverine's Abs

 

The rack is one of the most controlling of wrestling holds, rendering the recipient helpless in a back-compressing and ab stretching position (perhaps not as severely as the title suggests though). Hercules maximises the pain by pulling the victim's head back. It is supposed to be Wolverine but a muscular guy in tight T-shirt and jeans doesn't need fantasy connections to look great when he's treated like this.  This aerial view brings out the helplessness of his position, but Wolverine's thick jeans spare him the embarrassment of parading his tackle before the audience.

Gyaku Xryona - Superman Given a Sitting Piledriver

Superman is less lucky, his tights here are in the modern, cinematic style and lack the traditional, red over-pants worn in the old days and although he's slipped a featureless box inside to protect them and hide them, it still looks like a very suggestive toolbox. In many of this artist's pictures a face embedded in a crotch is a regular humiliation but he inverts that situation here (as well as Superman himself) to create the impression of his groin being a great prize and at risk of being misused for his opponent's pleasure. It looks like he's already high on the odours. Meanwhile Supes is distracted by the pain and humiliation of hitting the canvas, head first, as his nemesis drops him down.

Gyaku Xryona - Superman Given a Nut Cracker

Johnny Cage is one of Gyaku's wrestling 'heels' and he takes delight in demonstrating to the goody-goody Superman just how nasty he can be. Supes protective arrangements can't withstand Johnny's grip and his body and face both crumple in sympathy with his mangled tackle. 

He needs to find a way of dislodging that claw grip quickly!

The characterisation of Supes here is a nice blend of the original facial appearance

 with modern sexy muscles and kit.

Gyaku Xryona - Chris Smells Those Giants

Chris Redfield, the eternal loser in this Universe, steps up to restore the normal order by sampling Johnny's crotch. That pack of equipment on his back and resting on the canvas has the effect of forcing his face upwards as Johnny sinks down on him. I can't tell you whether 'Giants' are any more noxious than run of the mill appendages.

Gyaku Xryona - Chris gets James' Armpit Sweat in his Face

Even without his backpack and sporting the latest blue-grey colourway in BSAA uniforms, Chris fares no better against James Vega, who cradles his head under his arm while applying an inverted choke hold in the standing position. This is a real back killer for as long as the victim remains on his feet and you get a good sense of that in this cleverly angled viewpoint. Collapsing the knees is difficult, it relieves the back but transfers the stress to the neck  James looks disinclined to help out by moving on to another move. A real predicament and painful enough to prevent Chris gaining  a full appreciation of the body juices on offer right under his nose. 

Gyaku Xryona - Weekend Preview

A painful predicament like this is in no way redeemed by having to share it with a partner. Indeed, sharing it removes an escape option for both of them. This monstrous masked man has applied the hold the other way round, as a dragon sleeper, which means he can enjoy the bobbing bodies of his victims as they endeavour to escape from him. He's dropped to his knees to increase their discomfort. Men subjected to embarrassment situations are usually villains in the wrestling world but you can't be so sure of that here.

 As spectators we get a less clear view of the underarm situation than before, but in any case the artist has depicted a looser, less intimate grip here. In compensation we get a double-barrelled view of the loser's crotches, with the unusual bonus for this artist of a mini-bulge on the left, full of shapeliness and highlighted in an exceptionally erotic way by the decoration of his tights - whorls which are nudging it on either side and arrow-like shapes diving down on it from above.    

I like this artist for his inventive depictions and exaggerations of  familiar predicaments,

but I do wish he'd put shadows under his character's feet to ground them! 

Gyaku Xryona - Underwear Muscle Battle 03

James Vega dominates a different opponent with this back-breaking variant of the head scissors move. The victim is forced to kneel and nuzzle his opponents crotch.

Gyaku Xryona - Underwear Muscle Battle 04

The same hold, viewed from behind James

Sadly the dark underwear deprives us of detail.

I have cropped these images to make them more viewable.

