IFNB is Most Popular New 'mitchmen' Post of 2018

IFNB Contest Expediters take the rough with the smooth

At this time of year it is my custom to review the year's posts to see which attracted the most visitors. According to my Blogger 'view count' stats*, the 20 below are the most-visited mitchmen posts out of the 119 published in 2018 (titles have links to the original posts).

Posn	Title (+link)	Hits	Published
1	IFNB - A Fantasy World of Body Builders	2519	Mar
2	The Art of Homoeros -1	1110	Jul
3	The Art of Sparkieshock	1045	Apr
4	Milking Factories -3	974	May
5	Tentacles in Action	964	Jan
6	Another Milking Factory (No 2)	867	Apr
7	The Art of Homoeros - 4	861	Jul
8	The Art of Opemam77	755	Mar
9	The Art of Homoeros - 6	699	Aug
10	The Art of Homoeros - 5	658	Aug
11	The Art of Homoeros - 3	604	Jul
12	A-Z of Fetish Artists - B2	586	May
13	Phausto's Alley Cat	558	Apr
14	The Art of Homoeros - 2	543	Jul
15	A Hunk Born To Suffer - 3	538	Jan
16	Wrestling Arsenal	529	Dec
17	A Life of Pirates	507	May
18	Malex in Space	522	Feb
19	Mitchell's Last Chance Saloon	477	Mar
20	Bondage by Michael Stokes	472	Jan

Stats collected on 31st December 2018

The winner this year with an astonishing 2519 hits was my review of the IFNB fantasy site. This count smashes Woodunart's record of 1443 in 2016. I rarely feature full-on body-builders in this blog because I don't like vein-y skin, but IFNB's imaginative scenarios and sexy humour were irresistible. Interestingly my article on Musclemorphs created by 'BuiltBySteve', which was published late in 2017, had scored 895 by the end of 2018 and probably would have made the 2017 top 10 had it been published earlier in the year. IFNB attracted steady interest throughout the year and it will be interesting to see if that continues in 2019

.

Runner up Homoeros also exceeded the 1000 mark and just pipped Sparkieshock in the final days of the year. Six of the eight articles I published on this artist made the top 20 with the other two not far behind. This artist combines some fairly extreme fetish areas with visually attractive images and I expected him to do well here but it's nice to see his subtler, non-S&M imagery also doing well. Of course, Homoeros' multiple successes tends to diminish or block out other worthy and popular articles so I have also prepared a table limiting Homoeros to just his top scoring entry.

Posn	Title (+link)	Hits	Published
1	IFNB - A Fantasy World of Body Builders	2519	Mar
2	The Art of Homoeros -1	1110	Jul
3	The Art of Sparkieshock	1045	Apr
4	Milking Factories -3	974	May
5	Tentacles in Action	964	Jan
6	Another Milking Factory (No 2)	867	Apr
7	The Art of Opemam77	755	Mar
8	A-Z of Fetish Artists - B2	586	May
9	Phausto's Alley Cat	558	Apr
10	A Hunk Born To Suffer - 3	538	Jan
11	Wrestling Arsenal	529	Dec
12	A Life of Pirates	507	May
13	Malex in Space	522	Feb
14	Mitchell's Last Chance Saloon	477	Mar
15	Bondage by Michael Stokes	472	Jan
16	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Ajay Part 2	450	Feb
17	Most Popular Posts 2017	448	Jan
18	Reraizure	441	Feb
19	The Look of Uncertainty	434	Jan
20	First Catch Your Rogue - 11	399	Apr

Sparkieshock's art at No 3, has similar qualities to Homoeros but with a slightly softer and more accomplished style. He takes Bound Gods style electro-torture scenarios to a level that you might call hyper-realism. In their different ways, these two artists show how art can depict what video makers cannot. The lycra art of Opemam77, further down, unexpectedly completes a trio of 'modern' artists.

Last year my article about Mitch Colby and his dual fetish and wrestling careers did well, but that was eclipsed in 2018 by the 'Wrestling Arsenal' review which is the first ever December post to make it into the top 20 (thanks more to the referrals from that site rather than my journalistic talents!). Naturally posts from January have an enormous advantage over December in simple hit counts terms, in fact 11 of the top 20 articles this year come from Jan and Feb! So it's not surprising that nothing else after August even made the cut, which at 472 was the highest ever, beating the previous record of 426 in 2014. All articles scored higher than the equivalent ranking position last year, most by substantial margins of 50% or more (View last years table). This is partly only partly accounted for by the 25% increase in number of visits to mitchmen overall.

