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The wheel of pain; from Hal Foster to JD

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The wheel of pain; from Hal Foster to JD

I was a year or six, maybe seven, when as a gift I received a volume of the Prince Valliant stories by Hal Foster. In it was this image.
image--020b.jpg

Probably my passion for torture scenes would have developed anyway, but this sure helped me on the way. At that age I did not differentiate much between the male and the female body. A few years later I came to two realizations:

1) Hal Foster, a giant among comic artists, had taken inspiration from someone even greater;
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2) More importantly, I now realized that I would enjoy the setup a lot more with a female figure at the center.

So I started looking. In comic stores, libraries... wherever. Without result.

Then came the internet. It's infinite possibilities, in 20 years of research, yielded... Just two results. Both somewhat disappointing.

Eric Stanton
Perils_Of_Diana_15-me.jpg
Perils_Of_Diana_16-me.jpg
Excellent drawing skill, of course. Realistic bodies, believable expressions... But something was missing. Or rather, something SHOULD have been missing: clothing.

And the other result: a lukewarm attempt by a young Milo Manara in a fumetto of the late sixties.
J64-1.jpg
J64-3.jpg

So that was it. I realized it was a setup almost impossible to replicate with live models due to the high risk of injury, but why had so few traditional drawings and no modern computer art scenes involved this device, perfect for the displaying of the human (preferably female, young and pretty) body?

Then JD came along and accepted the challenge. I will post here only the first of the jewels he made, several more can be found on his thread in this forum.
036 ciri Untitled-9 02 01.jpg
So what do I expect, opening this thread?

First of all, a discussion about the wheel as a form of torture. I suppose it was never used for real, as huge amounts of pain can be inflicted with much less effort. But how would it work? How long before the pain becomes intense, and how much before it becomes unbearable? If left upon it indefinitely, how would the victim perish? Suffocated? Hearth failure? How long before the damage to toes and fingertips would be irreparable? What effect would the turning of the wheel around the X, Y and Z axis respectively cause?

Secondly, in the unlikely hypothesis I missed something, I would like you to post images or even clips in which this device is used.

And last but not least: if you are an artist, of course I would like you to try reproducing it by pencil, photoshop, poser, DAZ or whatever. JD will forever be my hero, having provided me with ten times the amount of such images I could find in half a lifetime. I hope he won't mind if I am curious to see if other creative people could like and try the implement in turn.
 
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You're new here @Lord Ludwig. Please post on CF uploaded images always as thumbnail. It's a strong rule here.
View attachment 802484
Sorry, I've actually been here for several years, but it's the first time I opened a thread. Should have read the rules first, I guess. Although, If the images should always be posted as thumbnails then why do they automatically load at full screen? Wouldn't it be better to make thumbnails the standard setting?
 
Sorry, I've actually been here for several years, but it's the first time I opened a thread. Should have read the rules first, I guess. Although, If the images should always be posted as thumbnails then why do they automatically load at full screen? Wouldn't it be better to make thumbnails the standard setting?
I think, it's easy to click the button "Thumbnail". All members do it, and please, you too.
 
Of course, of course... I wasn't trying to make a fuss, just genuine curiosity. I have no problems obeying rules, but I like to understand them, that's all.
We do say members to select thumbnails rather than full-size,
as some have slow and/or expensive intenernet connections,
opening full-size can be slow and/or expensive for them,
but thumbnails can easily be enlarged in slide-show or new tab.

One of the rules here is: "using thumbnails".
I think you've over-looked this rule, or don't know of it
I would you request that you use the thumbnail option in the future, please.
The moderators will make thumbnails from your first post with pictures.
You can find more informations here:
Thank you for your understanding.
Madiosi
 
We do say members to select thumbnails rather than full-size,
as some have slow and/or expensive intenernet connections,
opening full-size can be slow and/or expensive for them,
but thumbnails can easily be enlarged in slide-show or new tab.

One of the rules here is: "using thumbnails".
I think you've over-looked this rule, or don't know of it
I would you request that you use the thumbnail option in the future, please.
The moderators will make thumbnails from your first post with pictures.
You can find more informations here:
Thank you for your understanding.
Madiosi
Thank you for the information and the patience. I will certainly follow this rule should I ever post further images. I have one other curiosity, but if it's OK I'll address you in PM about it.
 
The wheel of pain; from Hal Foster to JD

I was a year or six, maybe seven, when as a gift I received a volume of the Prince Valliant stories by Hal Foster. In it was this image.
View attachment 802467
I rembember having seen this story when I was about the same age. It was certainly after my first elementary class at the school because I could read the captions and what the people said. I couldn't express my feelings yet, but I felt it was somehow sexy to be tied that way, spreadeagled and almost naked. The prince managed to escape the torture (highly improbable!) and he dipped his fingers in the boiling oil to restore bllod circulation (worse than improbable).
 
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First of all, a discussion about the wheel as a form of torture. I suppose it was never used for real (...)
I should probably clarify here that by "wheel" I intend very specifically a circular frame inside which the victim is suspended spread-eagle by fingers and toes. I know very well wheels were used historically for example in the capital punishment known as "breaking on the wheel". I know about wheel-shaped racks and "water wheels" similar to those of water mills. And I know tying up to wagon wheels sometimes crops up in western settings. All those however are very different forms of restraint and torture than what I am hoping to discuss here. Stanton called it "flying wheel", JD "wheel of pain"... I just wrote wheel, apologies for any hypothetical misunderstanding.
 
Yes, I've seen - and fantasised about - Wheels where the victim is bound in that position by wrists and ankles,
and spun around - which would put agonising strain on shoulders and hips (and in my poem 'The Wheel',
I added the refinement of spikes on the spokes tearing my back and legs as it spins),
but the idea of being fixed by my fingers and toes is new to me, it has a 'Chinese' kind of exquisite cruelty.

“Your bum will suffer first and worst,”
the Executioner says, as he tugs the chain
between my thighs,

“your shoulders, back, and arms and legs,
they’ll all be forced against the spikes.
You’ll try to keep completely still –
but that of course we won’t allow:
with whips and red-hot irons my boys
are going to make you dance!”

He slaps my rump, orders his men
to fit the manacles –

“Make sure they’re tight!”

“And then the Wheel will start to spin,
tossing you back and forth and up and down
across those spikes,
tearing your flesh to ribbons, bit by bit,
till you're ripped to a bloody rag –
like this!”

He points.

The filthy scrap
tossed over the cross-bar –
knickers off some poor kid
they’ve slaughtered here,
picked up by the engineer
to wipe her blood off his machine.
 
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