Art by Gyaku Xryona

Gyaku Xryona - Licking Ancient Armpits 

This artist specialises picking out the erotic moments and contacts created during close combat, both accidental and deliberate. This is one of the best depictions of armpit licking humiliation I have seen, bringing out the intimacy and conscious effort required by the defeated man to comply with his forfeit for being defeated. The integration of the two separate characters into a cohesive image of intimacy like this is not easy in any art style, AI is the just latest medium to regularly fail this test, but this photoshopped(?) image is convincing where it matters. 

Gyaku Xryona - Loser Punishment

The victim is, of course, the indefatigable Chris Redfield, whose bulging biceps and military cut are a never-ending source of pleasure for us and now, a new master. His enthusiastic compliance with the humiliation here seems to have even surprised his opponent. Chris has gone off-piste to challenge a none-too-jolly, green giant summoned from the legends of antiquity. I suppose his green skin does suggest some sort of bio-hazard credentials, but how they come to be fighting over the survival of mankind in an wrestling empty arena is more elusive.

Gyaku Xryona - Breaking Some Backs

Chis is put through the mincer here by a different opponent, Miguel, who has a more conventional (and more attractive) appearance. The fiery inferno seen in the background suggests a suitably post-apocalyptic setting, the world going up in flames unnoticed by the protagonists.

The back-breaker holds are one of wrestling's special gifts to homoerotic sadism. However, in real life this 'Rack' variant is often disappointing visually. That's partly because of humans innate flexibility and partly because the tormentor's own shoulders limit his scope for 'bending' his opponent. This picture works by defying those physical realities and showing Chis in an off-the-shoulder, elevated position where he can be subjected to more extreme stress. Although it's technically imperfect, it's highly effective.

Gyaku Xryona - Dry Them For Good

A surprising number of these contests end like this, so you have to wonder about Chris. The victor's instruction shown in the title seems incapable of fulfilment, even by the most avid of sweat consumers, but Chris goes for it energetically. Even in front of an audience witnessing his humiliating demise, he literally embraces his opponent with those mighty arms. But is this seductive move really a cunning distraction, rather than a weak submission? 

Gyaku Xryona - Jobber Lloyd Armstrong

This artist is not obsessed with Chris to the exclusion of all else. Lloyd Armstrong is not a real wrestler as far as I know but if he got onto the ring in his underpants like this I'd turn out to watch him. It bestows a sense of vulnerability on him from the start, as if he's just been accosted on his way to work, stripped of his suit and ordered into the ring without so much as a by-your-leave. His eyes tell the story.

Underpants like this are usually flimsy and rapidly lose their attractive tightness in any sort of encounter but these look nicely snug. The white seam design goes back to the 60's at least and the introduction of coloured panels was much ridiculed in those buttoned-up times. This modern version benefits from the fashionable grey colour and narrower seams compared with the older prototypes.

Gyaku Xryona - Jobber Hottest

The unfortunate jobber finds himself in spectacular back-breaking hold over his opponent's folded legs. The erotic vulnerability induced in this arching position is enhanced by the victim's thrown-back head and an inviting bulge in his underpants which seem to be filling out nicely. In theory the stress on his back can be increased by the holder raising his knees (if he is strong enough). As with the shoulder rack though, the width of the two legs infuriatingly limits the victim's bendability.

Gyaku Xryona - Jobber Hottest Torture

A back-breaker round the back of the head seems to be one answer to the 'fulcrum width' problem, although the artist is bending reality again, as well as the poor jobber, by presenting him in this super-alluring helplessness. In his story, this is a point of submission but I have doctored out the 'flash' bearing that information to improve the image itself.

(More sexy Y-fronts at mitchmen)

Gyaku Xryona - Cage v Redfield 01

Chris Redfield looks very young in this image and very shocked by the archetypal, low blow from 'Johnny Cage'. The depiction of his agonised expression and muscular physique can't be faulted. The red hued sky behind provides an ominous backdrop.

