The Late, Great Di Mulatto Endures

Bondage/fetish art Di Mulatto is dead, but, like any fine artist, he left behind a legacy that will endure forever.

The Bizarre Library series of books, which are not an easy find,  often didn't bother to credit writers, even though the quality of the writing is above average for the genre.

Here's a sample of the above books' opening:

1.

"Isn't Eve Sedgewick lovely?"  someone murmured, and there was a general turning of heads and flutter of whispers as eager, bright eyes turned to see the famed beauty enter the statesroom of the yacht.

She certainly was a gorgeous creature.  Her golden blonde hair spilled around smooth, alabaster shoulders, framing a delicately hewn oval-shaped face.

Her eyes were large and cool blue, and there was a supercilious arch to her eyebrow, as if to say, "I'm better than you are, and I know it."

She had a small, perky nose and full, voluptuously sensuous lips, the color of passion fruit.

Her figure was magnificent.  She was wearing a shimmering white chiffon gown which was sleeveless and cut shockingly low over her curvaceous torso.

Her thrusting, ballooning breasts pressed against the pale material as if ready to spring free at any moment.

Her waist was trim and slender, and her hips just wide enough to be sensual without being pudgy.

Certainly the best of the genre was being produced by H.O.M. (House of Milan) with covers by Robert Bishop and text by FE Campbell. Still, Bizarre was a worthy competitor.

"Mistress of Pain" is one of my favorite Bizarre titles. It's a little overwritten, but passion trumps all any time.

This is from the book's prologue:

Prologue

Diana Cazadora's smile was a menacing wreath of cruelty as it played about her lolling tongue. The incessant metallic glow from her green eyes pierced through the web of oiled black tresses that crawled in serpentine tendrils over her ivory shoulders to her brilliantly nippled titflesh.

She saw the looks of putrid fear on the faces of those who had profaned her.

Those who now knew that humiliation, degradation and abysmal pain would be their punishment.

Diana saw also the stony grimaces of those who had yet to penetrate her domain. They would soon know that the indomitable savagery of their mistress's snapping quim was no legendary tale.

It was the key to their existence.

The bristling snake pit that would succor their hunger. By feeding ravenously upon them.

She gazed diffidently at the leather-clad man's purple-black prick pullulating with jungle jism. Smirked at his tremendous flowering of balls.

Sweat ran cold as she spoke, and cunt-juices stopped dead in their cracks. Semen hardened in dicks heavy with churning blood.

"The men have proved that they cannot even pretend to master the empire of pain, of panic-of pandemonium. Therefore the mistress will resume her rightful place."

Her hips twitched like the rump of a leashed bitch in rut.

"The animals die with fear in their eyes," she said with flared nostrils. "Let's see how keen you all are to meet my machines."

The covers below for "School For Sex Slaves" and "The Professor's Dungeon" represent a regression in cover art.

As the cover price was now $4.95, it's not illogical to assume that these books appeared a couple of years after the previous titles, and the artist is now "Esposito", someone I'm not familiar with.

Does anybody out there know anything about this Esposito? 

Although adhering to genre standards, the illustrations are unfinished and lackluster, and totally lack

Di Mulatto's mix of sadness, submission, and euphoria. The second cover also depicts a full-frontal image, rare for this series.  

Although Bizarre traded in fetishistic themes, they did issue a smaller number of more conventional novels that Di Mulatto illustrated with his usual brilliance.

note the disparity in the spelling of the artist's name.

On his "Mark of the Master", the spelling is de Mullotto

Bizarre Library, with Di Mulatto, either gets it wrong, gets it right, or is making some point

For this post, I've used Bizarre's choice.

The Potent Art of de Mullotto (Strong Material)

I stumbled on the work of de Mullotto when I was gathering the works of FE Campbell and Robert Bishop. de Mullotto's illustrations grace the covers of paperbacks from House of Milan and Bizarre Library/Star Distributors.


