Art by Remi

Remi - Vice & Groans

Remi is an artist who has wide-ranging interests including occult and fem-dom imagery but his pictures featuring bondage and threat will be of most interest to readers of the mitchmen blog. This striking and rather stylish, fake magazine cover image showing a young man suspended upside down in a web of chains is a powerful expression of the Mystery that is S&M. 

The man we see is young enough to be a novice. The ritualistic leather briefs he was given to wear were sexy to put on and provided a temporary illusion of protection and modesty. A symbol of his initiation. The binding with cold chains and handling thrilled him. Now, blindfolded, gagged and totally disoriented, he can only wonder what is going to happen to him next. How much will they hurt him? Will he have to beg them to stop - and will they stop if he does? Will his darkest and most intimate feelings and longings be exposed and fulfilled when they come to open that symbolic zip? Will he beg them for more?

 

Remi - Chained

There's a similar sense of brooding mystery in this image as two chained prisoners reflect tearfully on their predicament. They might be buddies or they might be strangers who had never met before they were thrown into this cell together. Now they are simply captives, stored together without clothes or obvious identities, not even differentiated by the colour of their hair.

The winding chains, seemingly loose and almost random, allow them a degree of movement, but that only seems to underline the sense of their entrapment, by showing a residual glimpse of the freedom they used to have. 

The stylised and nicely toned technique is slightly misty and suggestive of a dark, damp and murky dungeon. I am much reminded here of Amalaric's story of the kidnapping of the entire Raytown Softball Team who are snatched from a carefree, sight-seeing ride and incarcerated in a matter of minutes, left to prepare themselves for a lifetime of captivity and naked slavery (see image 8 and description in Art of Amalaic-1).

 

Remi - The Mansion

In this image the same two characters are joined by a third whose despair seems even deeper. The waiting group are set against the satirical image of champagne-guzzling, rich man who presumably is the master of their fates from now on. His flamboyant taste in clothes and lifestyle suggests these boys may have a lively time in his hands. In the background we glimpse a man in pain under a spotlight.

Remi - Sketch

I'm not usually a fan of face-masks because they hide too much of the face, but I love this picture which does not simply depict captivity but total subjugation and control. Far from submitting despairingly, this muscular man strains angrily at his restraints. It's an adaption of the hackneyed, beefcake, biceps flexing  pose but now, rather than showing the usual, casual exhibitionism, it oozes testosterone, struggle and resistance. 

The mask he has been forced to wear has echoes of Hannibal Lector of course and suggests that even if he is not an animal by nature, he's going to be treated like one, like it or not. A glimpse of ropes overhead gives a further clue as to what lies in store for him.

I don't know if the window-like diamond shape behind him has any particular narrative meaning or is simply a design device. You could see it as expressive of boxed-in anger and fractured frustration. The design has echoes in the wallpaper below, where it's symbolism seems overtly erotic to me, reflecting what has happened in the picture. I'm sure mitchmen readers can work that bit out!

Remy - Submit

'Submit' explores a very different emotional palette. It actually seems to depict the consequences of not submitting gracefully (two words which seem utterly inappropriate in an S&M context and yet are the essence of real life 'plays'). I don't have to spell out what has happened to this man. His face registers shock and humiliation, verging on tears. Perhaps too, the growing realisation that he may be facing more of the same. With his arms tightly bound in a shibari-style rope body-harness and body clothed only in a jockstrap designed to promote lust, he has no way of preventing it and is literally wide open. In Remi's world captivity is not a glamorous, self-indulgence.

Remi - Saul and Nathaniel (Play Nice)

Whilst this appears to be a conventional, leather-play image given a stylish design treatment, there also seems to be an attempt to bring out something of the anguished nature of such desires. That's epitomised by the unusual, arm restraint position which imitates a traditional, melodramatic expression of woe and despair and also of simply not wanting to look at what is happening. The captive's body is bathed in a harsh, uncompromising light with a pink tinge that's suggestive of danger, pain or some other extreme sensation. The plug which is the immediate source of his discomfort is highlighted in steely blue, implying a hard, inorganic nature but with an inner light that hints at properties that are significant - challenging, transforming or perhaps altogether other-worldly. 

