{"id":525,"date":"2021-08-21T13:43:14","date_gmt":"2021-08-21T17:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/?page_id=525"},"modified":"2021-08-21T13:43:16","modified_gmt":"2021-08-21T17:43:16","slug":"the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/the-library\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\/","title":{"rendered":"The Adentures of Sweet Gwendoline by John Willie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Adentures of Sweet Gwendoline by John Willie, edited by J. B. Rund<\/strong>
This is the second edition, 1999, in hard cover.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The order in which I purchased books by or about John Willie (a pseudonym used by John Alexander Scott Coutts, 1902-1962) followed a natural progression of sorts. I bought the two volume Taschen reprint of Willie\u2019s Bizarre<\/em> magazine. Then I found a copy of Possibilities<\/em>, published in France (1985), of Willie\u2019s bondage photographs. The next purchase was this volume, The Adventures of Sweet Gwendoline<\/em>, devoted to Willie\u2019s artwork, principally his comics, but also including artwork for late 1940s Harrison publications and stand alone works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not a bad way to dive in John Willie\u2019s work and output since his publications, photography, and comics interweave throughout the second half of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Willie while in Australia, he was born in England, in the mid-1930s began producing artwork and photographs influenced by the English magazine London Life<\/em>. Bizarre<\/em> magazine is Willie\u2019s continuation of some of London Life<\/em>\u2019s themes: fetish costumes, personal letters, fetish photography. Willie was self-taught but had obvious native talent and a good eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the war Willie moved to North America, finally settling in New York, and began publishing Bizarre<\/em> on an irregular schedule in 1946. He worked for a short period in the late 1940s for Harrison producing artwork for magazines like Beauty Parade<\/em>. He also sold photographs taken in Australia to Irving Klaw and shot a series of bondage photographs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweet Gwendoline<\/em> offers a glimpse into rare survivals from this early pre-Bizarre<\/em> period in Australia and work for the Harrison magazines. What stands out is Willie\u2019s humor and his ability to draw the female figure. This humor and skill would present itself in the narratives as comics that Willie produced, first in Bizarre<\/em>, later for Klaw, and finally as a self-published \u201cThe Race for the Gold Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willie\u2019s comic style appears to have been inspired by Alex Raymond\u2019s artwork for a newspaper comic titled Secret Agent X-9 <\/em>originally authored by Dashiell Hammett starting in 1936. Hammett\u2019s secret agent becomes Willie\u2019s secret agent U89 in his comics, such as \u201cThe Escape Artiste.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willie\u2019s comic narrative is driven by story, a sly humor, and good artwork. There is a fluidity to this narrative which takes place in a wholly created world, that is not usually found in fetish, or other, comics during the era that Willie worked. This is one reason I enjoy returning to the stories, the artwork, and the artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have personal favorites and there are others where, while the artwork is delightful, the narrative is less present. In that case the comic is essentially a series of loosely tied together images. I\u2019m thinking primarily of \u201cThe Missing Princess\u201d filled with pinup delights in unusually harsh physical situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The masterwork is Willie\u2019s \u201cSweet Gwendoline: The Race for the Gold Cup\u201d published in 1958 while Willie was living in Los Angeles (he moved there in 1957 from New York). \u201cThe Race for the Gold Cup\u201d was advertised in men\u2019s magazines such as Gala<\/em> and was used to help promote his other venture, bondage photography. A sheet of 4 photographs and flyer was included with each copy sold by mail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rund\u2019s Sweet Gwendoline<\/em> presents the comics in actual or larger than originally published size. There is also an unfinished work, \u201cThe Golden Idol.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweet Gwendoline<\/em> also has two letters by Willie, a biography, introductions to each work or group of works, but is mainly art in its various forms produced by Willie. A possible lack is the absence of a table of contents, though this forces one to hunt through the book and rediscover on the way. I\u2019ll attempt a list of contents here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction, biography — v through xii
Correspondence — xiii through xix (bondage ties and gags)
\u201cThe London Life Girl\u201d — 20 through 21 (Willie\u2019s first published artwork)
\u201cSweet Gwendoline\u201d — 22 through 70 (first parts appeared in Bizarre<\/em>, later parts in Harrison\u2019s Wink<\/em> magazine, and finally published by Klaw)
\u201cThe Diary of a French Maid\u201d — 71 through 91 (humorous two page spread artworks for Harrison)
Illustrations for the Harrison Magazines — 92 through 113 (spot and other illustrations along with as a model in photo stories)
\u201cThe Escape Artiste\u201d — 114 through 132 (Sweet Gwendoline characters in a short comic published by Bizarre Publishing Co. and later by Klaw)
\u201cThe Missing Princess\u201d — 133 through 180 (comic published by Bizarre Publishing Co and later reprinted by Klaw in a censored form)
