Little Known Incidents of WWII (No 8) Bizarre Brutality no 2

Talk about the Perils of Pauline! *
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A melodramatic but gruesome execution technique is imagined in spectacular fashion for this comic cover art. (Actually this is Jacques but there is a Paul later in the story).
Despite it's absurdity, the bondage and danger is not without a frisson of interest!

*Apparently Pauline was never tied to  railway tracks in her films (according to Wikipedia) 
that honour went to Mabel Normand .
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Jacques is a resistance fighter who has laid explosive charges on the track to disrupt enemy troop movements. He is caught in the act by a patrol whose (unusually high-ranking) Commander decides to make his punishment fit the crime after Jacques is cheeky to him. A back-handed face-slap is always good for rebuking insolent prisoners and underlining their helpless predicament. 

Jacques is tied to the track in place of his dynamite charge. In the top image it looks as if his leather jacket has been removed first, but not these other ones. In view of Jacques trim physique one might have hoped that such a sadistic captor would be minded to strip him to his underwear at least. It would have made a much better picture. But it looks like there wasn't time.

Thanks to the enemy's efficient running of the railway system Jacques doe not have long to wait before he meets his fate, the 3.30 is bang on time. His sadistic captor is rewarded with an involuntary show of cold sweat and fear.


However, salvation is at hand. Jacques had actually laid two explosive charges in case one failed to go off. Luckily the first one explodes right on schedule, just in time to derail the train which fortuitously takes out the enemy patrol as well, but leaves Jacques unscathed. 


The slightly less gallant Paul, who has been watching from nearby,
frees Jacques to fight another day (hopefully after a bit of stress-relieving, man-on-man action).

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These images are from Battle Picture Weekly which was a second generation War Comic, printed in a tabloid format rather than the booklet form of the originals. Produced in the 1970's it featured more spectacular imagery and dramatic angles like the top picture, reflecting the advances in Comic Art used to stunning effect in Marvel Superhero scenarios.
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It also had a less restrained approach to violence than it's predecessors, perhaps illustrated best here by the second, face-slapping image which is pretty convincing. The explicit bondage in this strip is also a product of that change, in earlier comics, bondage scenes are brief and usually devoid of any interesting detail. This artist produced work for both regimes, his blond heroes are instantly recognisable, but they don't flash the flesh sadly, let alone any attractions below the waist. The cover art, however, looks like it was produced by a different man and you sense slightly more erotic flavouring in the hint of pecs and the tighter arm restraint.
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Nevertheless, this little story is full of homoerotic and fetish interest for imaginative minds.

For other War Comic innuendo click on the label below.

See also Bizarre Brutality No 1