Recommended Reading: SHIB Comics

[cdrei]

I haven't seen many threads at this site about superheroine bondage in comics, as opposed to film or video, so I thought I'd start one. My thought is to try to create a list of recommendations of current titles, reprints, or back issues which feature SHIB sequences or themes. This was prompted when I realized that a run of really great back issues is surprisingly in print in trade paperback form. If others have recommendations, I hope they will post them here.

Note that I present here some amazon.com links, which is just because that's where I go to look for things like this. I am not advertising that site, and I will gladly change that format if there's a problem with it or a better resource to use as reference.


The Wonder Woman Chronicles, volume 3 - The Chronicles are paperback editions of volumes also available as Wonder Woman Archive editions, reprinting the original 1940s run of the character. The Chronicles are much more affordable. Volume 3 is the strongest of the seven reprint volumes, featuring the Cheetah and Doctor Psycho, as well as the only stories which weren't illustrated by Harry G. Peters (whose almost calligraphic artwork may be off-putting to some). All of the 1940s Wonder Woman reprints feature a lot of bondage. http://www.amazon.com/The-Wonder-Woman- ... y_b_text_y

Wonder Woman: The Twelve Labors - During the middle 1970s, Wonder Woman comics returned to their roots for a few short years, bringing back the classic costume and plenty of SHIB. The issues reprinted in this volume and a few on either side of this run may have been the best of the bunch. I was pleased to find these available in reprint form. http://www.amazon.com/Wonder-Woman-Twel ... nder+woman

[cdrei]

One of my favorite comics from the 1970s was Batman Family, which co-starred Batgirl and Robin as the headliners. I have noted elsewhere on this site that 1976, when Carmine Infantino's run as publisher at DC was winding down but Jenette Kahn's hadn't fully kicked in, was a really good year for SHIB at DC. I base this idea mainly on the Wonder Woman and Batman Family titles published with 1976 dates.

Batgirl appears in a few of her more notable comic SHIB sequences, in Batman Family, and even where there may not be actual bondage, there's usually some superheroine distress thrown in. Issues most notable for SHIB seem to be numbers 1, 5, 10, 14, and 15. Number five has Batgirl captured and left hanging by her wrists in a building which is about to be demolished. Number ten may be most notable for its cover by John Calnan, which is shown below. (I really love that cover. )

Sadly, little of Batman Family has ever been reprinted. The story from #1, featuring Batgirl and Robin chained to logs, was released in The Greatest Batgirl Stories Ever Told, a trade paperback which is still in print, however. It looks like back issues are fairly easy to find at prices which aren't too extreme.

[cdrei]

Spandex Tights. Pretty much any issue of this series will be good for SHIB content. This early work by Bryan Glass is a loving parody/tribute based on ElectraWoman and DynaGirl, featuring heroines Flex Woman and Spandex Girl. Special attention is paid to inventive traps, bondage, and situations of distress. The material is in black and white and the quality of the artwork varies across the series, but the title is always good for SHIB content.

This series is only available as back issues, but at least some of these seem to be fairly easy to find online.

[cdrei]

And... I note that all of my example images so far focus on plastic cocoon traps. Umm. I'll have to remedy that. Or perhaps change the thread title.

[olhif]

I didn't know the Spandex Tights comics, looks great, where I can find this comics?

[cdrei]

I didn't know the Spandex Tights comics, looks great, where I can find this comics?

It looks like you can find back issues online. I found various links by googling for "Spandex Tights" together with "Bryan Glass".

[Tuathal]

I enjoyed Spider-Woman's occasional bondage peril, particularly the issues where she faced Gypsy Moth #10 and #48. While the plot was pretty week her first encounter has some decent bondage/peril moments.

It began with some costume destruction and Spider-Woman being towed through the air by it.



Spider-Woman ends up getting cocooned and dropped in a pool and eventually escapes.

[cdrei]

I enjoyed Spider-Woman's occasional bondage peril, particularly the issues where she faced Gypsy Moth #10 and #48. While the plot was pretty week her first encounter has some decent bondage/peril moments.

It began with some costume destruction and Spider-Woman being towed through the air by it.



Spider-Woman ends up getting cocooned and dropped in a pool and eventually escapes.

Those are good issues. I was going to bring up Spider-Woman next, oddly enough. I was focused on her encounters with the Hangman, though, from issues 4-6. I got distracted before I could scan any images, but here's a link: http://www.supermegamonkey.net/chronoco ... _4-6.shtml

[Tuathal]

I was just about to post the same issues. A hogtie and then bound to a chair, classic. Also issue #11 she wakes up in chains and asks to herself "Can't I go a week without being tied up by somebody?" I loved it.

[olhif]

I didn't know the Spandex Tights comics, looks great, where I can find this comics?

It looks like you can find back issues online. I found various links by googling for "Spandex Tights" together with "Bryan Glass".

thanks, "Bryan Glass" quote helped a lot.

[Gus Goreman, Jr.]

I enjoyed Spider-Woman's occasional bondage peril, particularly the issues where she faced Gypsy Moth #10 and #48. While the plot was pretty week her first encounter has some decent bondage/peril moments.

It began with some costume destruction and Spider-Woman being towed through the air by it.



Spider-Woman ends up getting cocooned and dropped in a pool and eventually escapes.

Those are good issues. I was going to bring up Spider-Woman next, oddly enough. I was focused on her encounters with the Hangman, though, from issues 4-6. I got distracted before I could scan any images, but here's a link: http://www.supermegamonkey.net/chronoco ... _4-6.shtml

Those issues of Spider-Woman are penciled by Carmine Infantino who died a few months ago and is noteworthy because he designed Barbara Gordon Batgirl. He might be the greatest penciler of them all and I've never been crazy about his work at Marvel but those Hangman panels are pretty cool.

[cdrei]

Those issues of Spider-Woman are penciled by Carmine Infantino who died a few months ago and is noteworthy because he designed Barbara Gordon Batgirl. He might be the greatest penciler of them all and I've never been crazy about his work at Marvel but those Hangman panels are pretty cool.

I love Infantino's work, but I find I really have to look at it before I realize how skilled he was. His work seems effortless (in a good way: he was so skilled that he didn't need to labor over compositions or forms) and the looseness of his style is somehow deceptive. Particularly when he returned to illustration after serving as publisher at DC, his work was very loose and gestural. I used to see it as "bad" comics art, when I was younger. It didn't have the detail or tightness of a Byrne or a Perez. But now I look at Infantino's work with a bit of awe. His work was masterful, and his costume designs particularly stand out in the crowd. I wish his design sense had a greater influence on modern comics.

Yesterday I ended up reading an interview with Keith Giffen, who started at DC while Infantino was an executive. Giffen's work was not yet mature at the time. Apparently Infantino made some quick marks on a page, showing how to lead the reader's eye in the composition from panel to panel. Nothing involved, very quick and easy. Giffen cites that as the key lesson learned while himself growing into a master of comics storytelling.