Bizarre Profiles: John Willie (1902-1962)

John Willie (born John Alexander Scott Coutts), artist, photographer, editor and publisher of the cult bondage magazine Bizarre. The first magazine for fetishists, it was first published in 1946. Originally only sold through mail order, it featured stunning illustrations by Coutts. He was known as the Rembrandt of Pulp and the Da Vinci of Fetish, but was born to British parents in Singapore, and grew-up up in the sexually repressed Edwardian era of England. Via Australia and Canada, good fortune landed him in the USA, where Willie found him home. and place for his artistic expression. Among themany  artwork and illustrations that he did for the magazine, the most famous character was Sweet Gwendoline, a naive blonde damsel in distress.

Bizarre magazine was published sporadically, ceasing production all together during 1947 to 1951, due to paper shortages during WWII. Coutts only published 26 editions before his death in 1962. It is thought that there were only around 10,000 of each made, making them a very collectable item today. 

In the magazine Coutts carefully played with gender roles, which was very progressive for its time. With women tying up women, it appealed to both a male and female readership.

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From his work, it can be seen that Coutts loved and admired women. His female characters were always intelligent and witty, despite finding themselves tied-up. Whereas the male characters, like his villain Sir Dystic D'Arcy (based on Coutts himself) were portrayed as dim-witted.

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