Other notable entries are the two follow-up articles featuring Milking Factories which almost matched the success of the original Milking Factory fantasies published in 2017. The popularity of this scenario is not hard to understand, being built on a fundamental male fantasy for tops and bottoms alike. The best of these artists bring it to life on a scale video creators could not afford.

The remarkable Tentacles GIF not far behind completes a memorable top-6 line-up 

(with 'Rogue 11 at no 20 making it a double debut year for GIF's in this review).

'A-Z of Fetish Artist' articles used to feature prominently in these charts and it's good to see 3 of the old-guard (B2, Malex and Ajay) making an appearance. I'm pleased two of my own creations also made the adjusted top 20 – 'Last Chance Saloon' and the re-captioning of Julius 'Pirates' image. Seven of the top 20 articles were photograph-based up from 4 last year

Average Hit Rates

I mentioned above how early articles benefit from being visible for a longer period of time, so finally, I worked out how this table would look if I took into account the publication date (i.e. days on the site) as well as the total hits.

On this measure (ave hit rate per 365 days) Wrestling Arsenal (9,195) takes top spot by a colossal margin with IFNB (3,096) second. Then comes Homoeros-1 (2,426), Milking Factories and Sparkieshock. The rest of the order doesn't change much.

However this method is no less flawed than the simple comparison of totals, giving undue weight to later postings which fit their initial surge of readers into a shorter timescale. Wrestling Arsenal is a telling example and most December posts multiplied by 12 would challenge the leaders. 

Remember, this comparison is only made for entertainment, since I don't really know how accurate Google's stats are, I suspect they don't even count people who just browse through the blog roll.

 

If you want to look at previous years surveys click on the 'MPP' label below

Thank you to all my readers for your interest in my blog, 
I will publish the updated all-time list of favourites shortly. 

Happy New Year!

Mitchell's Fetish Art - Devil's Work

Mitchell - Staked Out (Devil's Work)

 In the 4th article of my series about WWII comic books, I showed an image of a British soldier staked out in the desert  and speculated about it's considerable homoerotic and fetish potential. In this image I flesh that fantasy out. Literally so, because this unfortunate captive has had his shirt ripped open and his shorts and underwear removed, exposing him to the full power of the desert sun (amongst other hot things).

This may not be the only torture he has suffered, the fifth stake suggests. But he's not an information-bearing officer like the original scenario. He's a mere private, a young man barely past the age of conscription.
Have his colleagues arrived too late to save him?

Is a touching and sexy reunion with his 'special chum' in the unit imminent?

For those of you who are mystified by my interest in ancient Boy's Comics,
I hope this goes some way to explaining it.

~

In my re-imagining I drew heavily on the original image (below) but did not attempt to fully emulate that artist's technique in which deep shadowing is used to create the impression of a setting sun. This might be a metaphor for the ebbing away of the life of the victim following lengthy exposure and torture and also the long search by his unit as they scoured the desert trying to find him.  The shading of the sky rather than the ground adds an ominous note, but seems counter-intuitive until you think about the deep blue tones of dusk in the tropics. The contrast reinforces the impression of a bleak parched landscape

Staked Out (original image from War Picture Library No 1765 'Tough Guy', p36)

My admiration for the original artist grew as I recreated the rescue vehicle, approaching in a cloud of dust. In the original picture, it is created almost entirely by shadowing but still seems to show incredible detail. The mudguards and headlights for example. On the side of the lorry a few patches of white trick the eye into seeing bulk and hidden detail that is amazingly convincing. 

Check out the economy of the victim's facial features as well.

The pattern of shadowing is not entirely consistent, the stakes suggest a different direction for the sun (perhaps indicative of a different source image) but that's a minor quibble. When you consider that this picture is just one out of a total of 130 in the whole book, the attention to quality is astonishing. It's also a superb lesson for any aspiring artist (in which group I include myself) of the importance of creating shape in an image, not just tracing outlines.

Incidentally, the expression 'Good grief' used in the speech bubble was fairly archaic even back in the 1960's and indicative of a 'good upbringing' in which outright swearing was forbidden. As a Sergeant Sam Kingsby (what a terrible surname that is!) would probably have had a more earthy background. The expression has since been devalued somewhat by it's adoption as a comical catch-phrase in the Charlie Brown cartoons.

For other War Comic fantasies click on the label below
View Bizarre Brutality No 2

War Picture Library was published by Fleetway Press (IPC)

Be Careful What You Wish For! (Julius modified)

There's nothing wrong with cross-generational lust as long as it's mutual and the ages are over and not under. I'm a great admirer of Julius Art but not of his captions recounting tales of exploited adolescents,
which I simply won't publish here. 

The young men in this picture from 'School for Sinners' don't even look underage but Julius has captured a sense of blossoming manhood in the central figure that deserves appreciation. Removing the original caption and transporting them to an all-adult, Military context substitutes a legitimate scenario with a disciplinary edge and rehabilitates the handsomely-imagined older man.

