mitchmen at war No18 - Flirting with the Enemy

In the last post in this series, English Captain Davis was despatched to the jungle to help a group of stranded Aussie soldiers (quite why they couldn't send an Aussie Officer isn't spelt out!). The dramatic image above is the climactic scene of his mission. Naturally, in the context of the story, this reunion is more than just a gallant rescue, because these two have 'History'.

This story has a number of nicely drawn, homoerotic images which I have extracted for this series of posts. Some are presented as originally published, some I have coloured, others I have subversively tweaked to add or enhance their gay interest.

 This picture of Davis parachuting into the conflict zone is a nice study of chunky legs and shorts. The strapping of the parachutes passing between the legs, particularly of the aircrew member on the left, also has a passing erotic interest, which you sense is not entirely accidental. Well I do!


Down in the jungle Davis meets up with an old acquaintance called Ward.
You can tell they have 'History', this discussion has all the appearance of a lover's squabble.
As in the previous scenes Davis has his hands in his pockets as if he's doing naughty touching.
The portrayal of Ward crouching by the fire is a nice study showing off his chunky arms and legs.
You can tell that this artist likes men.    


Another clash with what appears to be homoerotic undertones*. In my wilful misreading of the story this would be Ward taunting Davis after hearing about his antics with young Aussie soldiers. But the friction between the two men in the 'official' version has a different cause which resurfaces soon after this when they encounter an enemy patrol.

*to be fair, in this era, unchivalrously shooting an opponent in the back (with a gun that is) was a common way of blackening the character of fictional villains.


Ward, it transpires, is a coward. He's run out on Davis before (forgive my mischievous gay pun!). He bolted then in the face of the enemy and left Davis to take the blame for their failed mission. Now he does it again.

Notice how Davis (left) gets the hero treatment by the illustrator, trampling over the fallen enemy in another reckless charge while Ward's masculine traits are painted over with a wash of prissiness as he flees, desperately picking his way through flying bullets and tree roots and even loosing his helmet. His characterisation is so exaggerated that it's easy to mistake this figure for that of a soldier being heroically riddled with bullets, except that he's not holding a weapon, so he can't be.

As Ward flees his uniform inexplicably starts to degenerate into tears and tatters, symbolically taking away his soldierly identity and his dignity too. At this point, I perhaps ought to reassure any anxious Australian readers that Ward in the story is 100% English.

I rather like the jungle imagery here.

Eventually Ward blunders into an enemy patrol and by this time all of his equipment has gone and his clothes have been completely shredded. Those chunky arms and legs now seem to have become weak and weedy (although it's actually about right for a realistic, average, male build).

This radical transformation is a phenomenon that defies rational explanation (even in the steaming jungle) but it serves to underline his inadequacy as a soldier, transforming him into a pathetic wretch.
In this scene it also creates a tingling sense of vulnerability as he faces his worst nightmare. Notice how brief his shorts have suddenly become, a detail that surely has erotic origins in the mind of the artist.

By contrast the portrayal of the enemy soldiers in this picture is very straight-forward, showing them as formidably well equipped and trained - and well built too with a shapely backside centre stage. Views of bottoms like this are a rare phenomenon in this comic genre, they are usually hidden in shadow (as in the 'parachute' and 'run-away' pictures above) or else they're obscured by equipment like the water bottle, far right. This 'reveal' in a very masculine, open-legged stance to me seems deliberately homoerotic and it's interesting that it's assigned to an 'enemy' soldier.

This genre was often guilty of casual, racist language and I've removed a minor example from the speech bubble here, but like the previous image, this portrayal of Japanese soldiers being briefed over their evening meal also has some interesting characterisation. At first sight the geeky-looking figures in singlets seem dubious caricatures, but the artist has actually shown us an unexpected insight into the reality of conscription on both sides by portraying these soldiers as immature, slightly scrawny, young men. Their elongated slender necks are not without appeal for me but the character on the right with his cute haircut and five o'clock shadow is delightful. The Officer himself would easily pass as a GI. All in all it's an unexpectedly neutral portrayal.

