Stanton: An Early Influence

A number of the artists I'd like to review are rather obscure and there is little I can find out about them.  I suppose that is the nature of this kind of art.  But such is not the case of this next artist who had a long and prolific career that spanned decades.  Heck, he's one of the few fetish artists to end up with a Wikipedia page.  So that brings us to...

Evil Dolly's Featured Fetish Artist of the Day:  Eric Stanton.

Eric Stanton (1926 - 1999) started his career at the tender age of 21, making illustrations for Klaw's publications from the 40s through the 60s.  We seem to be developing a theme here, as the previous featured artist, Tom, also appears to have done some work for Klaw magazines.  And he won't be the last.  A lot his better-known early work comes from the Bizarre Comix publications made from serials from the early 50s.

Stories originally from 1952, I believe.

Now, I didn't choose to write about Stanton simply because he is well-known and no list of fetish artists would be complete without him.  No, I chose him because his work influenced me personally at a young age.  My father collected a lot of erotica, you see, including clippings from a Stanton issue of Bizarre Comix.  Why just clippings?  I have no idea.  He kept all this stuff responsibly locked away, of course.  And, of course, a precocious adolescent Evil Dolly rose to the challenge and secretly found a way into it, where she found, among other things, samples of Stanton's art.  But don't say, "Oh, exposure to all that must have corrupted you!"  I already liked this stuff.  I was born liking it.  Regardless, Stanton's imagination left its mark on my own very early on.  Though it wasn't until my college years that I met someone with a full set of these comics (before such things could be found on the internet), allowing me to see them complete for the first time.

For this brief overview, I'll mainly focus on Stanton's early work since that's what I enjoy the most, and because his later period is much different in style and subject matter.  They could almost be considered seperate bodies of work.  His early art style had a certain look to it -- inked, tight lines, heavy shading.  Almost sculptural.  Later on, his style would become looser and softer and at times much more watercolory... a little more free form and organic.  His women had distinctive faces and, even though the faces evolved over time, they all make his works easily recognizable.

Early period.

Later period.

As for subject matter, the Klaw era themes focused mostly on female-on-female bondage predicaments, perils, and oft-inexplicable punishments.  It was the style of the time.  There was never any nudity.  He seemed to enjoy drawing girls in stringent bondage and contorted poses.  There is a prevalence of crotch-high laced boots, impossibly tiny corseted waists, gloves and hoods.  Lots of snug leather outfits fastened tightly with dozens of meticulously drawn laces.  He drew a lot of hoods and masks that hid the gagged wearer behind life-like or sometimes doll-like faces.  Armbinders were common, and he sometimes used outfits that completely hid the arms, smooshing them against the back, making the woman helpless and, ah, smoothing out her silhouette... giving us that armless look that we all enjoy.

 

Everyone knows ponies don't need arms! Silly pony.

There was much spanking and discipline to be had in every conceivable way, infernal machines, and encumberances.  The storylines' excuses for such things could get rather contrived... well, it's bondage just for the sake of it.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  It seems almost innocent in that regard;  with the lack of sex and nudity it becomes more of a showcase for inventive bondage, damsels in distress, and bizarre fashion.  Of course, in reality, it was meant to be extremely erotic to those who would appreciate it.

The bound women were sometimes used as furniture or decoration.  Perhaps that stuck with me.  Consider the fact that my slave role generator includes both Furniture Slaves and Art Objects.  A bound girl used as a vanity table?  Impractical, yes... but it never goes out of style!  Plus: ergonomic seating.

This is, of course, just a very broad overview which barely scratches the surface of only a short period in Stanton's long career.  After working for Klaw up through the 60s, he went on to such things as making short books he called "Stantoons" and drew his "Blunder Broad" series about a superherione who is regularly soundly defeated and fucked.  It's good stuff, but it's not my favorite.  I prefer the older drawings.  I like the look of it, the nature of the bondage, and all the fun outfits.

So that's how they get tiny waists. Welded steel corsets!

And this thing.. doing.. whatever it does.

'Yeah, the employment agency screwed me. But at least the hours are good!'

After Klaw, Stanton's work would get much more sexual and explicit.  The bondage and torture would grow much more graphic, with frequent use of heavy breast torture.  I wonder if he grew bored with the older stuff with the changing times and expanded his horizons or, freed from the constraints of publishing in the 50s, he simply started drawing more of what he always wanted to draw.  Here you can see the looser style, along with more a more polished, more painful piece.  I love the brief interaction in the one on the left.  Telling someone to relax before plopping their sore butt on a bristly welcome mat.  That's how it's done.

Later on, he would veer heavily into the area of femdom/male sub, with tiny men being wrestled into submission and physically dominated and abused by giantess-statured, pathologically cruel women.  His women became more muscular and fuller-figured with exaggerated breasts and vast round backsides.  Some were hermaphroditic with huge penises.  Emasculating the men even further, no doubt.  Face-sitting and toilet slavery became very common themes.  That's all well and good, and while I do love a good butt-smothering, I'm only dealing with the older work otherwise the review could go on forever.

Some of Stanton's work is available in collections, I saw some on Amazon, including biographies that can go into much greater detail on the man.  Some of the Bizarre Comix get reprinted now and then, and I'm sure there are originals around but I don't expect you'd find them cheap.  But, by all means, if this is new to you and I've piqued your interest, check it out.  It's a huge body of work.  Thank you, Stanton, wherever you are:  may you be eternally smothered by the cruel giantesses you so loved.

All images are copyright Stanton and are used here for review purposes only.