Gyaku Xryona - Piers Likes It

Erotically explicit details are rare beasts in this artist's work, mainly I imagine because he posts at Deviant Art which does not permit them. That makes this image of Chris Redfield's buddy, Piers, succumbing to a dragon sleeper and sporting a prominent erection rather note-worthy. The allegation in the title seems improbable to ordinary mortals but some sportsmen do seem to have an extraordinary affection for pain. His cumbersome military equipment gets in the way of seeing much of his body line, but there's a nice abs stretch going on.

Gyaku Xryona - Smell That 02

One of the strangest aspects of the Chris Redfield phenomenon is the sailor outfit which was included as an option in Resident Evil: Revelations. It's an unquestionably camp contrast to the military gear and butch T-shirts he was given originally. The cropped top and turned up shorts (with authentic sailor flap) are a sexy adaptation worthy of Royale Studio, but the white gloves, shades and pipe which never seems to be out of his mouth are plain weird. 

He's pitched against the same underwear opponent in this image and for once he doesn't come out second best, instead he's poised to engulf his opponent with his own crotch odours for once and lest you think I'm overly obsessed with such (un)pleasantness I can point to the direction in the artist's own title. He's depicted Chris's white shorts as being particularly grubby and probably skanky too, so I imagine the effect to be quite overwhelming.

Gyaku Xryona - Bronco Buster plus Abs

 Chris is obviously aware of the offensive power of his shorts and here is poised to inflict them on Dante. The artist's cropping leaves little doubt that face frotting is Chris's aim.

Gyaku Xryona - Hulk Smasm and Breaker

This isn't the best image by this artist but it does capture the essence of  that genre of wrestling where genuine grapplers are pitted against a giant hulk who is much bigger than them and impervious to their puny efforts to fight him. I like the way he has picked Chris up by the head here, like a rag doll. The other fighter is a character called Miguel and he is rather nicely modelled. 

In the series below he's pitted against Dante and Chris. 

Gyaku Xryona - Miguel v Two Losers

Miguel, sexily dressed in open shirt and leather pants has no trouble subduing Dante and Chris but it doesn't look as if Chris needed much urging to investigate his crotch anyway. He seems unconcerned about Dante suffering the torture rack across Miguel's shoulders.

Gyaku Xryona - Miguel Destroys Chris's Back

Miguel looks both formidable and mean in this image with a great torso.

Chis suffers helplessly, while looking cute, as is his lot in life.

Gyaku Xryona - Spine Break

Dante's respite doesn't last long as Miguel drops him onto his raised knee.

His arched body convincingly conveys the impression of extreme stress.

Great jeans imagery as well for him in this sequence.

Gyaku Xryona -  Humiliation

Chris is forced to his knees bowing his head in acknowledgement of his stronger opponent.

Confusion, misery and despair seem written across his face

Gyaku Xryona - WWE, Mason Destroys Evans

This last image is a more conventional one but has the virtue of great clarity, which creates a good impression of the height of the victim above the ground, isolated and poised to descend forcefully.

His opponent has great bulk, but it's more attractively packaged than the average, real pro.

~

More sexy fetish fighting in Part 1 of this series

There's a good gallery of Gyaku Xryona at Deviant Art

Sailors Duped

A sailor on shore leave takes his buddy to beauty spot he knows,
A cruisy place where they can just relax together as friends.
But it's changed a bit since he was last there, not much cruising going on

But there are lots of new facilities to take advantage of.

 

1

       

2

The Navy sent out a Patrol to find the two AWOL sailors,

but in the end the ship had to sail without them.

By that time the boys were miles away.

Still catching the rays together in their free, sun-bathing pouches 

But hard at work, shifting stones in a quarry.

~

The original photo is by AMG of course, 

the guy on the left looks like Dick Dubois....? 

Recent additions to the Royale Studio Archive

A Scene From Royale Studio's 'Whip Duel' (AI-Idealised)

The dramatic 'Whip Duel' storyette by Royale Studio has now been added to the Archive.