Gyaku Xryona - Cheating - Breaking

The characterisations of these two wrestlers is equally attractive with Dante's muscular back sparing his blushes as he gets the same sucker's punch from Johnny Cage, this time between the legs from behind.

 

Gyaku Xryona - Neck Crank 02

Dante, like Chis, is a perennial loser in Gyaku Xryona's fight universe. The terrifying 'Madruk' puts him in a devastating neck crank here. Another convincing integration of the two men produces a marvellous impression of Dante's helplessness and a great view of his back.

Gyaku Xryona - Crack

  A great impression of a back-breaker drop onto the knee, with the superhero's contorted body and agonised expression telling us how much it hurts. The gruesome embellishment of the title is hardly needed. Superman's arched body and sexy, kit design makes an equally compelling statement. 

It actually looks as if he is bouncing off the knee of his oversized opponent at this point on his way to the canvas. That knee is high enough off the ground to have severely limited his ability to break the fall with his feet. An Aquarium supplies another novel, picturesque venue.

Gyaku Xryona - Dragon Sleeper 02

Another Superhero meets his match, with the helpless indignity of the bent-back neck hold being augmented by the humiliation of a face wash inside a sweaty armpit. This hold can be made a lot more stressful, but the hero's awkwardly braced legs make this preliminary position very embarrassing for him. His suit offers up a sexy, tempting target.

Gyaku Xryona - Head Scissors With A Sexy View

In this variant the embarrassed victim is engulfed by his opponent's crotch in a similar, off-balance position that's very difficult to escape from. He's probably too preoccupied by what's under his nose (balls!) to appreciate that his tormentor is not a monstrous giant but a very good-looking man. In some respects that's worse, but that's what makes this image special.

Gyaku Xryona - Naughty Chris

Chris reflects on another arousing day at the arena.

This artist doesn't do explicit images, not quite! For those who love the fight scenario, though, there's ample stimulation. In this age of AI over-perfection, it's remarkable how compelling these much simpler images can still be.

More in Part 2

  

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

Superhero by Deon

 

I rather like Felix D'Eon's eclectic range of artistic styles which encompass various, traditional, 'old-fashioned' techniques, sometimes imitating them for subjects they were never intended for. These two examples of his 'vintage comic' style are good examples in a mode from a bygone era, aimed then at younger people, but here featuring mature subjects and mature men (and he makes such a good job of showing that he understands their attractions you wonder why he bothers so much with fledglings).

The superhero here is El Oso, The Bear. Hence the paw on the front of his suit. I love the way D'Eon has subverted the clean cut (American) view of  such men with the very gay iconography of a romantic, chunky 'bear' finding his mate (I nearly said cub but that would be an inappropriate word after what I said above!). He's been whisked away from danger clad, appropriately enough, in just his very traditional, white Y-fronts which are betraying his own inner feelings. It's a splendid recognition that ordinary men are admirable and sexy too.

The drawing here doesn't have to be spot-on but the perspective treatment of the fleeing arsonist down below is pretty natty (and very much in accord with the chosen style). The trail of El Oso's flight however is less impressive, suggesting that the great man is flying sideways. Maybe he is, or maybe it's an imitation of the naivety in 1950's originals, but whichever the case I'm glad I'm not the only artist who draws himself into a corner sometimes!

In the Spanish dialogue here, 'chispas' is an expression of anger, "i mi plan ha sido arruinado por el oso" simply means "and my plan has been ruined by The Bear". The shrine to the virgin on the front lawn is another Spanish feature.

This picture picks up another typical genre paired with this comic style, the western. I don't think men in union suits with plunging necklines ever featured in those original cowboy comics. It's a mode of dress that always seems deliciously seedy and earthy, thanks partly to those realist cowboy films that depict them as underwear that is never taken off or washed. I like that this cowboy has donned his best boots and hat for his morning constitutional on the front porch. 

 (I confess I'm not exactly sure what a morning 'Joe' is, J/O?). 

More Deon at mitchmen blog

Royale Studio 02 - Navy Romeo (Part 1)

These posts review the photographs of the British, 'Royale Studio' of the 1950's/60's which specialised in depicting men wearing tight, sexy clothing, especially military uniforms, designed to show off the male figure, often with a disciplinary or fight storyline attached. 

