Artists and Models

The story unfolds in a postwar, mid-century New York milieu, reflecting the era’s blend of art, mass entertainment, and consumer culture. The comics industry plays a central role, illustrating how graphic storytelling intersected with popular culture and controversy. Dream sequences and a secret rocket formula add a veneer of Cold War-era intrigue to the everyday world of artists and publishers.

The action centers on New York City’s bustling art and publishing world, with the Murdock Publishing offices as a primary backdrop. The Stork Club provides a glamorous nightlife setting where social and showbiz life collide. An upscale apartment building also serves as the central hub for Rick, Eugene, and Abigail, anchoring the story in a lively urban environment.

🎬 Art vs Commerce

Abigail quits Murdock Publishing to resist increasingly lurid, profit-driven storytelling, signaling a conflict between artistic integrity and commercial demands. Rick, eager for success, channels his artistic talent into marketable stories, showing how commerce can steer art. The film satirizes the publishing industry’s appetite for sensationalism while exploring how creators navigate fame, money, and creative limits.

🚀 Secrets & Espionage

Within Eugene’s dreams lies a real top-secret rocket formula that Rick ends up publishing, merging fiction with hidden, potentially dangerous knowledge. Spies hover around the group as national-security stakes become entwined with the art world during the Artists and Models Ball. The plot uses this tension to blend comic-book fantasy with Cold War intrigue.

🎭 Hidden Identities

Bessie doubles as the Bat Lady’s model, while Abigail crafts and facilitates public personas within the industry. Rick’s public champion of Vincent the Vulture masks private ambitions, and Eugene’s dream-life clashes with waking realities. The story probes how appearances mask true motives and how fame can operate like a costume.