'Superman' artist Joe Shuster's lurid comic world exposed-50's Erotics

[RamboLiberal]

Jeepers, Mr. Kent!

That's what a shocked Jimmy Olsen might say after seeing the hundreds of racy, violent and sadomasochistic cartoons by Joe Shuster, one of the creators of Superman, that have been unearthed by comic-book historian Craig Yoe.

Researching the secret origins behind America's favorite superheroes has revealed much in recent years, but never anything like this.

In the new book Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman's Co-Creator Joe Shuster (Abrams ComicArts, $24.95), page after page of lascivious panels are reproduced from underground comics that Shuster drew in the early 1950s when the artist was down on his luck. Titled Nights of Horror, the crude, stapled pamphlets of erotic horror were sold under the counter at drugstores for $3.

Within are naked women with whips, brutish men brandishing red-hot pokers, exotic torture and politically incorrect spankings. What makes the illustrations more than simply a curiosity of the times is the disturbing fact that many of the characters look exactly like Shuster's Superman and Lois Lane.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2009-04-12-shuster-comics_N.htm

[tuckessee]

1. Very interesting.

In thirty plus years of comic dealing & collecting I've never seen or heard these.

It just shows there are still many significant treasures waiting to be unearthed even in heavily researched area such as American comic books.

[Joe Fields]

5. It would be really interesting to see what else is out there from that era.

[arcadian]

2. Then there is all the Wonder Woman bondage erotica.

That actually made it to the news stands.

[raouldukelives]

3. Say it aint so Joe!

Whats next? A long lost Crumb series featuring spandex clad supermen?

[Matariki]

4. Nice!

Betty Page meets Superman.