 

The captive's lover crouches submissively at his crotch, pulling him closer and tentatively leaning forward to lick his bulbous pouch in a most respectful, worshipful manner whilst simultaneously stoking it with the dildo/plug. The pink light casts diabolical highlights onto his eyes and turns his hair into fire as though he's concealing (or temporarily controlling) a raging passion capable of devilish extremes. The draped chains around them seem to express their entrapment in this dangerous and unpredictable coming together of deep, dark desires that are different in each of them, but need and yearn for each others.

Remi - Seat of Anguish 3 (detail)

Remi's 'Seat of Anguish' is a more substantial work, a short narrative in the form of a rather stylish comic. It shows an unconscious captive being brought from his place of captivity and seated on an anal plug by strangely-garbed minions. The place of punishment is a raised dais, bathed in light by a downward-pointing, overhead beam reminiscent of sci-fi transporter technology. It creates an ominous mood of vast power directed with malign, sexual intent at this man who is being put on display and presented it seems like some bizarre, unpleasant entertainment. 

Remi's palette and block colouring, shading style in these images is rather like Picked-A-Peck , although the content couldn't be more different.

Remi - Seat Of Anguish 6 (detail, censored)

Once secured, the captive is tormented by an unseen sadist. The detail of this image is more extreme than I like to show at mitchmen so I've obscured it, but that doesn't detract from the impact of the image. The simple restraint arrangement focusses attention on the plug even though it cannot be seen. The tension in the captive's body as he is punished via a remote controller is remarkably concentrated and graphic.

 

These two extracts  don't do justice to the gently-paced story-telling. The punishment scenario is intense and satisfyingly structured but ultimately perplexing which is an appropriate reflection of the underlying, forbidden feelings it seeks to express.  On a technical level there's a tasteful economy of style.

Read the whole thing: Seat of Anguish

Remi - To Steal A Soul (detail)

This is a detail of a much larger and very ambitious picture dealing with an occult ceremony and a swathe of associated supernatural activity. The mitchmen blog interest lies in the rather more prosaic sight of a captive tied to chair with his hands behind his back. It's almost as if he's been abducted and then transported here from a seedy place of captivity to become the unwilling centrepiece of tonight's 'happening'. The illumination of his body from below is rather interesting, a slightly show-bizzy touch that seems to point up his helplessness and vulnerability as the star of the show in a situation that is beyond his imagining. 

You can see the full image at Deviant art

~

Remi's exploration of bondage and S&M scenarios goes beyond the simple illustration of processes and manly 'fun'. His characters express emotions too as they grapple with desires that are not necessarily pleasant experiences and with situations they have not sought out and cannot control or understand. There's a rawness about his scenarios that doesn't pull punches or paper over consequences to fit in with modern notions of acceptability and that will strike a chord with many mitchmen readers.

~

More galleries - Remi @Telemachus12

plus Remi @Deviant Art has a wider-ranging collection 

Enslaved - No Need To Pack

If you go down to the woods today, you're in for a big surprise.
Demand for under-30's is very strong at the moment.
Owners are looking for long term commitment, you see.

Adapted by mitchmen from an original idea by Bazz (below)

Bazz - Abduction 01 (click to enlarge)

 Other imagery by Bazz at mitchmen

 

'Best of Bazz' (his own website)

Come And Get It! (UPDATED March 2025)

Royale Studio - Solo Sailor Tied in the Rigging 1

My work on the images of the vintage, British 'Royale Studio' has now transferred to the Royale Studio Blog and Gallery. You can see which series are available to view by reference to the Storyette and Model indexes in the right-hand sidebar there. 

Old 'mitchmen' articles with the GIU/Royale label are gradually being moved and republished there with enhanced images and text. That's in addition to some entirely new sets. 

I would encourage you to access the archive and let me know if you have any comments. If you have images of your own to add or link in, I would be delighted to hear from you. You can contact me via comments most easily, but only an e-mail to my profile page address will enable me to message you back. 

