# Comic fans, what's the straight dope on the history of sex in comics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-fans-whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-history-of-sex-in-comics/307755 "2005-06-10T16:40:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-fans-whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-history-of-sex-in-comics/307755/21 "2005-06-11T05:03:50Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > I think Exapno might be kinda surpised, here. By what? I’m the one who told you to look for good girl and headlights shots from the 40s. I only denied that Batman was using them in 1939. But you shouldn’t think that any of these poses, any of the bondage imagery, or any of the dishabille comes out of the comic world. These illos are stolen almost directly from the pulp magazines of the 20s and 30s. Women in bondage was an almost constant theme in every type of pulp. In crime books, the bad guys tied them up. In science fiction, aliens tied them up. In weird fantasy, monsters and ghouls and mad doctors tied them up. See [Uncovered: The Hidden Art Of The Girlie Pulps](http://www.adventurehouse.com/uncovered/uncovered.htm). > [@](#): > > Reviewer: Douglas Ellis from Chicago, IL USA > As the author of this book, I thought I’d post a brief description of it here. UNCOVERED contains over 400 pulp cover reproductions, all in full color. In addition, the history of these magazines – their publishers, artists, writers and their struggle to survive – is examined in 30,000 words of text, covering titles such as SPICY ADVENTURE STORIES, SAUCY MOVIE TALES, GAY PARISIENNE, VICE SQUAD DETECTIVE, LA PAREE STORIES, PARIS NIGHTS, SCARLET ADVENTURESS, SNAPPY DETECTIVE MYSTERIES and many others. Although there were many players in the field, during the 1930’s it was dominated by the magazines of Harry Donenfeld, who would later go on to greater success with the company that eventually became DC Comics. You haven’t seen anything until you page through the illustrations from the Spicy line - Spicy Adventure, Detective, Mystery, Screen, and Western Stories. The girls are nuder than in other pulps because it’s easier to torture them while naked. Check out [Saucy/Spicy Magazines](http://www.philsp.com/lists/sy_mag02.html). And check out both the headlights and girls in bondage on this series of Fight Comics covers on [this page](http://members.aol.com/covers3/crypt.html). And [Classic Good Girl & Romance Covers](http://www.samuelsdesign.com/comics/agoodgirl_romance.html). There are zillions. Lots of the publishers, writers, editors and artists switched over to comics when the pulps lost favor at the end of the 30s compared to the rocket success of comic books. You can see a clear line between them. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-fans-whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-history-of-sex-in-comics/307755/22 "2005-06-12T20:22:52Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > Shouldn’t she have six of them? Six would be overkill. Omaha manages the two she has _very_ well… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-fans-whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-history-of-sex-in-comics/307755/23 "2005-06-12T20:58:18Z")
Are you restricting yourself to American comics, because otherwise you might look up the British WW2 cartoon, ‘Jane’. And for a humourous side-swipe, look up the “Phil’n’Dixie” cartoons by Phil Foglio (Of Xxxenophile fame) in earlier editions of Dragon Magazine ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-fans-whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-history-of-sex-in-comics/307755/24 "2005-06-12T22:08:00Z")
It’s important to understand that in the 1930’s & early 1940’s, the newspaper strips were the definite big-time, & the dedicated comic books were sometimes seen as fannish efforts–a bit like webcomics today. Don’t think you’ve seen the whole picture without comparing comic-book ladies to the _femmes fatales_ in strips like **Terry & the Pirates**. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-fans-whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-history-of-sex-in-comics/307755/25 "2005-06-12T22:11:44Z")
And of course, the further out of the mainstream a format is, the more uncensored it can be. As comic books sold enormous quantities to children in the 1940’s, the seeds of being seen as a monolithic mainstream enterprise in their own right (like “network television” today) were planted. Of course, that perception of comic books as all one thing was a function of an adult society to whom they were newfangled. But it’s that perception which fed the calls for censorship. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-fans-whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-history-of-sex-in-comics/307755/26 "2005-06-12T23:13:55Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > It’s important to understand that in the 1930’s & early 1940’s, the newspaper strips were the definite big-time, & the dedicated comic books were sometimes seen as fannish efforts–a bit like webcomics today. Don’t think you’ve seen the whole picture without comparing comic-book ladies to the _femmes fatales_ in strips like **Terry & the Pirates**. And then compare Caniff’s **Terry and the Pirates** to his **Male Call** strips for the army – featuring Miss Lace. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-fans-whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-history-of-sex-in-comics/307755/27 "2005-06-12T23:18:25Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Six would be overkill. Omaha manages the two she has _very_ well… 😉 Since Biffy the Elephant Shrew never posted to this thread, I’m guessing you meant to post in another thread, one where someone named Omaha having two or six of something might have meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-fans-whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-history-of-sex-in-comics/307755/28 "2005-06-12T23:23:44Z")
Posts 18 and 19, EC. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-fans-whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-history-of-sex-in-comics/307755/29 "2005-06-12T23:27:10Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > Since Biffy the Elephant Shrew never posted to this thread, I’m guessing you meant to post in another thread, one where someone named Omaha having two or six of something might have meaning. Ummm…what thread are **you** looking at? > [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > On the lighter side when Marvel started ‘The Dazzler’ (she’s a disco singer and can make her own light show!) there were cheesecake shots in almost every issue. I swear that girl changed clothes every two pages. > > Epic Illustrated #1 had a sex scene in it drawn by Wendy Pini, no less. > > And you want sex in comics? Look up these: Cherry Poptart is one…quality varies. > > And if you want the good stuff (including much bondage) go out and get yourself the trade paperbacks of Omaha the Cat Dancer. Omaha is an exotic dancer who gets mixed up with the wrong people. > > Oh. And she’s a cat. Really. With really big hooters. > [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > Shouldn’t she have six of them? > [@rjung](#): > > Six would be overkill. Omaha manages the two she has _very_ well… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-fans-whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-history-of-sex-in-comics/307755/30 "2005-06-12T23:58:11Z")
Throughout THE SPIRIT’S weekly run from the the thirties to the fifties, Will Eisner and his staff of cartoonist assistants all drew some astonishing beauties – [Ellen Dolan](http://www.angelfire.com/art/wildwood/graphics/ellen.jpg), [Lorelei Lox](http://www.angelfire.com/art/wildwood/graphics2/lorelei.jpg), Sand Saref and [Silk Satin](http://www.angelfire.com/art/wildwood/graphics/satin.jpg), among others, culminating with the incomparable [P’Gell](http://www.collectedcomicslibrary.com/dcarchives/spiritarchives/images/spirit13.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-fans-whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-history-of-sex-in-comics/307755/31 "2005-06-13T00:42:47Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Posts 18 and 19, EC. Well, they hid them right there in plain sight. Pretty durned sneaky if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-fans-whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-history-of-sex-in-comics/307755/32 "2005-06-13T01:54:26Z")
Didn’t Al Capp’s _Lil’ Abner_ feature outrageously curvy women from the get-go? And is the focus of this thread just on graphics, or content too? For example, when was the first time a female character was **explicitly** in danger of being raped? When was the sex life of two married characters first implied? The first pregnant female characer? (that used to be a tremendous no-no, believe it or not) ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-fans-whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-history-of-sex-in-comics/307755/33 "2005-06-13T02:15:03Z")
They reissued Spicy in the late 80s, early 90s, IIRC. For the big guns, try finding a Phantom Lady ca WWII. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-fans-whats-the-straight-dope-on-the-history-of-sex-in-comics/307755.md?page=1)