#501 - Bizarre Life Special 1 The Return of Justine Jennifer Jordan
Bizarre Life, Special No. 1
The Return of Justine
Consolidated Publishing Co.
1970
optimized for ebook viewing
During its existence from the middle 1960s to the 1970s, Bizarre Life showed several publishers and 18 numbered issues under the management of Leonard Burtman. The Return of Justine is the only Special.
The 84-page magazine is a graphic novel (with photographs instead of illustrations) or a fumetti. Lots of text (12000 words) and (150+) adjacent pictures. (Federico Fellini’s The White Sheik presents a whimsical view of those who produced Italian fumetti in the 1950s.)
Written by an energetic amateur, the story is supposed to be about spies, lesbians, a missing microfilm and fetish attire. The possible intent was to exploit the popularity of cold war espionage epics and mingle elements of suspense and danger with fetishism, sadism and lesbianism.
By contrast, the photography is about as good as Mr. Burtman ever achieved, with extra sexy models in well-fit costumes. I usually retouch the photos in old magazines to remove specks, and these pictures required less correction. Lighting and composition are, generally, good plus.
The inside front cover lists models and the characters they portray in the photo series as The Cast.
Rita Gordon
as
Justine De Maurier
In most pictures, this sexy model is shown in laced leather from neck to toe and boots with five-inch heels. In other pictures, she’s seen in a leather garter belt, black stockings and high-heeled pumps. If you like shapely women drenched in leather (e.g., Mrs. Peele of The Avengers), you will enjoy these pictures of Rita. She is also found in many Eros Goldtripe magazines as a whip-wielding fetish diva.
Jeanne Burton
as
Jan Burton
In 1962, Mr. Burtman listed himself as producer of his film Satan in High Heels, using the name L. Burton. Jeanne, Jan and other names were often associated with the model descriptions of Mr. Burtman’s second wife, Jutka Goz (a former Miss Hungary), who finally settled on Jennifer Jordan (JJ) as her nom de plume. Petite, shapely, well groomed, an expert poser, she personified the dominant female image for 20+ years.
Jennifer Clarke
as
Gina Grayson
This brunette appeared often in Burtman magazines both before and after his California migration. As pretty as can be, she’s seen here in a satin corset, leather gloves and shiny zipper boots with high heels. In her role as bad guy, she whips her stooge while showing off her lovely legs in long, dark stockings. Then, the good guys capture and hog-tie her. She was also seen in Three magazine, where she appeared in a pictorial with JJ.
Estelle Wilson
as
Carla Maynard
The boss of F * A * C * E (Federal Agency for Counter-Espionage) is played by a leggy blond who wears nice pumps and stockings.
Bobby Anderson
as
Diane Roberts
A tall, cheerful guy, who should have removed his pinkie ring before the photo shoot.
Walter Davis
as
‘Crazy’ Eddy
Certainly looks the part.
The E-book
The story was conceived to exploit available real estate, talent and Bizarre Life themes, and would not be published anywhere except as the pretext for assembling the photographs that accompany it. The text has been edited. Many superfluous words, phrases, clauses, sentences and silliness have been removed. The prose of the ebook is more concise, less verbose, than the original. Sentences have been revised to make them more precisely describe the pictures. To that end, some sentences have been added. Despite improvements, the prose is not better than fair, much like the text adjacent to pictures in pinup magazines of the period.
Five chapters want to tell a story while being erotic. Whether they succeeds is a matter of taste.
Despite the shortcomings of the text, the ebook presents a better than average issue of Bizarre Life. Its typical themes — fetishism, female domination, male domination, transvestitism, lesbianism, sadism, and bondage — are shown nicely in photo series that trace scenarios. Especially attractive models in nicely assembled costumes are seen clearly in professional photography with few unpleasant shadows. Episodes have continuity and consistent characterization.
The optimized ebook presents each picture on a separate page. Enlargements of fetish details, such as legs, corsets, boots and leather attire, are shown next to the complete tableau or on another page. The sequence of sentences and images has been revised to place, when possible, text near the picture it describes. As there are more than 150 pictures and 180 pages in the ebook, some pages are only text.
Overall, the ebook does a superior job of realizing the intent of The Return of Justine than the original magazine. A unique and enjoyable work in its own right, the ebook will please those with an appetite for femdom figures in boots and leather.
One optimized ebook, delivered by download from your 30th Street Graphics account.