Mitchell of mitchmen (Mar 2025)

~ 

GUYS IN UNIFORM POSTS

Posts about 'Guys in Uniform' Studio, a direct descendant of Royale, are still at mitchmen.
(none of them have been revised or archived yet)

I've deliberately included this nice torso image with the 'Guys In Uniform' logo in the corner. Many of their images circulate with the tag 'MIU' (men in uniform) presumably because someone didn't know 'Guys' was the real ID and thought 'Men' sounded better. Sadly both options are virtually useless for internet search purposes, being too commonplace as expressions, so maybe it's just as well that GIU is often confused with Royale Studio, even though they were 10 years apart.

The mitchmen GIU series starts at Guys In Uniform 1 - Cane Stripes (none revised yet)

All these articles (old and new) can be retrieved for individual selection by clicking the 'GIU/Royale' label below

Bizarre Punishments No 7 (cont) - The Desert Rats Story

Two members of the 'Desert Rats' combat unit have be sent on a routine, reconnaissance mission behind the enemy lines. Sergeant Drummond, a man with considerable combat experience is accompanied by a recent recruit, Private Jenkins, whose mettle is as yet untested. That is about to change. The two men are surprised by the enemy and taken captive. They are soon handed over for interrogation and their nightmare begins as they are led into a deep, dark dungeon.

~

 Sergeant Drummond knew the questioning would be aggressive, but he was bemused and horrified when his captors forcibly undressed him. All of his uniform was taken from him, except for his shorts. They had begun removing them too, but the Corporal in charge had stopped them, rebuking them for their indecent, over-enthusiasm. Drummond was strung up by his captors, suspended in the air with his ankles tied below to an ancient winding mechanism from a desert well. It created an improvised 'Rack', a medieval torture device he had heard of at school. He'd never imagined then, that one day he'd experience it's horrific capabilities himself. One particularly muscular guard stood below him and stripped off his own shirt. He started to tighten the wheel and Drummond felt the ropes tighten, the tension in his arms and legs increasing. At that moment the Commandant arrived.

Mitchell - Desert Rat 1, Sgt Drummond Captured

The Commandant wasted no time in trying to extract information, but Sergeant Drummond was a mature and experienced soldier and had no intention of giving any. The tension in the ropes gradually increased as the wheel was turned by the torturer, pitting these two men against each other in a sweaty, crude test of physical strength. Drummond's joints seared with pain but he resisted the relentless questioning of the Commandant.

After twenty minutes or so, the Officer paused and turned to Private Jenkins. He had been forced to stand and watch this terrible treatment of his NCO*, a man whom he admired and respected as a mentor. Now his turn had come, but he resisted as the guards began to strip him too. Some well-placed body punches quelled this resistance and he too was soon strung up facing the Sergeant, feeling the tug of the ropes as the muscular shoulders of the torturer addressed his wheel........

*Non-Commissioned Officer, men promoted from the ranks to command small units

 

The Commandant surveyed Jenkins' tensioned body with interest. Drummond's bulky physique was a fitting subject for his Rack, but this slender, young man's torso, though prettily shaped, would quickly break like a twig under it's harsh leverage. Jenkins didn't even have the information the Commandant wanted, but the threat to him would make Drummond talk eventually. However, the Sergeant was a proud and wily soldier, so he would resist as long as possible. It wouldn't do, to break the boy and let Drummond off the hook, before it could happen. He motioned the torturer to stop winding and a deep silence settled on the dungeon, broken only by Jenkins' mournful whimpering and Drummond's soft, more manly groans as he sought to endure the agony in his own limbs. 

 

Mitchell - Desert Rat 2, Private Jenkins Captured

 

These interrogations were sometimes long affairs and this looked like being one of them. It was necessary to pause from time to time in cases like this, to impress on the captives how hopeless their resistance was. He and his men could have a coffee and rest or catch up on what was going on outside the dungeon. He was about to leave when something caught his eye. The guards had left both men's shorts undone at the waist and the writhing of the bodies inside them had caused them to drop below waist level, where they were kept in place only by the bulk of the men's thighs and the spreading of their legs by the pull of the winder ropes. A patch of dark hair was just visible in the 'V' of Jenkins' open flies. Below it was an intriguing bulge. Perhaps there was another way to make Drummond talk. He gave the order to strip them both naked.