There's an interesting background to this set which is described at the Whip Duel index page

It was inspired by a whip fight in the 1948 film 'Song of Scheherazade'.

Also new at the Royale Studio Gallery, a curio featuring the German Army helmet seen earlier modelled by Brian Lamprill, it looks somewhat less flattering on Ray Bridges head.

Art by Catweazle 2

Read Part 1 of this posting

Catweazle - Cables

 Whilst Catweazle's forte is for muscular heroes fighting scary, mutant creatures in fantastic worlds, he does venture into other areas and this is a fairly logical extension with humanoid aliens tormenting a muscle man in their laboratory. The scantily clad, hairy captive is hooked up with cables which are monitoring - or possibly 'stimulating' him. There's also a selection of other, highly original devices encircling him whose purpose is not clear. The skirt-like device around his lower leg is particularly intriguing. He looks resigned to his fate, but not particularly comfortable with it.  

The aliens meanwhile look excited by him and seem to be dying to get their hands on him, 

although they seem to lack sexual organs as we know them (Jim). 

Catweazle - Shark Attack

The artist uses the same pose to startlingly different effect here, with the captive facing a more obvious menace lurking in the water around his lower body and completely unable to defend himself. The title implies that the lurking is about to become something much worse. The captive looks suitably terrified.  By some accident of fate, the floodwaters are discreetly covering up his fishing tackle, but in the sexiest way possible, leaving just enough pubic hair showing to stir the imagination of on-lookers.

Quite how he came to be chained up naked in this flooded, ancient cellar is unknown, likewise how the cellar came to be flooded, let alone how the floodwater came to be shark infested. It's as if some catastrophic, geophysical event occurred after the captive was parked here. 

Now it seems he's about to become beyond rescuing. 

This simple image knocks those AI one-handers, oozing with shiny hunkiness, into a cocked hat, 

although on reflection 'one-hander' is perhaps not the best term to use in this context.

Catweazle - Streetfighters in the Rain

This image is standard rendering fare but the star fighter looks pretty cute and is sexily attired. The addition of rain adds a more unusual ingredient although, sadly, the artist passes up a golden opportunity to show us more of what's hidden in those wet pants, just a hint of a bump is all we get. The bent back, falling pose is sexy in it's own right, however and it fits into the arch of the kicker's open legs in a way that is interesting, not just in artistic terms but it's also erotically suggestive. 

The crazily angled wall accentuates the drama.  

Catweazle - Fistfighter iv

This is also a fairly commonplace fight image, but combination of muscles, military garb and cute characterisations is appealing. Catweazle has angled the viewpoint nicely to suggest a close quarters struggle and convincing impact. The swampy background (promising more wetness) gives the feel of a jungle with all it's mysterious dangers, but it's not completely successful. It feels like they ought to be splashing around a bit.

Catweazle - Man Beats Monster

This image is so wacky that it deserves more than to be treated as just another 'man and monster' image. The technique is different too, that's a real photograph (of the man, not the monster) and the blending of the two styles is excellent. Nice, low-slung jeans too. Maybe that's what distracted the monster, leaving him open to the sucker punch. (Would be sucker?)

Catweazle - Geiger 5

This is a great image, a beguiling marriage of muscle, allure and sensitivity, of crude strength and artistic delicacy. The Chippendale-esque garb is cleverly toned down, no sparkle, just pure black and white. That gives the man an air of distinction whilst showcasing his essential masculinity. His tousled hair adds a touch of artistic wildness. The violin keeps his hands fully occupied, well away from his discreet, black briefs which tantalise us with their lack of detail but do highlight his bulging thighs. 

This is pure render but the muscles have a nice naturalism.

Catweazle - Pergola Musician 2

   Here the violinist is juxtaposed against two women, entertaining them and teasing them with his physique.  I mentioned in Part 1 of this article how Catweazle uses women in his pictures without letting them take over. The narrative seems to suggest that the musician is at their disposal, providing a service, but there is no sense that they are in control.  Instead they seem mesmerised by him. He is the centre of interest, relegating them to the role of desperate housewives.

