Guys, don’t even pretend that you’ve never thought of Lois Lane in “that way.” Perhaps one of your fantasies even mirrors those depicted in SECRET IDENTITY: THE FETISH ART OF SUPERMAN’S CO-CREATOR JOE SHUSTER. Here, comics historian Craig Yoe has uncovered a side of Shuster that no one knew existed: a desperate gig in the 1950s illustrating stroke stories for porno mags.
There’s a whole twisted story behind the crude, underground publications, which Yoe reveals led to a bizarre “thrill killers” murder trial. And to think that the co-creator of the clean-cut Superman was all caught up in it. It’s absurd! It’s inane! It’s the true-comics find of the year!
Yoe’s essay on the sordid matter kickstarts the book, but the bulk of it is devoted to full-page and full-spread (no pun intended) samples of the art in question. I’m sure it was shocking for its time, but today’s it’s mostly just titillating (again, no pun intended). Any shock generated — among non-hysterics, that is — stems from the fact that Shuster would be involved in such a venture that would have him draw, say, a woman’s hindquarters jutting into the air.
Page after page yields example after example of a comely, curvy woman — many looking not unlike Lois Lane — clad only in lacy, frilly undergarments, tied up or otherwise submissive — but not always — to a man (and, on occasion, another woman). Although the stories these pictures accompanied might have been pornographic, the art is strictly tease — Shuster exposes nothing more than a breast here and there, not daring to venture south. —Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• BOODY: THE BIZARRE COMICS OF BOODY ROGERS edited by Craig Yoe
• CLEAN CARTOONISTS’ DIRTY DRAWINGS by Craig Yoe