I'd love to see a variant in which the 'Sergeant' doing his rounds is still in uniform, disguising his own excitement and thereby putting him in a position to give these two a proper military dressing down (while noting Private Taylor's name for special fatigues sometime in the future)!

Other mitchmen-modified Julius images in this blog: The Pirate, The Hospital Shave 

My A-Z article on Julius

The Humour of Bazz

Bazz - Computer 01

The wicked humour of Bazz is featured regularly at GMBA 

(current link in sidebar, Google zaps it occasionally)

Be aware that some of his work is not for the squeamish
 or those averse to political incorrectness.

See also Dream 06,  The Job

Bazz also has a Google group 'Best of Bazz'

The Looks that say 'Christmas Came Early This Year'

For anyone who is alone, or feels alone this Christmas

Santa seems to occupy a  parallel, elastic, time continuum on Christmas Eve

giving him enough time to deliver presents to all the boys and girls in the world.

But it's still a pretty hectic schedule, so he must feel a bit rushed sometimes.
A bit like an NHS Doctor I suppose.

He likes to give all the deserving, gay boys exactly what they ask for.
(partly to dispell those nasty rumours about him and Rudolph)

But the trouble is they all want the same thing, every year,
so it's understandable if it doesn't always come out quite as intended.
Particularly when the 'wish list' is a tattoo and it's presented like this.

There's a get out clause though.
The recipient is not really supposed to be awake when Santa cums.
So that makes him a bad boy really, not a good boy. 
But at least he got something for staying up.
The last lad on Santa's list may find there's nothing left in the sack.
Well, Santa's only human!

This is 'Look' No 15, for others click on the label below.

It's also an addendum to 'Silly Hat' No 10
Actually, the jaunty angle almost rescues it from being silly.
It's floppy tip is particularly poignant in this sad scene.
(click on 'Hats' label below for more Silly Hats)

Photo credit: Ace Era and Dylan James from Lucas Entertainment

Life imitates Art

 Brenn Wyson (right) is a bit of a 'jobber' for Bound Gods and easily overlooked in porn star terms, but as this picture shows he has an enviable physique. He's seen here trying out his boy scout knots on Adam Port, a luckless hiker who picked the wrong day to go down to the woods.

Should have gone to the tattoo parlour, Adam.

This aerial, outdoor spreadeagled stretch looks most impressive and must feel pretty exposed and scary for the naked Adam Port. Behind him Wyson has given himself unrestricted space for wielding the leather flail that is essential equipment for every lurker-in-the-woods. That cute little ass makes a perfect target but he must be puzzling how to reach higher up when he gets bored with tattoed buns.

This bondage scenario is almost certainly inspired by the Cavelo image of captive cowboys being tortured by 'Native Americans' (btw why is 'native' more OK than 'indian'?)

which in turn was inspired by this pulp fiction illustration

See more on this connection in my A-Z article on Cavelo

Back in the woods....

The Bound Gods scene cleverly utilises a natural tree shape to create a restraining frame that allows the captive to rest his weight on his feet, but his legs are in a fairly stretched position that must have gotten pretty uncomfortable after a while. A longer stay (overnight for example) in a true captivity situation would exhaust the toughest man and if your tormentors returned in the morning equipped with staves, spears or just long, whippy branches cut from nearby trees, well.......look out Adam!

Adam Port's nudity makes him looks majestic from this direction, perfectly in tune with his surroundings but  the prospect of a frontal assault soon wipes out any complacency he may have developed about being out of reach.

A below-the-belt, very ouch! moment seems in prospect if Wyson's strike misses his mark. 

Photos: Bound Gods - Brenn Wyson captures Adam Port (2011)

Mitchell's Fetish Art for December - Feeding Time

Feeding Time

In the 'Long Gallery' of a luxurious, stately home,
a naked man sits, restrained, inside a slowly-filling aquarium tank.
Now that the water has risen above his head, he is reliant on a flimsy tube for air.
or else must make strenuous, awkward movements to lift his head above water.
Meanwhile his fellow occupants circle ominously, watching him tire.

Previously published as part of my 'Neighbourhood Police' Story,

but I thought it made a nice sequel to the October picture of the month .

The two pictures are contemporary with one another
and the formative influences discussed in October apply equally to this picture.
It would also fit in with the story outline presented in that article,
although I didn't plan to use it that way when I drew it.

For those who collect my pictures, this is a new copy  with less obtrusive watermarks

for other mitchmen pictures by Mitchell, click on the 'mitchpix' label below
or visit my Gallery Hub (using the tab at the top of the page)