Catweazle - Like Gaultier.

Here he's transformed the woman into a predator, inverting the traditional roles and fulfilling the fantasy of many who  have seen Gaultier's, homoerotic TV ads. She is overwhelming the bare top sailor with her lust and in this close proximity she can hardly fail to notice his sexual response, whatever it is. 

It's sexy for us, but it's far from clear that he likes being bent back over a top rail that looks like a cheese cutter. He doesn't seem to be reciprocating with his hands either. It's as if reality has suddenly intruded into the fantasy. Like the violinist, he has a job to do, and a position to protect on the ship. There's an appealing kindness of spirit in what seems like patient tolerance. Would it seem the same if the woman was replaced by another man? Perhaps not.

If this was produced by an overtly gay artist I'd say the post immediately beneath the sailor's backside is an deliberate indication of what he'd really like to have at this moment, but I sense that Catweazle doesn't think like that!

Catweazle - The New Slave

In this picture the male is reduced further to being the helpless captive of a seemingly powerful woman. However, she seems to be in awe of her new acquisition, adopting an alluring 'come and get me' stance. Rather than dominating him, she's dressed to kill as if she is the one in need of him. Even the dragons seem to defer to the man, even though he's naked and kneeling submissively before them in his fetters. One of them even dips his head to lick his body, like a pet dog making friends.

Catweazle seems to be illustrating the very traditional idea that a woman's power emanates from her sexual allure and like The Harpie in Part 1 of this series, having power over a man is motivated by lust for his cock. Even in captivity, this man wields the power and it produces an image that is unexpectedly homoerotic. Compare this image with with 'After Work'

Catweazle - Through The Swamp

To be fair to Catweazle, he does also portray men as the hapless helpmates of strong women. The man might even be her slave here, judging by the disparity of dress between them. If so, she must have very strong control over him to be able to trust him with a sword. 

In this nice atmospheric picture, he looks very sexy in his loincloth. This swamp creature has good taste. Could he turn out to be a stud under a spell who only needs a special touch from a hunky man to regain his human form and beauty?

Catweazle - Planet of the Apes 2f

There's a much more powerful sense here of the man being subservient to his captor ,who looms above him, militarily impassive and threatening. The iron collar and manacles he is wearing are more than mere restraints, they acknowledge the strength of his bulging muscles, containing them and controlling him. It's as if that is where his value to his new master lies. 

His shaggy hair suggests he's a bit of a beast, but his sexuality is clearly of no interest to his non-human captor and so that too seems to have been subjugated. His body is shaved, completely hairless and his reproductive organs are tucked away in a tiny, lovingly-detailed, leather pouch that, for me is very sexy.

This man is not in control, he's going to meet an unknown fate

 The birds circle overhead like an augury of doom.

Catweazle - Roman Slave 10

Here, Catweazle gives male slavery a historical treatment. I'd love to know where these soldiers found this muscle-hunk with his capacious loincloth and showy, ethnic hair-do. Unfortunately he seems to have been found wanting by the judge standing behind him. It must have been quite a shock to find death in charge of all these Roman Soldiers (another wtf? moment from this artist). There was never much doubt about the verdict he was going to deliver, but it seems the dirty work has been delegated to someone else. The shocked and confused captive is led away at the end of a very log rope to meet his grisly fate, urged on by angry guards.

Read Part 1 of this posting

More in Catweazle Part 3 (link pending)

See also Catweazle01 at Deviant Art

Art by Holzman

Holzman - Merchant Navy 1

This Hussar advert in Fizeek magazine in 1963 introduced a new artist to the gay scene, Holzman, with a 'playlet' about a nautical thief. The illustration shown is one of the opening images of the series showing the 'toughie' arriving with his kit bag. You can tell he's tough because he's got a torso-revealing, open jacket (leather?) and a cigarette drooping from his mouth. You sense he's a man with attitude although the cant of his head here is what smokers do to keep their cigarette smoke out of their own eyes. In that respect this is a neat little piece of observation by Holzman, documenting a practice that's gradually dying out. The tough is thoughtfully examining something that he's found, his seaman's papers perhaps although I suspect it's a bottle  (see below). 