The story, credited to Turk Winter, opens with this:


Mark of the Master, de Mullotto's illustrated S/M horror story of a young woman kidnapped by a Satanic cult, piqued my interest with its graphic, powerful imagery.

I don't remember paying $8 for it. More like $48.

These illustrations certainly provide a contrast to Bishop's more evocative, lyrical work.

The plot involves Satan's search for a Queen. Being Satan, he has unorthodox courting methods:



Much of this feels and reads like a lurid porno paperback.

I find the artist's illustration odd but fascinating.

It's not surprising at all that de Mullotto joined forces with Eric Stanton's New York City-based Stanton Archives after Stanton called the artist to express admiration for his work.

According to his website, de Mulotto produced 8000 drawings between '68 and '85.

Although S/M * B/D art are his passions, he also custom painted motorcycles and did many commissions for a loyal client base.

Recently, I came across some interesting computer-generated art that I suspected was the work of de mullotto. I was right.

***

Harder, nastier de Mullotto website at:

http://www.d3mullottoextreme.com/

Softer site at:

http://www.demullotto.com/

"The Rembrandt of Bondage Illustration"

I discovered the powerful work of the late Robert Bishop (1945-1991) in '87 when I was combing Melbourne's porno bookshops for a rare Greenleaf paperback.

The illustration above adorned the cover of F.E. Campbell's The Seigneury II from HOM Books (House of Milan), the leading publisher (at the time) of bondage/S&M-themed literature and paraphernalia.

Beginning life as a manufacturer of fetish clothing, the company grew into a primary producer of books, magazines and videos thanks to co-founders Barbara Behr and Yogi Klein.

On the back cover of most of F.E. Campbell's 100+ bondage novels, you would find this:

To read an F. E. Campbell novel is to enter another world: a world filled with lust, pain, intrigue, agony, and ecstasy. The author gives his tales of maiden woe a decidedly English twist. It is here that the eternal damsel in distress finds herself presented in sympathetic fashion to a cruel modern world, where she must deal with the physical and psychological aspects of loving restraint.

Campbell was a talented English writer approaching his twilight years who took the writing of novels with bondage themes very, very seriously.

The result is a cannon of extraordinary work that is rich in characterization, written with great attention to detail, innately aware of its readership, tightly plotted, and skilfully resolved.

Robert Bishop, who often signed off as "Bishop" provided provocative, gorgeously rendered illustrations for all of Frank Campbell's novels, and for other HOM projects including the Fanni Hall comics.

Initially influenced by John Willie, the Michigan-born and educated artist worked for Centurian Publications and Harmony Publications early on in his career. His style met with resistance from Harmony because of their strict guidelines regarding the consensual nature of the fiction they were putting out.

At HOM he found a more liberal artistic environment that allowed him to produce the amazing, airbrushed masterpieces that ended up adorning Campbell's novels and those of writer Geoffrey Merrick.




Bishop's work, like the work of Toshio Saeki, has a strong, situational theme to it.

Each image evokes a world way beyond the frame.




Bishop's settings often provide a soft, stark counterpoint to the action.


The work has a brilliant sheen to it that Bishop achieved with the pencil and the airbrush.



One of the more explicit examples of Bishop's work.




Superb!




One of my absolute favorites -- Bishop's take on a "Rocking Dog" with accompanying "pet".


The illustration below (which I had blown up to poster size and placed on my living room wall) provoked outrage many years ago when a friend of my ex-wife took exception to it.

She insisted that it be taken down from the wall during her visit.

Naturally, she was shown the door.


Exquisite use of color.



Panel from one of Bishop's mind-bending comics.

Note the wonderful "Hut of Horror" in the illustration at top left.

Sadly, Robert Bishop, dubbed "The Rembrandt of Bondage Illustration", used a gun to take his own life at 46.

The work of this card-carrying Apostle of Pulp will live on forever.

R.I.P., Sir!