It was some hours later when the Commandant returned. Night had fallen and the gloom and chill of the dungeon had deepened, relieved only by the warm glow of a brazier which the guards had lit to warm their hands. During his absence, the torment of the two men had continued but with the worst levels of the rack kept in reserve, in the hope that Drummond might be persuaded (but kept intact) by relentless but relatively moderate pain. The bodies of both suspended men were coated with sweat which gleamed in the light of the fire and the candles overhead. Drummond in particular was a magnificent sight. Despite his comrade's agony (which was only too apparent now) he still hadn't cracked. It was not entirely unexpected but the Commandant's patience had waned now and so he addressed Drummond more bluntly.

Mitchell - Desert Rat 3, Sgt Drummond Naked

 

The Commandant's words chilled Drummond to the marrow. He was being given a choice between new sources of unimaginable pain and an equally unimaginable ordeal in the tempting comfort of the Commandant's bed. Drummond was a career soldier, a man's man. He understood pain but not this. He had no knowledge of the (to him) dark and sinister world of men who furtively sought intimacy with other men (though he suspected other men in his unit did). Brave though he was, the unknown terrors of a night of intimate contact with the cruel and sadistic Commandant, as a captive in his bed, scared him more than any amount of pain. His response should have been defiant, but instead he had resorted to bleating about the Geneva Convention like a pathetic, barrack room lawyer. As if these torturers cared anything about the Geneva Convention!  It was a measure of how much the words had shaken him. Jenkins had lifted his head and was looking at him and he felt ashamed.

 

Drummond's confusion did not go unnoticed by the Commandant. He ordered a fierce twist of the wheel to remind him that there was still worse to come for him. Drummond cried out involuntarily as the sudden escalation took him and his seared muscles by surprise. Thankfully it also drove the nightmare imaginings out of his mind temporarily and he shook his head when the offer was repeated. The Commandant pursed his lips, as though bored with the game. He turned to Jenkins and surveyed his taut body with obvious appreciation.

Mitchell - Desert Rat 2, Private Jenkins Naked

 Even after all he had suffered that long day, the Commandant's contempt for his manhood still had the power to sting Jenkins and it showed. As if sympathising, the torturer spoke up for him, pointing out that it was only the pain that was responsible for his diminishment. The Commandant snorted that Drummond did not seem to have the same problem, momentarily forgetting to reprimand the underling for his unrequested intervention.

The exchange made Drummond feel guilty. His intransigence had put pressure on an inexperienced subordinate and now he was exposing Jenkins to a terrible exploitation that words could not describe. (They could actually, only Drummond did not have them). Given what had happened to them already, their outlook was bleak anyway. Torture was a war crime, so the Commandant would probably have them both executed as an insurance against repercussions. He had managed to delay the questioners long enough to know that his unit would have moved to a new location by now, as a precaution after realising they were missing. He knew his duty lay in a different direction now.

Drummond called out to the Commandant. "Let Jenkins down and I'll talk" he whispered hoarsely, the craven words sticking in his throat, "but not here".

The Commandant turned and smiled at him, knowing exactly what he meant. The burly oaf would probably never understand the genuine warmth his manliness had kindled in a cruel man's breast. If the evening went well he might have a difficult decision tomorrow.

~

The 'Desert Rats' was the nickname given to part of the British 8th Army during WW2. They were credited with turning the tide of the war in North Africa defeating both Axis armies in 1941 and 1942 and driving them out of the continent. Their exploits inspired one of my earliest short stories in which a Desert Rat scout is caught by the enemy and tortured. The picture below depicts the moment when he is taken by surprise and captured. His persona here seems to fit Jenkins better than Drummond.

Mitchell - Desert Rat Captured

You can read my 'Desert Rat' story at the mitchmen archive at Adonis Male. 

Read previous instalments of Bizarre Punishments 7 (The Rack)  

This is No 22 of the 'mitchmen at war' series,
to see the rest click on the 'War Comics' label below.

