Sweet Gwendoline is the main female character in the works of

bondage artist A fetish artist is a sculptor, illustrator, or painter who makes fetish art: art related to sexual fetishism and fetishistic acts. Fetish artists, 1930s–1990s * Charles Guyette * John Willie * Eric Stanton (a.k.a. John Bee, Savage, Stanten) ...

John Willie John Alexander Scott Coutts (9 December 1902 – 5 August 1962), better known by the pseudonym John Willie, was an artist, fetish photographer, editor and the publisher of the first 20 issues of the fetish magazine ''Bizarre'', featuring his ch ...

, first published as a serial, usually two pages at a time, in Robert Harrison's mainstream girlie magazine ''Wink'' from June 1947 to February 1950 and later in several other magazines over the years. In Willie's drawings and

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

s, Gwendoline appears as a rather naïve blonde

damsel in distress The damsel in distress is a recurring narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has either been kidnapped or placed in general peril. Kinship, love, or lust (or a combination of those) gives the male protagonist the motiv ...

with ample curves, who is unfortunate enough to find herself tied up in scene after scene. She is rescued and also repeatedly tied up (though for benevolent reasons) by Secret Agent U-69. The moustachioed villain "Sir Dystic D'Arcy" was based on Willie himself.Glenn Daniel Wilson, ''Variant sexuality: research and theory'', Taylor & Francis, 1987, , p.15 Though it has been compared to '' The Perils of Pauline'', Willie stated that he had not seen the film or even heard of it until much later in his career. In

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band

Die Ärzte Die Ärzte (; ) is a German rock band from Berlin. The band has released 14 studio albums. The group consists of guitarist Farin Urlaub, drummer Bela B and bass player Rodrigo González. All three write and perform their songs. History Ea ...

recorded the song "Sweet, Sweet Gwendoline" that introduced her to a large part of the population that otherwise had no contact to the

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...

subculture. German

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

band

Umbra et Imago Umbra et Imago () is a German gothic metal and Neue Deutsche Härte band formed in autumn 1991. The original lineup consisted of singer Mozart (Manuel Munz), Michael Gillian, Nail and Torsten B. Except for Mozart all other founding members left t ...

, famous amongst the fetish goth scene, also recorded a song entitled "Sweet Gwendoline". In 1984, the stories were loosely adapted in ''

The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak ''The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak'' (original title ''Gwendoline'') is a 1984 French action comedy film directed by Just Jaeckin, written by Jaeckin and John Willie and starring Tawny Kitaen and Brent Huff. The film is loosel ...

'', a film by

Just Jaeckin Just Jaeckin (8 August 1940 – 6 September 2022) was a French film director, photographer, and sculptor. Early life Jaeckin was born in Vichy, Allier, French State during the Second World War, but left with his mother and father for Englan ...

starring

Tawny Kitaen Julie Ellen "Tawny" Kitaen (August 5, 1961 – May 7, 2021) was an American actress, model, and media personality. She began her career as a television actress, appearing in the television films ''Malibu (film), Malibu'' (1983) and ''California ...

in the role of Gwendoline.

References

British comics 1947 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1947 Fictional American people BDSM literature British comics characters Erotic comics Works published under a pseudonym British comics adapted into films Comics about women Female characters in comics {{comics-char-stub