 That neutrality is even more striking in this nicely drawn image where the fallen Japanese soldier is simply depicted as a typical man (attractive too, hopefully he's only unconscious!). You'll notice that he has finished up draped over one of the few boulders in the vicinity leaving his rear-end up in the air. There's an interesting visual conjunction with the rounded bottom of the retreating attacker (albeit one disguised as usual by the wealth of equipment carried by the Japanese soldier). You don't need to have my twisted mind to read homoerotic into this! I thought it deserved a better outcome.....


My plea for International Peace!
(or an International Piece)

For this variant of the image I shortened the Australian Sergeant's shorts as well as the obvious pants-down change made to the kneeling soldier.

This image comes from an earlier part of the story where Davis and Ward are still squabbling like frustrated lovers but it's obvious that the main point of interest for the artist (and us) is the Australian soldier in the foreground. He's shown as rugged and handsome, optimisticly heroic with a gratuitous dash of sex appeal in the revealing neckline (unlike Ward seen previously, he's wearing an undershirt!).  However compare this with the previous image and you'll see that the artist is not differentiating at all between the two sides, they're all men and all men are nice.

Davis and his squad attack the enemy camp and hear pleas for help coming from behind a stockade.
He deals with the obstacle in British Bulldog fashion which makes another great picture. It would lend itself to more erotic treatment with skimpier or tighter clothing.

 
Inside the stockade of course he finds Ward, whose captors have been giving him a hard time. Happily they've taken away the untidy remnants of his shirt and his torso turns out to be his most attractive feature so far, but it would be naive to hope to see anything more revealing in this medium. There is another image in this sequence (below) but we don't get to see exactly what happened to him.

This is a difficult perspective to draw and the artist has cheated a bit but he gets a good impression of height. I haven't altered this picture (view the uncoloured original).

I've added this scene to the 'Bizarre Punishments' subset of these articles (listed at the foot of this post) but a fetish enthusiast might consider that it's not really that bizarre!
 

Even in the fierce heat of battle these two find time to bicker.

This follow-up image is a bit of a car crash and inspired me to try an adaptation


 In my re-imagining, Ward is stripped of almost everything and made to wear a loin cloth which makes a sexy combo with his belt worn low and adds a element of scary ceremonial to his torture. The imperfect display of said loin, part hidden by the gun in the foreground, was pretty much forced on me by the constraints of the original frame sizing. But sometimes glimpses are more sexy.


With the enemy counter-attacking Davis relents and frees Ward. He hopes that this will persuade him to help clear his name. Ward realises he must fight for his life this time and miraculously transforms for a second time, now becoming a valiant warrior. His chunky muscles return and by standing up to fight he even seems to have assumed Davis' mantle of reckless bravery.

Unfortunately he's not got the same luck as Davis.

It makes another great image.


Once again it falls to Davis to be the rescuer.
He scoops up the wounded man and carries him under fire to a waiting evacuation boat.

Men being carried, caveman style, always makes for a sexy image, but I wish his shorts had stayed briefer!

  Fatally wounded, Ward is carried away in the rescue boat

Davis watches thinking ungenerous thoughts about his belated bravery.
Fortunately for him, Ward does clear his name before he dies.

However it's the sailor in the foreground that makes this image interesting,
check out the detailing of his neck

and imagine what might happen when Davis spots him.

The original images in this article are taken from War Picture Library No 1696 'The Darkest Hour'

The cover appears to show Ward in hero mode,but his tattered shirt syncs with a different part of the story when he's picked up by the Japanese in headlong, cowardly flight

Next Post: War Comics No19 (next post pending)

For the complete series of War Comic posts click on the 'War Comic' label below


The 'Bizarre Punishment' posts:

Bizarre Brutality No 4 Buried up to the neck