This post covers 'Navy Romeo', a  storyette (as Royale described them) of some 36 pictures. This is the best picture I have from the series (courtesy of 'Sailor Al' as you can see). It shows two Sailors spying on a comrade as he dresses up to go to 'The Dance'. If you are a bottom fancier then it's probably fair to say that this image hasn't lost much of it's power to attract the eye in the 60 years since it was taken. In fact Royale used it themselves to illustrate this series in their catalogue (below).

Royale Catalogue image for Navy Romeo (NARO)

The legend 'NARO' is the ordering code for customers wanting to buy the 'Navy Romeo' pictures by post (no internet in those days!). The story was published in 2 distinct parts which I will cover  in separate posts. This is Image 7 of Part 1. I have 12 of the Part 1 pictures and 19 of Part 2, that's 31 out of the advertised total of 36. Sadly most of them are only thumbnails which a previous enthusiast must have extracted from a Royale Catologue sheet, so they are not of the same quality as the top image above, but you still get a good sense of how they looked and the added compensation that many of them are numbered which assists sequencing the storyline (although these numbers are a mixed blessing for that, as we will see).

~

 In my original mitchmen reviews of Royale Studio, I included the image above in a post entitled 'The Itch' with a storyline which suggested that the piggy-backing pair had played a prank on their colleague by putting itching powder into his underpants. I got this story from the website of 'Sailor Al' (now defunct) but I now know that the images I presented there actually came from two different Royale series - 'Navy Romeo' and 'Navy Gash'. Neither of them were called 'The Itch', nor is any itching referenced in the plot summaries provided in the the Royal Catalogue, which simply says of Romeo Part 1:-

"R.N. matelots Tom and Spike watch Ted, a ladies man, strip and change into whites for The Dance. Behind a screen they take the mickey out of him as he preens himself as he dresses".

However there is a plausible support for the itching powder idea in the imagery itself which I will point out as we go.

 ~

Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 01? or 02?

Tom and Spike peer over a screen to spy on Ted in his underwear which is of the white, high-waisted variety (possibly Y-fronts) which were the norm around 1960. This image gives a reasonably good impression of the erotic appeal of that garment on the right man. The image reflected in the slightly tilted mirror cleverly exaggerates his  thigh size, if only we could see the rest a bit better! Ted is clearly admiring himself, but we can only speculate about where Tom and Spike's interest lies. 

I don't have a numbered version of this image but Ted's underwear and the upright pose of the spectators seems to place it in front of No 3, shown below. I don't know if it is 1 or 2, the other is missing.

Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 03

Ted holds up his white bell bottoms to inspect them. They cast an odd shadow on his crotch - or is that a stain? It gives us a teasing clue to his contours. Tom and Spike crane closer to watch and their own bottom-hugging trousers make a sexy sight (remember they have been dampened to promote clinging!).Their interest certainly reflects the 'official' storyline of them mocking the vanity of the unit's 'Romeo'. It also fits the 'itch' scenario with Ted here having noticed an itch and checking if it's his trousers causing the problem. Perhaps the missing image 2 showed him scratching! 

Both scenarios are erotic in their own right but the underlying theme of them watching Ted dressing and undressing was powerful stuff in itself back then. Even to admire another man's naked body was considered a disgusting perversion in polite society (except in the non-sexual context of a body building competion and even that was dubious). Royale uses the boisterous cameradery of men in the forces to disguise this 'hidden eroticism' in the images.

I have a smaller, thumbnail version of this image, explicitly numbered '3'. Where I am not certain of the numbering I have put a question mark next to my guess in the picture captions. I have also attempted to enhance some of these images by reducing the gamma but the lighter originals can be found in the mitchmen archive file for this series along with the thumbnail versions.

Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 04

The story wanders into deeper waters here as Ted lowers his underpants and exposes his bare bottom. It's not clear what exactly he's doing, but it obviously involves his groin area. In those days 'the itch' was a euphemism for a sexually-transmitted disease and to me it looks as if Ted might be getting something to 'sooth' or treat the area in question. You might prefer an explanation that he's fragrancing it in anticipation of  success at The Dance but either way his credentials as a (straight) sexual adventurer are enhanced.

Tom grabs the top of the screen in his eagerness to see more (but of what?). Spike puts his hands on his hips in  a manly stance which creates a great view of his backside and broad shoulders. This could be seen as him standing back, hands well away from anything naughty, laughing to himself at Ted's predicament. However, his pelvis is thrust forward, a typical expression of sexual male bravado and it's directed towards Ted's ass, suggesting an imaginary coupling.

Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 05?

Here, Tom gets up on Spike's back. This piggy-back pose links the next three images together although only one of them is numbered - No 7. The other two fit neatly into the gap between 4 and 7 although it's not obvious which way round they go. I have used the increasing curiousity of the two Peeping Toms to sequence them here. 

Ted has now put his trousers on and is changing into his best boots which can be seen on the floor below the chair in the previous picture. I have a suspicion that Spike may have provided them for him as he seems to be wearing only dark socks in some of these pictures. Anyway, we get a glimpse of Ted's hairy pecs but lower places that might be considered to be of unseemly interest are discreetly obscured. 

Instead, the main erotic feature is the continuing 'bottom fest' provided by Tom and Spike. Their bent over, receptive poses, intimately entwined, make a very sexy image indeed, emphasising their close, boyish friendship but also suggesting a mutual interest in Ted that goes beyond playing 'tricks' on him*.  Their double-decker display of eagerness, vying for 'pole' position, is a tribute to Ted's desirability (and the boy's desperation!) Spike's butch pose in the previous picture adds to the intensity of this swirl of masculinity. 

*Even in the 1960's, trick was common parlance for a casual sexual partner.

Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 06?

Ted kneels here with his trousers lowered as though making an adjustment and displays a bottom cleft that goes way beyond the merely erotic. Suddenly we realise that he seems to wearing no underwear on at all. You can attribute the decision to 'go commando' to his preferred seduction technique with the ladies or the itching powder, whatever you wish. 

You can strongly sense Spike and Tom's heightened excitement at this development and that's thanks to the photographer's visual crafting:- he has got Spike to hook Tom's legs round his hips in the traditional piggy-back style and that has pulled them into a wide open and very sexy position. Spike's own legs have also shifted into a wider, slightly couching stance and the result is that both men's trousers are stretched so tightly across their bottoms that they look like tights. It's like purified porn.

Now look at the reflection in the mirror. It seems to show all three men stacked astride each other. This might pass as playground-style fun to the innocent but by this point in the story, the implication of sexual involvement is unmistakeable. It is so sad that the creative talent behind this remarkable image has been largely forgotten.

I haven't been able to think up a convincing narrative for what Ted is doing here. He seems to be trying to manouveur his trousers over his shoes (a challenge most of us have attempted with jeans!). However this doesn't seem to fit very well with the previous image. There seems to be a case for reversing them but although I don't have a numbered thumbnail of image 06?, but Ted's bare bottom and his position in front of the mirror provide very good continuity into image 07 below. If anything, image 05? above seems to fit better between 07 and 08, which we are just coming to. It's possible Royale may have decided to leave it out of the numbered set as not being interesting enough. That would leave room for an image 5 that shows Ted discarding his underwear. Yum! Shame I don't have it.

Of course, we can't assume that Royale's numbering is strictly correct, nor that these sets were photographed in a strict chronological sequence. Doubling back to produce 'in-fills' or insert extra pictures is always likely to result in continuity errors. There's another anomaly like this in Part 2 of this series. 

Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 07

The full-size version of this image appears at the top of this post so I've used the numbered thumbnail here 

Ted pulls up his trousers and is caught in a peek-a-boo position that is classic 1950's naughtiness (but only as a pose for women of course). It seems to confirm Ted's no-underwear dress decision. Spike and Ted are nearly falling over themselves to get at this peachy sight, feast on those yummy buttocks! 

