#303399 - Misfortunes of Muriel Mory Klaw

Misfortunes of Muriel
comic serial by Mory
published by Irving Klaw
New York, New York
1951

digital replica
and
optimized ebook

Mr. Klaw advertised episodes of Mory's Misfortunes of Muriel in Bulletins 38 and 41. The vocabulary of the characters and graphic style of the author reflect the 1950s context. Like many narratives of the time, the pretext is espionage.

The mysterious Baroness Olga, attached to the Volgarian embassy, is attempting to gain top secrets by capturing the secretaries of various government officials and persuading them by ruthless means to reveal secret information . . . .

It's Muriel's misfortune that she's kidnapped by Olga's agents and brought to a country dungeon to endure painful persuasion intended to have her disclose the whereabouts of File 13. There, she becomes one of several captives tied, bolted, clamped and cuffed to contraptions designed to cause discomfort. Sturdy mechanisms stretch, bend and twist limber bodies. Some devices add steel weights or spikes to aggravate unpleasant circumstances. Many women are gagged.

Janice, "G" Girl — investigating the mysterious disappearance of government secretaries — has followed the Baroness to her secluded estate. Through a basement window, she has observed Muriel . . .

As Muriel and Janice attempt escape, they are intercepted by Olga. Soon, they are bound to frames that bend them painfully.

Ruth decides to tell Olga what she wants to hear.

I'll tell you about the new secret explosive only because it won't do you any good . . . government agents know about your hideout here.

The arrival of Janice verifies Ruth's claim. It's obvious that everyone on the the estate must travel by boat to Slave-Girl Island to avoid arrest.

At the Slave-Girl Island facility, captives are subjected to devious bondage apparatuses. A shaking horse with spikey saddle, inverted suspension, big wood wheels, stocks, an “iron corset”, straight jacket, T-frame for two, and motorized feathers that tickle bare feet enforce ordeals intended to transform stubbornness into compliance.

The original story consists of 24 episodes rendered in two styles. Episodes two through eight were drawn with ink only, possibly a marker. For episodes one and 9 through 24, Mory used ink and ink washes, with multiple grays.

Mory created pretty damsels who display curvaceous figures in stockings, garter belts, panties, bras and high heels. His mechanical inventions detail pulleys, heavy timber, cranks, bars, spikes, motors, chain and rope.

Two ebooks present the story. One contains the 24 episodes, one episode to each large ebook page. To present images as big as possible, the title at the top and episode number in the bottom margin were excised.

An optimized ebook disassembles episodes, placing one panel to a page. For a few panels with dialog balloons at the top, picture content is repeated, enlarged. 90 pages.

Existing scans were re-constituted using artificial intelligence software. Levels were adjusted and shadows reduced. Images transposed to ebook format with nice contrast and smooth edges.

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