Sweet Gwendoline is the main female character in the works of bondage artist John Willie

John Willie

John Alexander Scott Coutts , better known as John Willie, was a pioneering fetish photographer, illustrator, and bondage artist.- Life and work :...

, published largely in the 1950s and 60s, and possibly the most famous bondage

Bondage (BDSM)

Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...

 icon after Bettie Page

Bettie Page

Bettie Mae Page was an American model who became famous in the 1950s for her fetish modeling and pin-up photos. She has often been called the "Queen of Pinups"...

. The story was published as a piecemeal serial, appearing usually two pages at a time in several different magazines over the years.

In Willie's drawings and comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

s, Gwendoline appears as a rather naïve blonde damsel in distress

Damsel in distress

The subject of the damsel in distress, or persecuted maiden, is a classic theme in world literature, art, and film. She is usually a beautiful young woman placed in a dire predicament by a villain or monster and who requires a hero to achieve her rescue. She has become a stock character of fiction,...

 with ample curves, who is unfortunate enough to find herself tied up in scene after scene. She is rescued and also repeatedly tied up (though for benevolent reasons) by Secret Agent U-69 (pictured talking to Gwendoline in the illustration). The moustachioed villain "Sir Dystic D'Arcy" was based on Willie himself. Though it has been compared to The Perils of Pauline

The Perils of Pauline

The Perils of Pauline may refer to:* The Perils of Pauline , a 1914 silent film serial* The Perils of Pauline , a 1933 film serial from Universal Studios...

, Willie stated that he had not seen it or even heard of the film until much later in his career.

In Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, the pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 band Die Ärzte

Die Ärzte

Die Ärzte is a punk band from Berlin. Die Ärzte are one of the best-known German punk rock bands and have released over 20 albums. The band consists of guitarist Farin Urlaub, drummer Bela B. and bass player Rodrigo González...

 recorded the song Sweet, Sweet Gwendoline that introduced her to a large part of the population that otherwise had no contact to the BDSM

BDSM

BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...

 subculture. German gothic rock

Gothic rock

Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...

 band, Umbra Et Imago

Umbra et imago

Umbra et Imago is a German Gothic metal and Neue Deutsche Härte band formed in autumn 1991. The original lineup consisted of singer Mozart , Michael Gillian, Nail and Torsten B...

, famous amongst the fetish goth scene, also recorded a song entitled Sweet Gwendoline.

In 1984, the stories were loosely adapted in The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak

The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak

The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak is a French action/sexploitation film released in 1984, directed by Just Jaeckin...

, a movie by Just Jaeckin

Just Jaeckin

Just Jaeckin is a French film director.-Life:He was born in Vichy France during the Nazi Occupation, but left with his mother and father for England: after the war, he returned to France where he studied art and photography, much of it he did before and after serving with the French Army: while...

 starring Tawny Kitaen

Tawny Kitaen

Julie "Tawny" Kitaen is an American actress and media personality. She became famous in the 1980s for appearing in several hard rock videos for the band Whitesnake, including the hit "Here I Go Again". Kitaen was married to Whitesnake lead singer David Coverdale from 1989–1991...

in the role of Gwendoline.