This time the reflection in the mirror shows them creeping up, unseen, behind the unsuspecting Ted. There's a touch of menace in this which parodies and exploits the widespread, then view homosexuals preying on innocent men and seducing them into their vile, unnatural ways (and make no mistake, those were exactly the sort of words that were openly used about men like us).

Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 08

Ted is not tying up his boot laces here, but strapping gaiters round his ankles. These are stiff ankle protectors and intended also to capture the billowing bell bottoms and close off the open top of the boots for protection and safety in a combat situation. They are seen lying on the floor in picture 05? of this series and more clearly when worn by Ted in the pictures that follow this one. His leg-up position here creates yet another provocative pose out of a mundane everyday activity. One which the on-lookers find an almost irresistible target.

I probably don't need to point out the (barely) hidden eroticism of Spike's toe aimed at the cleft in Ted's backside but there's also a more subtle, secondary titillation with it's close proximity to Ted's own foot, suggestive of lovers playing 'footsie'. Spikes open, leaning-back pose is itself suggestive of intimate spooning with Ted (for a sex-starved imagination at any rate)! I suspect there was an interesting reflection in the mirror too, just off to the right. There's a similar 'closeness' going on between Tom and Spike. The subtle, erotic choreography of some of these images is amazingly complex. This picture also brings out a rather nice impression of the tight fit of Tom and Spike's trousers round the lower body and thighs, with a pleasing profile of Tom's bottom (extreme left).

Strong lighting from the left of Ted casts an odd shadow of his arm which has the extraordinary effect of making his trouser pants look completely open at the back. I haven't seen a full size version of this image so I can't say if this is deliberate artistry or a fortuitous quirk of the smaller scale picture. However, it is a graphic reminder of his discarded underwear, which I suspect is the little white pile on the floor just beyond his foot (see below also). There's another tantalising shadow in picture 03.

Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 09

With preparations complete, Ted imagines introducing himself to the film star pin-up on the wall and you can almost imagine him saying “don't I look great?” (not without reason from where I'm sitting!). The two mischievous voyeurs pause from their lusting to parody his action with Spike making a courtly bow and Tom simulating feminine surprise and delight. Cynics might see the less-than-modest forward thrust of his lower body here as an invitation for Spike to dip his head a little lower.

The dressy effect of Ted's gaiters and the discarded underwear on the floor are clearly visible here

Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 10

This image probably gives us the best view of Ted's attractive figure with the enhancing effect of his hip-hugging trousers complemented by the tightness of the RN shirt around his torso. It's low cut, square, head opening accentuates the sweep of his neck. He seems to be holding a cushion in his arms here as a substitute for the real thing he desires.

Behind the screen Spike and Tom pose as though kissing each other but their bodies and lips are not actually touching. It's interesting to consider how the censors would have viewed this. The female film star is a reminder that kisses like this between men and women were commonplace in movies and yet men passionately kissing each other was absolutely taboo. By distancing of the pair and providing the clearly-announced, humorous context of 'taking the mickey' out of their straight colleague the scene might have escaped the red pen in a live, theatrical context. Unfortunately the unashamed eroticism of the pictures that frame this scene nullifies that possibility.

Royale would have known that would be the case – the minds behind these complex images are not without intelligence, nor naïve. So it's more likely that this is another deliberate parody, not only of heterosexual vanity, but of the whole concept of censorship as it was applied to relationships between men. But imagine how comforting this portrayal would have been for lonely, gay men who saw the image, using the masculine aura of military servicemen to present men kissing as something that was perfectly OK. Notice though, that it still takes place in secret, out of the sight of the heterosexual.

The numbered thumbnail for this image (in the archive) is less closely cropped than this variant.

 

Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 11

In this image Ted appears to be holding something up as though to kiss it. It doesn't seem to be the same cushion-like object as in the preceding picture - that is now placed on the chair. The boys behind the screen eagerly return to their surveillance and Spike makes the 'OK' sign as though Ted's action means that their plan is now going well.

