#303325 - Kidnapped in Paris Adolfo Ruiz

Kidnapped in Paris
by Adolfo Ruiz
no publisher shown
ca. 1960

digital replica

Each week, we add at least one new product to the catalog. The task is especially satisfying when it's a work we've never heard of by an artist with whom we are acquainted. Adolfo Ruiz created Kidnapped and Enslaved, The Scarlet Widow, Fearless Lillian in Trouble, Taming the Proud Princes, Punishing the Tyrant Queen and other comic serials for Mr. Klaw.

The booklet shows no publisher, place or date. What were originally rendered as gradients appear as nasty splotches, suggesting that the product was made without screens or was reproduced by taking photographs of pages in the first printing.

We cleaned up the splotches, yielding 48 drawings with crispy monochrome contrast. Mr. Ruiz' pinup-quality characters present with fluid curves and cheerful smiles.

Page layouts vary, with narrative blocks above and below pictures. Some frames have dialog balloons.

While her father takes a second honeymoon with Karina, his second wife, Betty visits Paris and goes to a night club with Boris. There she gets kidnapped by Madame Diable and her stooge Pierre.

In the eighth frame, Betty and her captors are driving away from the night club. In the back seat, Betty is gagged and bound with rope. While Madame Diable sits on Betty's left knee, the villainess's left elbow presses into Betty's throat, placing Madame on the blonde's left side and right side at the same time, like Escher's mind-bending trompe l'oeil architecture.

At their warehouse, Betty is ordered to write a letter to her father saying that she has eloped with an apache. When Betty refuses, she's tied to numerous bondage contraptions, intended to cause persuasive pain.

Cousin Natalie comes to Paris looking for Betty. Before she, too, becomes a kidnap victim, Natalie watches a man and woman dance at another night club.

At the bondage cabaret, [she] watched the apache couple. Natalie was thrilled by the dominant motions of the man and the sensuous movements of the girl. . . .

The dance looked real. It seemed as if the was giving her a going-over. There was a moment when he took her by the hair and whirled her bodily in a complete arch . . . It was too realistic to be a dancing trick.

But the worst came when the man swung her over his shoulder and let land heavily on the floor. A stifled cry indicated that the crash had hurt the girl. It couldn't be dancing!

A small detail on the back cover renders this publication strangely appropriate for 2021. Something that looks like a medical mask covers the face of a waitress as she carries a tray of food.

The last panel looks like a festive finale from a Hollywood musical. Francois, who rescued the captives, is flanked by Natalie and Betty in bras and panties. The happy trio uses the bound body of Madame Diable as a handy hammock.

The story has multiple reversals and fist fights. Many panels show pretty characters restrained by mechanical devices. Madame Diable often appears holding a whip.

Mr. Ruiz dressed his lovelies in form-fitting dresses, furs, lacy undies, gartered hosiery and heels. His women have the bearing and coiffures of movie stars.

The ebook contains all content of the 60-year-old booklet. A few narrative blocks and dialog balloons were re-positioned.

Brightness, contrast, and levels were adjusted. Mr. Ruiz' ink artistry transposed to ebook format with clarity.

All new scans.

One ebook, delivered by download from your 30th Street Graphics account.