I've wanted a nice Cannon strip with Madame Toy since selling my #C-30 page in 2004. Toy is Caniff's Dragon Lady on steroids, and one of my favorite Wally Wood creations.
This example features some of Wood's most gorgeous drawing from the early '70s. #C-38 represents an anomaly in the run of a strip that was generally chock-full of titillating nudity, and a rare instance of self-censorship on Wood's part prior to publication. Originally, the women in most panels here were nude, including those detailing multiple incidents of rape in Madame Toy's back story. An allusion in the final panel to Toy's enjoyment of masochistic sex was also whitewashed for the printed version.
Conjecture suggests that Woody or the publisher of The Overseas Weekly or both must have had 11th hour reservations about the storyline, and decided that the sequence was too strong for its intended military audience. Restraint and/or good taste prevailed. (Take your pick). No one on the Wood list was able or willing to corroborate the reasons for the changes.
Censored and uncensored versions of this page can be found in Fantagraphics' Compleat Cannon.