Ehrlik's Lab Rat Returns

Ehrlik - Modification Machine

 I recently stumbled across this image which had been sitting in my 'waiting to be filed' folder since 2018. I hadn't realised who the artist was before, but it's obviously from the same series as the 'Test Subject' image I posted just over a year ago. Given that I have zero interest in women, it surprises me how sexy I find Ehrlik's fem-dom images to be, but the blog visitor numbers show that I'm not alone in this. Actually I don't find it hard to imagine the lab technician in this picture as an alien rather than a you-know-what.

It helps that this image has a handsome, muscular hero with a truly splendid physique (and classically blond as a guarantee of purity). He's bolted down over an arched frame that forces him into a provocative and highly vulnerable position. Maybe all operating tables should be built like this! It has him ideally positioned for the curious globe and tube attachment which is described in the caption I have as a 'male modification machine' (rude words deleted). 

 

This sounds like the revenge of a far-gone feminist, but to be honest it looks more like a good, old-fashioned milking machine to me. The design reminds me of  the Chem Lab equipment we used at school with gas taps and the bobbly, insulated(?) handles stirring memories of crude electric devices I can't quite pin down from way back. The black colouring gives a retro feel too, it's more associated with cast iron than high performance,, lab metallurgy. Be that as it may, it's still managed to induce a look of utter anguish on the face of the hapless, test subject.

Ehrlik's style is accomplished rendering with a clean look and good sense of composition and lighting. It's quite hard to find images by this artist, they are often posted without any identification attached so finding them is often a matter of chance. I give some tips in the comments on the first post in this series - A hero dragged to his fate. I have some other examples but they tend to feature women too prominently - and men with long hair which I gave up long ago!

The Look of A Cornered Man

 

An unannounced visitor was the last thing Brad ever expected in his remote retreat.

He liked the isolation of the place which meant he could go naked when he wanted. 

He'd just got out of bed, showered and was enjoying a morning stretch in the open air.

Then this shock, he hadn't heard any knock at the door but he never left it unlocked.

 

The intruder smiled at him, chains clinking faintly as he savoured the man's nudity

Of course Brad knew exactly why he was there, he could see the sadness in his eyes.

 He tossed the fetters towards him and they crashed onto the floor at his feet.

Sometimes, if he waited, the target would just pick them up and put them on.

 

 Brad was considering jumping over the balcony to escape from him.

But taking his chances in the forest, totally naked, was a daunting prospect.

He'd deliberately chosen this wild, remote place to keep people away

But if he fled there, the Catcher would just hunt him down with his darts
 

Watching his fear and turmoil the Catcher felt a pang of sympathy for the man.

On the run for 10 years now since absconding, he probably thought he must be safe.

Every year of freedom, every year older, had diminished his market value as a slave.

But every year the bounty on his head had increased, along with the reprisals he faced.

 

Catchers didn't allow themselves emotions, a runaway was just wage packet to them.

But there was something special about this spunky guy that appealed to him.

He had escaped with literally nothing, but got himself a life and some prime real estate. 

Even at 40, he looked good, smooth bodied, lean and rangy, just needing a shave and a haircut

The Catcher was tempted, but he wasn't going to give up his bounty for on a whim

and if he didn't take this guy back another Catcher would soon track him down.

But on the other hand, selling this house would easily cover the reward he was due

and leave enough over for him to buy Brad's slave indenture from his present owner.

It was a nice idea, Brad could be his 'companion' for as long as he wanted him.

He wouldn't be able to free him, but then why would he want to while he still had a value?

He'd also have to punish him severely for escaping, that was the law, sorry 'bout that Brad.

He just had to get him to sign over the house, before it could be confiscated by the State.

 

The Catcher scratched his chin, "I'll tell you what I'll do, Brad" he said.

~

This is No 23 of 'The Look', for more click on the label below

I find this photo strangely erotic although it's quite old with dated hair styling on the model and an equally unfashionable face. It's Marcus Cobb by Colt Studio. This model is unusually naturalistic and lightly muscled for them, with a trim, soft, genuinely sexy body that looks as though it's just been unwrapped. The absence of any erection makes him seem vulnerable and in need of consolation. It's that and the sense of sudden intrusion that turns me on.

The Art of Absolutbleu 6 - You've Got Milk!