I don't have all 16 images in this story or any information about their sequence and have therefore  simply numbered them in what seems to be the logical sequence

Holzman - Merchant Navy 2

The new boy climbs on board with a long, butt enhancing stride and a determined look on his face. 

The texturing of his jacket and jeans suggests they might be leather, which in the 60's was thought of as the uniform of wild bikers. However, the presence of turn-ups and the styling of the jacket with visible seams is more suggestive of denim, a more suitable material for working on a boat.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 3

Below decks, the toughie examines a bottle of alcohol which has a label promising serious gut rot. It's enough to make him drop his cigarette, which apart from being a breach of good manners, is liable to start a fire on a boat, a danger to life and limb. 

Despite these shortcomings in character we are learning about, he's portrayed as a sexy beast. The 'Latin look' was quite common iconography at the time and very exotic to UK eyes. The exaggerated fleshy lips and dark-rimmed eyes seem to be borrowed from female notions of sexual allure (unfortunately for the image of gay men). A distinctive vocabulary for the male equivalent had yet to be developed (and probably wouldn't have been accepted by society at large anyway).

The straw-clad carafe of wine in the cupboard behind him is a nostalgic image from a less sophisticated era in the UK. You might also recognise the 'Heinz 57 Varieties' label on the tin on the bar, amazingly it hasn't dated in 60 years and I suppose the same is true of his fashion wear.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 4

In this image it seems that the new crewman has removed various articles to his cabin and is about to hide them in his kit bag, furtively concealing his actions from a member of the crew working on the deck just outside. It must be a hot day because everyone seems to be undressing. The enticing glimpse of flesh through the porthole is the calf of a crewman walking towards the left of the picture. 

You could be forgiven for thinking here that the thievery entailed drinking the liquor and then topping up the bottle to hide the theft. However I can imagine this clever 'hidden eroticism' probably escaped the attentions of the censor and deservedly so, because it's very nicely drawn, a neglected classic. 

The villain has become more Anglo-Saxon-looking in this image, but I think it is the same character. judging mainly by the turn-ups (image 2) and the presence of the two tins. The Latin look does return later but only in one special example.

The smoky effect at the left, by the way, is not the result of his dropped cigarette but a scanning effect. It has fortuitously added a nice texture of dappled light to an otherwise 'flat' image.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 5

The villain's activities are disturbed by the arrival of a 3rd crewman (also apparently wearing a leather jacket). He too starts to undress, whistling as though routinely changing into his work clothes, which judging by the porthole vision in the previous picture might consist of very few clothes indeed. The thief is horrified, presumably imagining he's about to be exposed - as a thief, according to the story line, or, in the more subversive sub-text, as a man who has problems with naked male flesh. 

Holzman's picture here copies classic, film noir imagery, with the unsuspecting innocent making himself ever more vulnerable to a hidden threat of which he's unaware. The hidden eroticism in this image surrounds the ambiguous interpretation of the bottle, angled just right to suggest the villain is getting other ideas about dealing with this new arrival. The coat hook just above his head provides a more graphic hint of what he might have in mind with the backing plate suggesting a tight fit. 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 6

The crisis seems to be precipitated by the arrival of a third man. He appears to be the skipper of the vessel, previously glimpsed through the porthole in picture 3 and now revealed to be dressed only in a cap, skimpy slip and sea boots (the last a worrying link to the contents of the bottle!). At this point the undressing crewman has lowered his underpants. In fact they are nowhere to be seen, presumably lost in the folds of his jeans, unless they're ripped to pieces on the floor.  

