'Elmtown – Nailed On Her Button’.
The expression ‘Button’ is known as another word for a woman’s clit. And Mrs. Doyle’s clit was nailed square by that nasty four ounce boxing glove. As of now the tables have turned for this fight, and it’s pretty much dead even; which means in the upcoming rounds the fight could go either way. Here is a passage from the story that deals directly with this illustration.
‘The wife was now trying for a decisive blow at a vital spot, but the widow was doggedly returning punch for punch as the two hoarsely panting women hit each other fiercely. Then the older woman drove a savage punch at Mrs. Doyle’s reddish pubic patch, right on the apex (in this case the pointed end) of the bushy triangle. The impact on exquisitely sensitive flesh had the nerve paralyzing effect of an electric shock. The wife uttered a screech of agony as her entire body stiffened with a violent jerk. She fell backward onto the mat, her knees doubled up on her chest. Then her feet shot forward, legs thrashing wildly. Her hips convulsively heaving and bouncing on the mat.’
The ‘Elmtown Chronicles’ is a case whereby the sum is greater than its parts. Taken as a whole, (pictures, writing, theme) it's a masterwork. The illustrations are pure ink lined with no half-tone shadowing. And yet the power of the brutal action is depicted in the purity of the black ink upon white paper. This is a fight to the finish, no decision here, only one remains standing. No gray area here, an ending as clear and final as black contrasts with white. As are the pictures. Now, as concerns the writing. True, the writing is not sophisticated, and yet when I published the work I made sure I didn’t alter any of the original writer’s text, except to correct some obvious errors. And adding a bit of commentary, making sure the reader could see it as an interjection by me. The power of the writing is it is straight forward, always moving, and packs a wallop of a punch in describing the physical and emotional Agon both women went through during their match. Good word, ‘Agon’, however, the author wasn’t writing Greek tragedy, whereby the Gods had already chosen sides; and by their power dictated the winner and loser. This was Shakespearian in its basic theme. Of course the writing is not of the quality of the Bard’s prose, but what Shakespeare brought to the fore in Western literature was that ordinary people can, and do, make extraordinary decisions; and in the doing obtain glory, or in contrast suffer horrific consequences for their actions. And this author understood this Shakespearian truth, in that he jumped 400 years and did something so American. He pitted two ordinary American women against each in a brutal boxing match, this in order for their collective desire that one sexually destroy the other, and in the doing win the possession of a man they both love. The consequence of loss is the humiliation that the loser give up everything and leave town. Harking back to the old west – ‘Get out of Dodge City’. And what drove these two females to choose Agon – The love of a man. Quite a drive that. Greater than lust. Powerful drives are at work here, powerful enough to stake everything held dear on a painful outcome. ‘Nuff said. Drew”