Absolutbleu - A Visit To The Doctor

 

The Doctor's Surgery only qualifies as a 'gay haunt' in the annals of porn fantasies, but as you might expect, the Absolutbleu-Flirt will find cause to attend one with an intimate problem. He smirks at us in satisfaction as his ballooning physique meets with the usual awed and lustful response. For once, touching is in order but the Medics show an unprofessional eagerness to start examining him.

Absolutbleu has used a slightly different style here, colouring a semi-refined drawing with a watercolour effect, the treatment of shadowing is bold and confident (e.g. the gloves). The veins in the A-Flirt's arms are a detail that underlines his genuine interest in real muscle.

 

Absolutbleu - A Medical Phenomenon

This diptych tells the story of a different medical patient. He's a stereotypical American Muscle Jock with square jaw and buzz haircut topping off an amazing (almost feminine) hourglass figure. We see him (left) getting joyously laid in his purple muscle thong, but a few months later strange things have started happening to his body (right)! The Doctor celebrates a discovery which will transform his career but the pregnant and lactating jock is dismayed by the changes in his body. He's probably dreading having to tell the father.

Pregnant men are not a new idea but I can't recall having seen milk-spurting pecs illustrated like this anywhere else in gay erotica . You'd think it would connect to an interest in the fetish of nipple sucking. Admiration of voluptuous breasts obviously lies at the core of Absolutbleu's art and they often get handled in his images - cupped, squeezed or used as a place to park heads and cocks. Strangely, though, lips and nipples sometimes get close but never seem to touch.

Absolutbleu - Animal Milk

I suspect this image may be a clue to the evolution of the artist's thought processes, with an ox-like 'manimal' giving up milk from his pec-udder instead of the usual style of male ejaculation. I imagine this fantasy creature is inspired by a computer game character but haven't identified him. Game-inspired scenarios form a significant chunk of Absolutbleu's output, but it's not a subject I know much about so I don't try to cover it in any depth in these articles. 

Games aside, Man-Bull morphs (minotaurs) have a long history, having been used to express the animal sexuality and strength of males since ancient times and were notably revived by Picasso in the 1930's. Absolutbleu concentrates on the bulk of the creature rather than it's earthier characteristics such as hair and animal features. The beast might easily be a captive although we can't see any restraints. If it has a male organ, it isn't visible, the erotic power lies in his (apparent) exploitation by the smaller characters, a theme that we've seen in other images.

 One man here tries to catch the spurting milk in his mouth (almost as though it had magical properties) but he doesn't get close enough to suck from the source. In fact, despite the explicit coupling that's implied, the two men seem oddly detached from the beast as though they were completing a serious task or challenge (like the Labours of Hercules), rather than indulging in a forbidden lust. For me, the milk-catchers' sensuously-shaded G-string cum loin cloth is the sexiest part of this image (and the only explicit evidence of a cock) .

 

Absolutbleu - Blank Milked

In this extraordinary image, a highly stylised, muscle bunny is hung up by his thong, plugged in the butt and left to have his pecs milked by an unseen, suction machine. This picture draws parallels between pec milking and the cock-centred kind shown in the mitchmen milking factory series, including an element of forcible restraint and the replacement of human interaction by a mechanical extraction device. Despite that connection, the eroticism here is muted. This image primarily seems to gently mock muscle folk's obsession with their own pec size.

Absolutbleu - Beach Milk Fest

There's no lack of human interaction in this picture which celebrates mighty pecs and their bearers (barer's?). It looks like a group of beach bunnies (from Bulges Bar?) have had their gossip interrupted by a mischievous group of passing lads who grab their tits and squeeze them, causing milk to spray out, drenching each other. It's what you might call a 'white shower' orgy (as opposed to a golden one). Somewhat surprisingly, the erotic effect of pec-milk cascading over muscular bodies is much the same, but more wholesome, obviously! 

The matching, skimpy tops of the muscle-hunks reiterate that sense of muscle club exclusivity seen in other images, but nevertheless this energetic invasion seems to be welcomed by the members of this clique, who perhaps see it as flattery, due reward for their efforts in the gym.

Like other images in this group there are no male organs in sight although the poses here suggest coupling might be taking place out of sight, down below. This feature may be a result of self-censorship for publication reasons, this particular image looks as if it might have been cropped.