I confess I'm not certain what this means, but if you look closely, you might notice that Ted's attention in these pictures actually seems focussed, not on the glamorous film star, but on the other hard-to-make-out photo just above, which looks a bit like a showgirl in black stockings. In fact I believe this is one of Royale's infamous*, high-booted, Horse Guards images, rather like the one below, but with the subject in the process of undressing. 

 *Royale famously published pictures of real members of the Royal Horse Guards regiment posing in a mixture of their proper uniform and racy underwear. It was a very public scandal that made the tabloid front pages and may have helped the cause of homosexual law reform. Royale's successor 'Guys in Uniform' repeated the feat in 1976.

 

Charles Kassapian as a Horse Guard, by Royale

That conjecture leads me to believe that what Ted is holding up may actually be bank notes, as though reminding us that the Queen's men can be bought for money. Simultaneously it's suggesting that Ted, the supposedly straight hunk, is not averse to buying such favours himself, thereby implying that the terrible 'queer' malady is also rife in the realm of The Royal Navy. What a superb mockery of the heterosexual establishment! No wonder Spike is so pleased with himself!

Back at picture 11, and on a more basic, erotic level, the reflection in the mirror at this point introduces the startling impression of Spike reaching up between Ted's legs to grope him, but the casual observer would never spot it. This dull little story positively sparkles with hidden homoerotic gems!

Notice that in this image Spike's trousers seem to have a 'bare' back window similar to Ted's in picture 08. It must be that this is the effect of the stretched, wet pants becoming slightly transparent and showing skin colour beneath. The dark shadow and whiter area to the right is the front flap of his uniform which is a double layer of fabric and not tight and thus shows as white. A different visual effect, caused by lighting from opposite sides seems to show Ted's bare legs showing though his trousers.

 

Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 12?

The true object of Ted's interest is even more obvious in this picture and the boys are so excited that they squat down piggy-back fashion to peek through a crack (yes a crack!) in a pose that seems to abjectly beg for Ted's (or our, or anyone's) attention. It's not far short of simulating intercourse between them and at this point there's no real attempt to hide the eroticism. Despite the revelation about Ted's true inclinations he cuts a figure just as attractive and manly as he did to them before (well of course he does!). His reflection in the mirror seems to introduce an element of ambiguity as to the direction of those inclinations, but they are happy, nay eager, to go down for him.

If Royale ever applied 'The Itch' to this series, it takes on a very different meaning here.

Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 14?

This looks as if it might be the end of Part 1 with Ted appearing to be departing (looking great) and the boys exchanging kisses (disguised as a high-five) and apparently very satisfied with the outcome.

I don't know exactly how many pictures there are in Part 1. The earliest image number I can positively identify in Part 2 is No 21 and I think it has 5 images in front of it, so that would mean Part 1 numbers 15. However, I've given this picture the number 14 (or it could even be 13) because the opening of Part 2 suggests that at the end of Part 1, Ted discovers that he's being spied on with some sort of confrontation happening. You'll see what I mean in Part 2 (link below).

~

Royale Props and Accessories

Royale's specially prepared uniforms are responsible for much of the erotic flavour of these images but the props and accessories also play a part and some become familiar friends in different photo sets.

In these concluding pictures of Navy Romeo, Part 1 we get a good view of the Chinese bamboo screen that has concealed the voyeurs from their quarry throughout. It's not naval issue obviously! However, it's plausible that these men (regular sailors or forced conscripts) might be allowed personal items such as this in a barracks setting. The antique, oriental style tells you about the artistic taste of the producers of these photos, since they would have provided this prop.

The mirror plays an equally important role in the story, as it's used to emphasise Romeo Ted's vanity, but it's also a device for slipping in tantalising glimpses of anatomy (e.g. Nos 3, 12) and in telescoping the participants together to construct suggestive positions (e.g. Nos 6, 7, 11). The mirror also features in a number of other Royale series where it provides a 'virtual' partner for solo posers and simulates more forbidden physical contact between men and reflections.

~

To be continued in Navy Romeo - Part 2

The mitchmen Royale Open Archive link to this set will be provided at the end of this group of posts.