Owwie!! That's smarts!
Torture!
Although there was a lot of off the page and implied torture, the actual
pictures are not that common. A common theme in the precode era was the
red hot poker/brander. In addition to just being captured and tied, the
added element of torture added peril and desperation to the damsel in distress.
One of the pictures below is of a guy who has tortured all of his victims
with an iron and is now turning to the bound woman. What's next? Wertham
also discussed this theme and sited numerous examples.
Eye Injury
Injury to the eye theme was quoted by Wertham, but in my experience it
is a very rare and hard find. Perhaps inside some of the older Horror comics
this occurs more, but I have not encountered it. I don't know the origin
of this idea, but I suppose it something we can all relate to and blindness
is one of the greatest fears of most people. Here are the best examples
that I have come across.
Decapitation
Now here is a theme you can really lose your head over. Very common on
covers and in the pages of comics. This was often a gory ending to a gory
story. The one of the Japanese soldier being decapitated by the US soldier
was on the cover of Fight Comics.
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the Seduction!