The villain's reaction seems a bit over the top. In the story plotline he seems to think that his exposure as a thief is imminent and so goes into self-defence mode, smashing the bottle to use as a weapon 

(or it could be that he's suddenly revolted by the thought of sampling it's contents!) 

Alternatively, in the delicious ambiguity that pervades this story, the young skipper's sexy appearance here offers an explanation of the actions of the villain back in picture 3. His panicky reaction now is triggered by the rapidly accumulating male nudity and the sudden prospect that he might be about to witness something unspeakable going on between these two men, whom, we should remember, didn't know he was there until he announced himself by smashing the bottle.

There used to be a accepted legal principle of 'homosexual panic', i.e. a fear of being in imminent danger of being raped by a homosexual. This was advanced as a legitimate excuse for assaulting gay men and even killing them. In some cases the reaction hid the fear of having his own, secret, homosexual leanings exposed. This concept perversely confers a power on gay men over straights that is erotically appealing, if entirely fanciful.

 Holzman's rendering of the hunky skipper is masterly but some severe cropping seems has gone on, spoiling the depiction of his crewmate. The villain's aggressive act has been converted into a disembodied eerie 'manifestation'. This may have been intentional, to amplify the sense of panic and the shock to the sailors. It might even allude to an explosion of a different kind. However, it was also common practice in this period to publish incomplete images in order to encourage viewers to buy the full artwork.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 7

Somewhat surprisingly, the villain chooses to confront the defenceless, nearly naked seaman with the bottle rather than the Captain. It's him (or his nudity) that he finds most threatening, or it could be that this crewman has challenged him or is attempting to calm him*. Interestingly, his jeans have now dropped round his ankles and the villain is suddenly sporting a recognisable manifestation of excitement in his jeans rather than the generalised bulge seen occasionally in the preceding pictures. 

*Perhaps Holzman simply thought it made a better picture. Whatever the case it's a great image using a challenging viewpoint. The quality of these pictures in both technical and dramatic terms is certainly on a par with the emerging stars of this era - Tom of Finland and Etienne.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 8

The captain intervenes with a mighty upper cut. By this time, his half-undressed crewmate is down on the floor, on his knees (and with bare ass raised in a classic, passive pose). The broken bottle is nowhere to be seen, suggesting that he managed to disarm the villain before he could do any damage with it.

Holzman has included the coat hook (from picture 4) in this image, positioning it a short distance from the villain's half-open mouth. It sort of matches the sweep of the Captain's fist and suggests there's an erotic consequence in store for him, but is slightly off-piste in the circumstances.

I don't have a satisfactory copy of this picture but it's too important to leave out. 

The cartoonised version below gives a neater sense of how the original might have looked.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 8 (AI variant)

This more balanced variant gives a better sense of the drama of the moment. It also brings out the nudity of the fallen sailor, almost seeming to suggest that the other men are fighting over him (hence, I suppose, the presence of the phallic coat hook, which, in a bizarre AI tweak, is suddenly dripping!). 

However, we can also see more clearly that the fallen sailor's arm is entwined with the villain's foot, confirming his active role in overpowering him. 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 9

The thief is down but not yet out as the crewmates pile onto him. The captain's hands are clasped tightly together round the villain's neck and he is struggling manfully to detach them. The second crew member, having disentangled himself completely from his jeans and underpants, has grabbed the villain's free arm and is pulling it into his uncovered crotch, where it can't cause any mischief but feels nice. 

Ominously for the villain, his flies have come undone and his Y-fronts are pushing up through the gap and being nuzzled by the skipper's shin (entirely accidentally, I dare say). His choice of underwear makes the bulge in picture 6 improbable, although the picture below shows they are not a very tight fit, so maybe it was an escaper.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 10

The sailors turn the villain upside down, perhaps hoping to see what will fall out of his pockets, which is the traditional way of exposing a thief in kids' comics. It has the effect here of pulling his jeans off anyway, which will enable them to conduct a more thorough search (or something like that). Losing his pants also makes it a tad more difficult for him to run off, but I suspect that being undressed by these men is only going to intensify that instinct.

