In this final part of my consideration of Etienne I have posted a frame from the ‘Marine Training’ Comic. This is a story of a drunken Marine who falls foul of two ruffians but in a dark alley but ends up discovering his inner gay self. By Etienne’s standards this is a relatively humourless piece but full of erotic incident. The artwork is crystal clear and he pulls off (just!) some tricky poses. Men's feet, socks and boots feature strongly once more but play a secondary role to the storyline.
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It would be remiss to leave Etienne without touching on his leather work. This is a world he knew well and I guess that shows in all his work. He knows what he is talking about and he understands the erotic essentials of submission and domination roleplay.
The illustration I have selected shows this quite well. The cute blond we saw in 'Night Patrol' reappears as a sub. With luxuriant hair, he's Not a typical leather character these days but a favourite for Etienne who drew him many times. This scene could easily be the inspiration for Oliver Frey's 'back alley' leather encounters.
Whilst I may quibble about Etienne’s technique, his work will always stand at the pinnacle for me. His exploration of the standard gay sex symbols - sailors, cowboys, leather men etc gives his work a story-telling strength that amply compensates for any visual short-comings. His delving into S&M practices was revolutionary for its time and he went further than his contemporary Tom of Finland in giving them a dark mood despite the facade of fantasy and humour. Like Greasetank, Etienne had an uncanny ability to capture the attractions of adult ‘maleness’.
There is also a Google Group for his work
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