In 1952, Stanton saw an ad in a girlie mag showing bondage artwork by Irving Klaw (most famous for his Bettie Page pictures). He was convinced he could do better and wrote to Klaw, met with him, and was asked to draw a fighting-girl cartoon strip. Stanton took inspiration from pro-wrestling magazines and would sketch the poses, substituting the sweaty men in the photos for angry, curvaceous women in skimpy knickers.
Renowned fetish photographer Eric Kroll (Erickroll.com) has edited a book on Stanton.
"I immersed myself in artists like Stanton," he tells us. "I mean, it's what I was jerking off to when I was growing up. Somewhere along the line I contacted him and totally dug him right away. He was a cool, hipster guy and very devilish-looking. He liked a struggle during sex and had a passion for big, strong women. His second wife Britt flipped him on his back on their first date. He said to me, 'She's my dream girl!'"
When it came to drawing, Stanton experimented with all areas of sexuality. He would draw for transvestite stories such as Guys In Gowns, as well as for gay titles like Teenage Muscles and Bonnie And Clara, the lesbian crime duo, but kept his family life and work very separate.
"I always wondered what kinds of problems he had doing what he was doing in the community he was in," says Kroll. "He lived in suburbia. I don't think he interacted a whole lot with people and neighbours. I know that nobody downtown, when we went out to lunch once, knew he was this great fetish illustrator.
"Eric wasn't in it for the money. He was trying to explore the power of a woman and women dominating men. I definitely respond to that stuff and I've done some similar images. What I borrowed from him was the woman smothering my face or chest - that turns me on. It's definitely a reference to him."
Stanton eventually set up his own mailing list and created the Stantoons. With 20,000 clients on his list, he would draw erotic cartoons to each specific request, which included anything from domination fantasies to Taiwanese women with enormous breasts and penises with a penchant for raping men.
Eric Stanton passed away in 1999. Sadly many of his original drawings are either shut away in dusty attics, or were destroyed by horrified wives or mothers years ago. Ultimately, he will be remembered for his army of Amazon beauties who bit, scratched and punched their way across the page in hotpants or see-through nighties. For those who called on his services for their own indulgence, he will be remembered for allowing them the freedom to explore their sexual imagination.
She Dominates & Other Stories is out now (£4.99). See Taschen.com for more
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