\u201cThe Wasp Women\u201d — 181 through 198 (begun in Bizarre<\/em> but never completed, includes unfinished artwork)
The Race for the Gold Cup<\/em> – 199 through 256 (published in 1958, Willie\u2019s last completed work)
\u201cThe Golden Idol\u201d — 257 through 298 (unfinished, included penciled pages not inked)
Drawings and Paintings — 299 through 368 (pages 337 through 368 are in color).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This book is available from the publisher, Belier Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Adentures of Sweet Gwendoline by John Willie, edited by J. B. RundThis is the second edition, 1999, in hard cover. The order in which I purchased books by or […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":401,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/right-sidebarpage.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-525","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Adentures of Sweet Gwendoline by John Willie - Badrabbit Redux<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/the-library\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Adentures of Sweet Gwendoline by John Willie - Badrabbit Redux\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Adentures of Sweet Gwendoline by John Willie, edited by J. B. RundThis is the second edition, 1999, in hard cover. The order in which I purchased books by or [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/the-library\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Badrabbit Redux\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-21T17:43:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/gwendoline_cover_jpg.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/the-library\\\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/the-library\\\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Adentures of Sweet Gwendoline by John Willie - Badrabbit Redux\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/the-library\\\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/the-library\\\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/08\\\/gwendoline_cover_jpg.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-21T17:43:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-21T17:43:16+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/the-library\\\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/the-library\\\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/the-library\\\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/08\\\/gwendoline_cover_jpg.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/08\\\/gwendoline_cover_jpg.jpg\",\"width\":450,\"height\":535},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/the-library\\\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Library\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/the-library\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The Adentures of Sweet Gwendoline by John Willie\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/\",\"name\":\"Badrabbit Redux\",\"description\":\"from LiveJournal\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/book20.net\\\/kink\\\/badrabbit_redux\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Adentures of Sweet Gwendoline by John Willie - Badrabbit Redux","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/the-library\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Adentures of Sweet Gwendoline by John Willie - Badrabbit Redux","og_description":"The Adentures of Sweet Gwendoline by John Willie, edited by J. B. RundThis is the second edition, 1999, in hard cover. The order in which I purchased books by or [...]Read More...","og_url":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/the-library\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\/","og_site_name":"Badrabbit Redux","article_modified_time":"2021-08-21T17:43:16+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/gwendoline_cover_jpg.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/the-library\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\/","url":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/the-library\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\/","name":"The Adentures of Sweet Gwendoline by John Willie - Badrabbit Redux","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/the-library\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/the-library\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/gwendoline_cover_jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2021-08-21T17:43:14+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-21T17:43:16+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/the-library\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/the-library\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/the-library\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/gwendoline_cover_jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/gwendoline_cover_jpg.jpg","width":450,"height":535},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/the-library\/the-adentures-of-sweet-gwendoline-by-john-willie\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Library","item":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/the-library\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Adentures of Sweet Gwendoline by John Willie"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/#website","url":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/","name":"Badrabbit Redux","description":"from LiveJournal","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":528,"href":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/525\/revisions\/528"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/book20.net\/kink\/badrabbit_redux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}