You may think you've seen this picture before and you'd be right if you're a regular visitor to this blog, because exactly the same picture appears in my article on the Art of Cas. The same that is, except that it is signed there by Cas. Cas and Holzman are the same person.

Another Cas-Holzman picture can be seen at the mitchmen Royale Studio blog in the 'Timeline' post section 63.1. It's in an ad, emblazoned with the Cas logo, but a contact address has been positioned on top of the original Holzman signature. The background to this name changing is a mystery. Perhaps something to do with publisher's exclusivity.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 11

Finally the villain seems to have collapsed, or at any rate he has stopped resisting. The crewmen lift him bodily almost as if intending to pitch him overboard. Their bulging trunks symbolically almost touch in a sort of low five (or three) you might call it . Apparently the stripper has managed to put his underpants back on. The enhancement and clarification of this image has brought the villain's underpants into stark relief, stretched tight round his buttocks and deep between them. 

The clues to what is actually about to happen to him can be seen behind them.  

This picture and 13 below have both been retrieved from small thumbnails in Hussar ads, hence the inferior, fuzzy quality. They suffice to allow us to understand what is going on, however. 

If any reader can supply better versions, please get in touch!

Holzman - Merchant Navy 12

The sailors hold the would-be thief down over a barrel, which can be seen standing against the wall in the previous picture. The captain takes the lead in punishing him, flogging him with a knotted rope. His crewmate sits on the villain's head to hold him down (with his balls resting on his shoulders where they can monitor the villain's movements as he reacts to the thrashing). His pose here, with the characteristic turning of the head is reminiscent of Spartacus.

The skipper's fleshy physique does not disappoint in this picture but his face has now transformed rather unpleasantly into an appearance similar to that of the villain when he arrives at the boat. This seems to be a look chosen by Cas to represent nastiness and it's been gradually developing in the Captain in the preceding pictures, like something out of Dorian Gray. 

Cas seems to be playing with a very dubious stereotype of foreignness here and unnecessarily so since it would perfectly OK for the cute, hunky, young man in picture 6 to maintain order on his own boat without turning into a demon. I suppose there's a certain satisfaction in the villain being 'out-nastied', having underestimated his intended victims. The crewmate steps up for his own crack of the whip next.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 13

The villain must have struggled energetically during the Captain's assault because the two sailors have now tied him down over the barrel with his arms and legs spread wide. The sailor who was earlier threatened with the broken bottle stands astride him with the miscreant's head between his legs. He pulls it up by the hair so it's snugly wedged in his crotch, almost face upwards here so it gets the fullest experience. He proceeds to flog him himself with the knotted rope, no doubt enjoying the villain's struggling movements between his thighs which seem to be dislodging his already skimpy trunks.

The skipper watches them, flexing his muscles triumphantly. He even seems to be rubbing his packet with his left hand, but that may be wishful thinking on my part!

Holzman - Merchant Navy 14

In this final image, again recovered from an advert thumbnail, the punishment seems to finished. The scene has shifted to a bedroom with a washbasin in the corner and the chastised villain meekly seeks the comfort of a cushion to sit on, on the bed. He's now without any underpants at all and there's a faint suggestion of criss-cross weals on his buttocks. It's possible that a bare-ass final spanking was the subject of one of the two missing images.

His two adversaries stand, lording it over him, with undisguised enlargements on their pants. One of them is resting his arm on a long pole which faintly suggests the punishment may even have reached into internal regions in some shape or form. The Captain, restored to normal handsomeness, breaks out the liquor that seems to have been the root cause of the problem. The villain hasn't got much to celebrate but it doesn't look like he's free to go just yet . You sense the affair is not yet over.

~

These images were obtained from the internet and some from TimInVermont

and enhanced by mitchmen where my logo has been added.  

 

more about artists featured by Royale and Hussar