Scantily Clad Warriors
The work of Steve Fastner and Rich Larson is striking for the way its female characters, almost always in minuscule attire, are depicted in fantasy and science fiction universes with a detailed graphic style geared towards eroticism, shaped by influences from both pulp comics and pin-up aesthetics. Working in partnership since the mid-1970s, Fastner & Larson (or F&L, as they became known) developed a visual language centered on female representation characterized by sexual appeal, an aesthetic of exaggeration, and a fusion of the fantastic, the grotesque, and the sensual. In a universe populated by scantily clad warriors, muscular demons, vampiric pirates, and heroines in skin-tight lingerie, the two artists created an unmistakable and, for many, inescapably erotic style.
Fig.1 Devil Dog
Fig.2 The Chair
Fig.3 Betrayal
Fig.4 Upstaged
Fig.5 Cold Chill - Magenta Glove
Fig.6 Lady Killer
The Genesis Of An Erotic Visual Partnership
The collaboration between Fastner and Larson began in a fertile environment for graphic experimentation: the fanzine and comic convention circuit of the 1970s. Both came from distinct but converging paths. Fastner, a graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, stood out for his airbrushing skill and his fascination with Richard Corben's detailed aesthetic. Larson, on the other hand, came from the world of independent comics and advertising, with a style strongly influenced by MAD Magazine artists and Frank Frazetta's sensual illustrations.
The duo's first collaboration arose from a story considered provocative by conventional publishers: Children of the Goat (1976), published in Kitchen Sink’s Bizarre Sex #7 (included in the Premium edition). Fastner transformed one of Larson's pencil drawings based on this story into an airbrushed illustration, which already anticipated the main elements of the style that would establish them: women in underwear, megalomaniacal male figures, and monstrous creatures vying for power in dark, baroque settings. Sexualization wasn't just an ornament; it constituted the very narrative atmosphere of the image.
Fig.7 Love Mummy
Fig.8 Nepher has Two Mummies
Fig.9 Assassins
Fig..10 Egyptian Princess
The Female Body As Spectacle
From their earliest works, F&L showed an interest in exploring the female body through sex and action. However, contrary to what one might expect from passive or merely contemplative eroticism, their characters are rarely portrayed as helpless victims. As summarized in the description from the sketchbook Haunted House of Lingerie, their heroines are "damsels in distress" only in the most superficial sense: they "madly scamper down cemetery paths in 5-inch heels, with a 200-year-old animated corpse slowly trailing behind... only to turn around and kick the creature's ass with full force."
Fig.11 Chrome Horse
Fig.12 Night Visitors
In the extended Premium edition of this article more about how Fastner & Larson's eroticism can be defined, their technical choice, series and sketchbooks, the criticism and celebration of their work, the aesthetics of their erotic fantasies, BONUS FEATURE: a spooky 12-page feature by Richard Larson, "Children of the Goat", 88 additional (arousing) pics, and much more...!!
The website of Fastner & Larson can be found here
Click HERE for 53 sensuous females of comic book artist Richard Corben or HERE for the powerful beauties in Frank Frazetta's voluptuous paintings
Are you a fan of Fastner & Larson's sensual fantasies? Leave your reaction in the comment box below...!!
