#279 - Forced Femininity Comics Gene Bilbrew Art Selbee

Forced Femininity
Connoisseur Series, No. C-20
by Gene Bilbrew
Selbee Publications
New York, New York
1963

Published by Selbee Associates in 1963, Gene Bilbrew's Forced Femininity appears to have been inked years earlier. In this implausible tale, transvestites are connected to each other by an obscure history that ended before the comic's action begins. The plot involves blackmail, disguise and an unexpected exposure among characters who change their sexy fetish apparel often.

Bilbrew is not only the illustrator, but the dramatist, story-teller, costumer, and dialogist, as well. The bold curves of the facial features (brilliant eyebrows) present strong female characters in dramatic make-up and a spectrum of stormy moods. His lines have a lightness here that accomplish the femininity of the title without force. The irrepressible femaleness within the male characters supplies the force of the story. These are urges that transvestites understand, and here,he depicts artfully.

A photo feature titled Booted Babes follows the 48 comic pages. I have included all of the photos, but adjusted the contrast of some of them and revised a few page layouts to make pictures larger. The back cover, which was originally printed only in blue ink, is recast in black. At the end, I add most of the pages that I revised in their original form. The detailed cover painting by Eric Stanton has little to do with the story.

I purchased this booklet in the Times Square area of New York City when I was a younger man. Long out of print, this publication is part of no anthology or reprint series.

You may have seen some of the drawings in this story on a website, but the ebook contains the complete contents of Selbee Connoisseur Series C-20. Without digital mechanisms, the content of this erotic ephemera would be lost to everyone but the most fortunate of collectors. While acquisition of this rare piece may be beyond the reach of many, you can take a step back to the middle of the past century and see the shape of fetish erotica as drawn by one of the masters of the TV genre.

The story presented in Forced Femininity was made into a movie [She Man] in 1966, now showing on Amazon's Prime Video streaming service.


• BONUS
If we draw a timeline of pen styles that starts with the simple, single-thickness line drawings of His Dreams Came True, Forced Femininity would follow, and Satan in High Heels would be next. These three works suggest a development of skill that advances to the level of Madame Bizarre in the early 1960s. Although there are hundreds of other Eneg works produced during the 15 year period that begins in the late 1950s, these four are typical of their times and show a consistent progression.

Madame Bizarre is included as a bonus ebook.

Two ebooks, delivered by download from your 30th Street Graphics account.