03-23-2021, 08:12 AM (This post was last modified: 03-23-2021, 08:21 AM by TakeNoPrizners.)
Newly digitized and restored from the comic book Gay Heart Throbs (1981). Kuchar did not sign the comic and was not given attribution in the original publication. The cover art used here appeared on the back cover of the comic book and is the only original color image for "Circus of Death." Other artists, including Martin of Holland, have produced colorized adaptations of Kuchar's depiction of a gladiator being run through from behind. A second (anonymous) colorized cgi adaptation of that frame is also included here.
"Ready your breakfast and eat hearty, for tonight we dine in hell!" -- Leonidas at Thermopylae
Thank you for sharing this. I wish there were a visual encyclopedia of depictions showing men run through from behind (stills, artwork, sculpture, whatever). Maybe it's more of a special taste, but intensely erotic.
Check out "It Came from Kuchar", a documentary on the Kuchar brothers. At 53:00 one feels the expert's critical eye:
(03-23-2021, 01:42 PM)Rittmeister Wrote: Thank you for sharing this. I wish there were a visual encyclopedia of depictions showing men run through from behind (stills, artwork, sculpture, whatever). Maybe it's more of a special taste, but intensely erotic.
Check out "It Came from Kuchar", a documentary on the Kuchar brothers. At 53:00 one feels the expert's critical eye:
It's my pleasure to preserve and share these, Rittmeister, and I agree that there is a unique eroticism to running a gladiator through from behind. That type of penetration is rare to see in combat art, though historically it must have happened with some frequency during mass fights in the arena. There is a reason why the most frequently quoted panel in Mike Kuchar's comic is the one showing a sword emerge from the hard belly of a muscular fighter. In addition, for me, the anonymity of the men, with their faces obscured behind visors, adds a brutal edginess. The gladiators kill wantonly, often without knowing who they are slaying, and in this case, a man not seeing his own killer, just feeling an arm around the neck and a blade through the back until it protrudes from the torso covered with his blood. (I suppose one could theorize about analogies to the anonymity of promiscuous gay sex and unprotected penetration when Kuchar was creating cartoons in the 1970s, but Kuchar was interested in escapism, and I'll leave the psych analysis to others.)
Another delightful detail for me is the baroque touch of having the low-hanging cock of the doomed gladiator extend outside the frame, a touch that approximates a 3D effect (and a detail that Martin of Holland did not appreciate in his adaptation). The masculinity of the stud is uncontainable. His manliness is not diminished by his death; it is heightened.
Thank you so much for the link to the documentary "It Came from Kuchar," which I was unaware of. I learned a lot and laughed a lot. I think Mike's (or was it his twin brother George's?) idea of "owning" the object of one's desire, of enjoying carnal relations vicariously through film, without the messiness and disappointment of actual physical contact, parallels the enthusiasm of gay gladiator enthusiasts. We remain unscathed as we stroke our cocks to command performances by imaginary fighters and stretch our minds to create new challenges for them.
You probably know that the Ghebaly Gallery in L.A. regularly exhibits Mike Kuchar's cartoons and art, as well as work by his brother George. I admire all of the Kuchar Brothers' artwork and films, but it's Mike's gladiator fantasies that have an enduring appeal for me, and I'm glad to see for others as well. Kuchar Brothers @ Ghebaly Gallery
"Ready your breakfast and eat hearty, for tonight we dine in hell!" -- Leonidas at Thermopylae
(03-23-2021, 01:42 PM)Rittmeister Wrote: Thank you for sharing this. I wish there were a visual encyclopedia of depictions showing men run through from behind (stills, artwork, sculpture, whatever). Maybe it's more of a special taste, but intensely erotic.
Check out "It Came from Kuchar", a documentary on the Kuchar brothers. At 53:00 one feels the expert's critical eye:
It's my pleasure to preserve and share these, Rittmeister, and I agree that there is a unique eroticism to running a gladiator through from behind. That type of penetration is rare to see in combat art, though historically it must have happened with some frequency during mass fights in the arena. There is a reason why the most frequently quoted panel in Mike Kuchar's comic is the one showing a sword emerge from the hard belly of a muscular fighter. In addition, for me, the anonymity of the men, with their faces obscured behind visors, adds a brutal edginess. The gladiators kill wantonly, often without knowing who they are slaying, and in this case, a man not seeing his own killer, just feeling an arm around the neck and a blade through the back until it protrudes from the torso covered with his blood. (I suppose one could theorize about analogies to the anonymity of promiscuous gay sex and unprotected penetration when Kuchar was creating cartoons in the 1970s, but Kuchar was interested in escapism, and I'll leave the psych analysis to others.)
Another delightful detail for me is the baroque touch of having the low-hanging cock of the doomed gladiator extend outside the frame, a touch that approximates a 3D effect (and a detail that Martin of Holland did not appreciate in his adaptation). The masculinity of the stud is uncontainable. His manliness is not diminished by his death; it is heightened.
Thank you so much for the link to the documentary "It Came from Kuchar," which I was unaware of. I learned a lot and laughed a lot. I think Mike's (or was it his twin brother George's?) idea of "owning" the object of one's desire, of enjoying carnal relations vicariously through film, without the messiness and disappointment of actual physical contact, parallels the enthusiasm of gay gladiator enthusiasts. We remain unscathed as we stroke our cocks to command performances by imaginary fighters and stretch our minds to create new challenges for them.
You probably know that the Ghebaly Gallery in L.A. regularly exhibits Mike Kuchar's cartoons and art, as well as work by his brother George. I admire all of the Kuchar Brothers' artwork and films, but it's Mike's gladiator fantasies that have an enduring appeal for me, and I'm glad to see for others as well. Kuchar Brothers @ Ghebaly Gallery
