#Bill Wenzel

[inky-curves]

Bill Wenzel

[paintermagazine]

‘A different tune!’

Original artist: Bill Wenzel

Original source: ‘Humorama’ (1959)

[thebestcomicbookpanels]

"I don't know how to dance. Wanna talk it out?"

Humorama cartoon by Bill Wenzel

[imagescuisantes]

Wenzel

[tomoleary]

Bill Wenzel "Moon Tan Lotion" Barrel of Fun original cover art (Almat Publishing, Spring 1963) Source

[understandingbimbos]

Rosalie Duthé, Anita Loos, Bill Wenzel, and Barbie.

I think at this point we've all accepted there's no single bimbo point of origin (or, POO). No bimbo ground zero. Rosalie Duthé is often cited as not only the first example of a bimbo but the first dumb blonde.

At the moment, she's even on the Wikipedia page!

Which is honestly really unfortunate imo seeing as she was a real person and a prostitute, but that's neither here nor there, I guess. Anyway. Unless I'm mistaken, we don't actually know much about Rosalie Duthé. And even if she was a singular influence on the very concept of bimbos and dumb blondes, then what happened? Where are the examples of dumb blonde and bimboish characters appearing in plays and literature from 1775 onward? How far did this idea spread outside of France? I'm not saying its not possible or that these examples don't exist, but its hard to pin down. When Rosalie Duthé was alive "bimbo" was still only Italian for "little boy". And while the play mocking her may have introducd the concept of the dumb blonde that doesn't mean it was necessarily solidified as an archetype right then and there.

Enter Anita Loos. By the time her comic novel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, is published in November of 1925 (after having been serialized in Harper's Bazaar) the dumb blonde, bimbo, and gold digger are already established archetypes. While Loos most definitely helped popularize these idea with her internationally best-selling often-adapted satire, she was utilizing what was already there. If anything the original idea she pushed was that men prefer blondes and that blondes have more fun. Anita Loos also wrote the screenplay for the 1932 film, Red-Headed Woman, where Jean Harlow plays an ambitious flirty giggly woman that fucks pretty much every male character that appears in the film (and doesn't appear in the film).

(pictured, Jean Harlow and Anita Loos)

Then of course in the 50s we get Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Mamie Van Doren, and Judy Holliday. There were also men's magazines like Humorama featuring art from artists like Bill Ward, Dan DeCarlo, and Bill Wenzel. Featuring women who were either clueless, horny, or gold-digging, but all extremely buxom.

And 1959 saw the release of the original Barbie, which was just a slightly modified version of Bild Lilli, a German sex doll. I don't have much to say about that, its still something I need to do more research on, and that's part of the point of this post. Connections are there but hard to find. I really can't speak to what influence Barbie has had specifically, I think it may all be surface level, but there's something to be said about the fact so many women I follow will cite or invoke her. And that "doll" is even considered a compliment/ideal in general, physically and non-physically. You know in the sense of "You're such a doll" or "She's so pretty she looks like a doll." Its interesting. My friend says dolls represent "an easily replicated curated aesthetic" and that may be the reason for the point of reference.

There was a lot more I was going to say and this post was going to be a lot less nonsensical but I am extremely tired. I thought I could clearly and quickly get my thoughts out before I had to go to sleep. I was wrong. Sorry. Goodnight!

[marvelousmrm]

Avengers #174 (Mantlo/Wenzel, Aug 1978). Hawkeye liberates everyone from the Collector’s clutches. We learn that Korvac’s wife Carina is the Collector’s daughter, dispatched by spy on the ascending baddie…

[cantsayidont]

May 1948. Decades before the SMALLVILLE television series, a teenage Clark Kent meets the teenage Lois Lane, who seems decidedly unimpressed with him, though very keen on Superboy. Note that the narrative caption in panel 2 of this story (which is from ADVENTURE COMICS #128) describes Metropolis as a "nearby city" to Smallville. Although modern Superman media (and the post-Crisis comics) places Smallville in Kansas, the Golden Age and Silver Age comics suggested that it was in the same region of Metropolis — if Metropolis represented New York City, Smallville was a small farming town upstate.

[ironmandirectorofsword]

Avengers 174 (1978) by Jim Shooter, Bill Mantlo & David Wenzel

Cover: George Perez

Korvac Saga

[inky-curves]

Bill Wenzel

[paintermagazine]

‘A helping hand!’

Artist: Bill Wenzel

[thebestcomicbookpanels]

"No thanks. I'd rather have our engagement be long and drawn out."

by Bill Wenzel

[imagescuisantes]

Wenzel

[ometochtli2rabbit]

"The Hobbit" A Graphic Novel of the Fantasy Classic by J.R.R. Tolkien by David Wenzel adapted by Charles Dixon and Sean Deming, Bill Pearson (letterer). Done way back in 1989, but worth a look...

[bourbontrend]

Guess who just snagged a HUGE win at the World Whiskies Awards? 🚀 Wenzel Whiskey's Wheated Two bourbon took home the title of Best American Blended Limited Release! Find out what makes this barrel-proof beauty so special and get a sneak peek into their exciting expansion plans.

[lubdubs]

Cartoon/Comic Strip by Bill Wenzel