Caught!

OK, we started writing a long dissertation on creating ebook covers, but it suddenly vanished into the æther when we were about halfway through. Rather than rewriting the essay from the beginning, we'll just post an abbreviated version and assume that you can figure out what we're doing as we go along.

First, this was how we wanted the cover to look: a set of photos lying on a woodgrain desktop, with the central graphic depicting two T-girls 'caught' in the act of cross-dressing:

 

 

As the cover template had already been designed, the first step was to do a free-hand sketch based on a number of different reference images:

 

 

Next, we scanned the drawing into the computer and started coloring it up in photoshop (quasi flesh-tones for the figurework):

 

 

Then, we added some solid color to the lingerie (we normally chose virginal white, but decided something a little more colorful might work better in this context):

 

On reflection, we decided to adjust the colors a little and add some tones to the figures (not quite sure at this point whether we want full briefs, thongs or bikinis, but fortunately, photoshop allows for multiple versions):

 

That's about as far as we've gotten, due to various prior commitments. Sorry we can't post the final version right now; hopefully, we'll get 'round to it sooner than later.

Mandrake the Magician: Lora

Lora flees a fate worse than death in her bra, panties and stockings...

James Bond: Gretta

 

Gretta getting into trouble (and out of her clothes)...

Artwork by Yaroslav Horek

Spicy Detectives

The majority of comic aficionados are familiar with Bill Ward's Torchy and Matt Baker's Phantom Lady, but "racy" female characters have been around at least since the pulp era; Spicy Detective's Sally the Sleuth being the prime example). Taking her bow in November 1934, Sally was probably the first 'lingerie detective' on the American comics scene, and had a considerable number of literary descendants during the later 40s. Her main legacy to the artform seems to have been an impressive talent for fighting crime in her underwear (a trick she appears to have learned from Norman Pett's Jane).

Created by cartoonist Adolphe Barreaux, Sally the Sleuth started off in Spicy's back pages several years before comic books became an established format. Drawn in a "primitive" but surprisingly effective style, Sally's adventures usually ran for two pages, telling an entire story in less than 15 panels. A typical plot-line consisted of Sally working undercover to solve some local gangland mystery, resulting in her being stripped down to her bra and panties when the stock villain of the month caught her snooping about.



In most cases, she was rescued by her boss, Chief Brady (occasionally her kid sidekick, Peanuts), although she was capable of holding her own when the odds weren't overwhelming. Recurring themes included abduction, white slavery, extortion etc - standard pulp scenarios providing Sally ample opportunity to have her clothes torn off by the latest lowlife racketeer. As time went on, the action (for lack of a better word) became more risque, as Sally was stripped, bound, gagged, spanked, and whipped with ever-increasing regularity.

During the war, Sally started fighting the Axis and the feature was handed over to more sophisticated illustrators. While the artwork improved, it lacked the raw sexual energy of the Barreaux years. Part of the strip's innate charm had been the bold, naive approach to the subject matter; despite the inclusion of the popular 'homefront' subtext, the stories just didn't pack the same punch anymore. Still, the sado-masochistic elements continued to multiply, and Sally was one of the very few characters you could count on to lose her clothing within two or three panels.



FURTHER READING

Sally the Sleuth Google Reader