Absolutbleu - Christmas Milk and Cookies

 

This artist is so prolific in producing Christmas images that it's impossible to ignore them and this one is quite a good example of our pec-milking theme anyway, with a muscle hunk condemned to selling cookies from a tray, completely nude, and also being used as a walking milk dispenser. His ultra-strong spray has produced embarrassing results, but his discomfort is also be due to the erotic arousal that all this handling by strangers has induced. He seems to using his tiny tray to hold down his enlarging organ, it can barely hide it. 

Compare with the humiliated Cafe Waiter in Part 5

Absolutbleu - Angel Milked

 

The fallen angel is a fantasy stereotype that has much appeal for gay artists, providing an opportunity to combine erotic themes with a traditional, serious art construct (e.g. see Luxuris). Succumbing to temptation is a universal gay experience anyway but this context also allows us to poke fun at religious hypocrisy. Absolutbleu also seems to see it as another vehicle for breaking down the barrier that muscle hunks seem to hide behind. By characterising this one as an angel falling from grace, he seems to be linking their aloofness with old-fashioned religious 'goodness' and sexual abstinence, which is also traditionally a prerequisite for athletic prowess. 

That apartness only serves to make the angel's 'essence' all the more desirable, venerated even, by the demons of this universe (which I guess means the rest of us!). They capture him, induce him into sexual arousal and milk him into a golden chalice. He is clearly humiliated by their handling of his body, fearfully enlightened too perhaps about the joys of forceful sex, but the classical connotations seem to imply that he may ultimately be cast out of his clique for this lapse.  

Absolutbleu - Heroes ina Barren World

This image seems to echo those sentiments of purity with two (computer game?) heroes helping each other to negotiate a grey, barren landscape littered with phallic erections. A fragment of bright sky promises a happy future for the two buddies if they stick together. That's a message that wouldn't be out of place in a teen comic (and indeed, the War Comics that I periodically feature at mitchmen do sometimes include phallic rocks, but that's a different subject for another day!). 

It's quite hard to read the symbolism here. The caution of the heroes seems to imply that the rocks are dangerous and poised to sully the unwary. But they look quite dead and it may be that they are the remains of previous heroes who failed to negotiate this obstacle. It may be just a matter of context but there's a curious, niggling negativity or reserve about sex in this image and to some extent in the preceding one, but it's heightened by the dark tones here. It's quite different to the usual joyous work of this artist and yet seems significant in a way I cannot fathom (is it about good sex and bad sex?) .

Absolutbleu - Santa's Grotto

There's obviously no sexual reserve here as three lads take it (literally) in turns to make a wish in Santa's (rather opulent) Grotto. Of course, Santa turns out to be a muscle hunk, but the artist also creates an association with the 'Daddy' phenomenon that's not evident elsewhere in his work. Perhaps the disguise allows him the freedom to cross the divide and indulge himself with ordinary men. This understated but convincing depiction of sex as a simple, mutual pleasure and indeed as a reward for being good, is actually one of this artist's more notable works. I like the idea of 'bottom icing', very festive! Notice also the suggestive detailing of the gift at Santa's feet.

Absolutbleu - Reinhardt-vs-Vampire-Killer

 Although I have identified this character, I haven't researched the background scenario, but I imagine this is not the same outcome as the original! I have included this image mainly for it's (mild) bondage content which is quite a rarity in this artist's work. The vibrating plug suggests oriental origins.

 

There's some intriguing grey body colouring here which may connect with the Vampire theme, is that vibrator sucking his blood? For me, the knee high armour is a slightly feminine erotic device but there's no arguing with the cock bondage!

 

Absolutbleu - Kitten and Wool

This final image casting a muscle-hunk as a cuddly kitten also hints at bondage. It's a world away from the hunk's Daddy role as Santa (above) and equally distant from the cliquish Beach Bunnies we've seen, but it shows this artist's unflagging humour and deep affection for his muscle men. Plus I would suggest, a subliminal desire to capture one and have him as a pet. This characterisation is actually not all that odd if you think about it. Cats are aloof too.

 

~

Read this mitchmen series from Part 1 

where you will also find links to several galleries featuring this artist's work