Download Eric Stanton the History of the Bizarre Underground Richard Pérez Seves Books

Product details Hardcover 288 pages Publisher Schiffer; 1 edition (October 15, 2018) Language English ISBN-10 0764355422

Eric Stanton the History of the Bizarre Underground Richard Pérez Seves Books Reviews

• When I received my copy of Eric Stanton & the History of the Bizarre Underground I was like a kid in a candy store. I had to dart to this section and then run off to another. It’s all too good. I hadn’t realized that Eric Stanton and Steve Ditko shared a studio. I was aware of both artists’ work but never realized their connection and how at times they worked together on a project.
  
  I finally sat down and read Richard Seves’ book from cover to cover and again there was that pleasure. I had never paid that much attention to Stanton’s work, now I feel I have a greater critical appreciation. I definitely want to see more. At the same time I have a greater understanding of the commercial networks that existed at that time.
  
  This book is carefully researched and well-written, is profusely illustrated, and has extensive endnotes and includes a collector’s guide which lists publications (often with Richard Seves’ annotations) which have Stanton’s work. The book ends with Eric’s and Britt’s informal marriage in 1971, at a logical point since it was at this time that Eric Stanton began his career as independent artist and publisher. I hope that in the near future Richard Seves will have a book about that new phase in Stanton’s life.
• In this heavily illustrated biography (400+ images and photos), Perez Seves writes about the life of Eric Stanton and the beginnings of the mysterious, underground fetish comic world scene of old New York City, starting in the late 1940s. By tying it all together with one artist who was in it from the start, the author details the events that shaped an interesting, mysterious (tho almost forgotten) school of fantasy ("bizarre") art.
  
  Stanton was one of my own artistic inspirations and influences. I always wonder about the lives of creators I respect, and this book really delivers, covering Stanton's beginnings, his motivations, struggles and achievements throughout the 1950s and 1960s -- a dangerous time of government repression, when it was actually illegal to produce this sort of artwork.
  
  We finally find out Stanton's connection to and with Marvel Comic artist Steve Ditko, and the roots of Spider-Man -- and Stanton's contribution to Spider-Man and Dr. Strange. Stanton also worked with Irving Klaw and Bettie Page, and we learn their connection. Best part is it's also an authorized bio. All of Eric's family were interviewed for this work. Tons of end notes in the back. Plus, a collector's guide. Serious research went into this.
  
  The many illustrations that were chosen for the book are also fantastic and fun. Includes personal, never-before-seen photos of Stanton, which I guess were provided by his family. This book is well worth the price
• Eric Stanton was an illustrator/cartoonist. His subject matter was “Fetish Art” and he is considered one of the pioneers in this style of art. When I learned that Stanton had been in the Navy during World War II and his ship was stationed in Japan immediately after the war, I assumed that Stanton had come in contact with Japanese Shunga. Shunga was the name of Japanese pillow books from the Edo Period and were often used as sex guides. Their artwork was done by the same famous artists who did the even more popular Japanese woodcut prints that are collected throughout the world.
  
  If Stanton had come in contact with the ancient art style with its own form of rope art for tying people up it would help explain Stanton’s exposure to that type of art. However, most Shunga Art continues the ancient Japanese philosophy of the Samurai and total, total male domination. Female witches and demons were the chief exception.
  
  Stanton’s fetish art never included male domination of females. Fetish art was totally about female domination of abusive males. It was about incredibly strong women dominating male lowlifes and showing other women how to do likewise. It was about fighting and wrestling women competing against each other. It was also about these women dressing in a certain fashion style that included very high heel shoes, silk, nylon and rubber thigh-high stockings, or boots, garter belts and fancy bras. The underwear is one of the most important elements of fetish art.
  
  Fetish art was considered “smut” when it first appeared in the 1940’s. The main supply of fetish photography and fetish art was sold in individual stores that specialized in publicity photos of movie stars and pin-up pictures along with copies of defunct girlie magazines. These small stores operated large mail order services. One of the best-known store and mail order operators was named Irwin Klaw.
  
  To avoid going to jail, Irwin Klaw set up some basic rules for his fetish art products. They were
  
  “First was a no nudity policy. Second, no sex (not even Implied) in any material he sold. Third, to ensure compliance with obscenity standards, the material would not feature men and women together. In a rule well-suited to Stanton, men were excluded or diminished in what became purely a female-centered universe. Ladies playfully wrestling, ladies strutting about in skyscraper heels and kidskin boots, ladies calmly rolling on a pair of seamed silk stockings, ladies fitting on corsets, ladies tying each other up—all that was welcome. If men appeared at all, it was likely as female impersonators.”
  
  These restrictions were perfectly okay with Stanton. His style of fetish art didn’t break any of these rules, although over the years the rules slowly relaxed because the definition of sex changed. Stanton became an advocate of cross-dressing, homosexuals and their lifestyle. Also sitting on a person’s face changed from a punishment to a sexual activity. Another aspect of Stanton’s fetish art and stories is that it was voluntary. The participants wanted to be part of the fetish experience and often paid to participate in it, even those being punished enjoyed the experience and sought out more.
  
  In many ways this book was probably a nightmare to research. On page 264 is a half page of text under the heading of “Names Used by Stanton.” It includes 14 different names. Stanton needed to be the invisible man both for legal reasons and in order to protect himself and his family from scandal. Stanton craved privacy and was willing to give up artistic credit for such things such as his part in the development of the “Spider Man” character and others in order to avoid the bother of national and international publicity. Stanton preferred to remain in his own private world of fetish fantasy and not to be bothered by the non-fantasy, real world.
  
  If keeping track of Stanton’s many names wasn’t complicated enough, the dealers who commissioned or bought or published his art work also used lots of corporate names to hide their identities from the politicians looking for publicity and higher office, postal inspectors, local vice police and IRS authorities. This forest of fake names was necessary to keep many of them out of jail.
  
  This is a non-fiction page turner that is lavishly illustrated. The only warning the reader should be aware of is that Stanton was an expert at the art of teasing. Because his income depended on selling more of his art work, this book is filled not only with teasing art work, but also samples of his other works that were available or planned. The samples were designed to wet the appetite for the rest of the story. Copies of those works are still available on line, through sellers like and other sellers and are rather expensive collectables.