Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29


I was recently reading Craig Russell's listing on Wikipedia. They credit him with being the first openly gay comics creator.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._Craig_Russell

Among many other great stories in comics, Russell, paired with writer Don McGregor, early on did the "Killraven" series in AMAZING ADVENTURES 27-39 from 1974-1976.
https://comiconlinefree.com/amazing-adventures-1970/issue-27
One of my favorite comics series, its beautiful lyrical writing and art making it a series I've revisited often.





Right after, Russell did NIGHT MUSIC, the second graphic novel published by Eclipse, in 1979.



Originally in black-and-white, NIGHT MUSIC was reprinted in color with other material as a NIGHT MUSIC comic-size series in its first 2 issues, and continued with other adaptations and new work.

Russell also contributed adaptations of Wagnerian operas and plays, and adaptaions of Rudyard Kipling, O. Henry, Oscar Wilde, the Jungle Book, and other literary works. Beautiful stuff, and definintely filling a void, not likely to be adapted by any other comics artists. Russell's work is at times whimsical and even cartoonish, but overall presents a wealth of elegant and sophisticated work. Relative to the more fanboyish offerings in comics, Russell's work presentss a deep sense of culture, literature, and the arts.



Russell further cemented his reputation with the ELRIC Marvel graphic novel in 1982.
https://comiconlinefree.com/marvel-graphic-novel/issue-2_-_Elric_-_The_Dreaming_City



Followed up by an equally nice 6-issue ELRIC comics series from Pacific Comics in 1983-1984. And several follow-up Elric books and adaptations over the last 40 years. Russell has probably done more work on Elric than any other character.


In 1983, Russell also did a KILLRAVEN graphic novel, the last McGregor/Russell collaboration on the series.
https://comiconlinefree.com/marvel-graphic-novel/issue-7_-_Killraven_-_Warrior_of_the_Worlds





Here's an IDW "artists edition" book of Russell's original art on the KILLRAVEN graphic novel, and also a DR STRANGE: WHAT IS IT THAT DISTURBS YOU STEPHEN? one-shot (the latter being a revised version of Russell's DR STRANGE ANNUAL 1 from 1976), along with a sampling of other classic pages of Russell's early work:

https://aeindex.org/reviews/p-craig-russells-strange-dreams-artists-edition/

Among many other exceptional contributions to the comics field. Even Russell just providing inks on projects by artists like Michael Golden, Jim Starlin and Tom Artis turned those books into something exceptional and among my favorites.


So what other offerings by gay creators, or stories about gay issues or characters do you see as great contributions to the comics field?



Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,951
Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit"
15000+ posts
Offline
Officially "too old for this shit"
15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,951
Likes: 6
I would’ve guessed Howard Cruse was the first openly gay comic book creator. But perhaps they mean mainstream rather than underground.

Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29


 Originally Posted By: the G-man
I would’ve guessed Howard Cruse was the first openly gay comic book creator. But perhaps they mean mainstream rather than underground.



Hard as it might be to believe now, Howard Cruse also started out in the closet.

I like Howard Cruse's work a lot. I first read his BAREFOOTZ and other series in short segments in ALIEN ENCOUNTERS, ECLIPSE magazine, ANYTHING GOES, COMMIES FROM MARS, SNARF, BIZARRE SEX and a few other titles. But the BAREFOOTZ comic that collected a lot of these shorter stories presented something of an awakening for Cruse.

From Comixjoint, a site devoted to underground comics:


http://www.comixjoint.com/barefootzfunnies.html

 Quote:
Cruse's Barefootz debuted in the University of Alabama's student newspaper in 1971, where it ran for a year, and later appeared in several alternative tabloids in Birmingham. Denis Kitchen gave Barefootz wider exposure when he published several stories in Snarf (it also appeared in Commies from Mars #1). Barefootz also became a regular feature in Comix Book [a rather odd magazine-size anthology from Marvel, Marvel's brief 5-issue dance on the edge of underground comics publishing], which soon led to the debut of Barefootz Funnies, the printing of which Cruse and his friends funded through a limited partnership called Woofnwarp Productions. Kitchen Sink then managed the production and distribution of the books. [BAREFOOTZ FUNNIES 1 was published in 1975, collecting mostly earlier strips.]

Barefootz Funnies took an interesting journey from 1975 to 1979. When Barefootz debuted as a comic character in 1971, Cruse was still in the closet about being gay. Cruse later admitted the character was not the most representative of his own personality, since Barefootz wasn't gay.
But in Barefootz #2 [1976], Cruse revealed that Barefootz's artist buddy Headrack was gay. This type of revelation ran counter to Barefootz's reputation as being too cutesy to be part of the underground comic revolution. Cruse's publicly emerging sexual orientation in real life was leading him to become more bold in his comics, which created ambivalence about the cartoony style and nature of the Barefootz character. Cruse began to ponder abandoning the character, and even considered murdering Barefootz in a comic book, a la Crumb's Fritz the Cat, thus enabling Cruse to re-create the characters in Barefootz Funnies as more realistic-looking people.

Instead, Cruse finished the series with one final issue, which featured the cathartic "Barefootz Variations," a story that summed up his mixed feelings about Barefootz and about cartooning itself. Barefootz Funnies #3 [December 1979] allowed Cruse to bid farewell to his first original comic character and move on to comics that meant more to him, his fan base and the critics who had complained so loudly about his cutesy cartoon style.

Barefootz Funnies rarely makes the list of any underground comic fan's favorite comic books, but it was certainly a fascinating account of one comic creator's evolution in real life.





Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29



I was sorry to see that Howard Cruse just died on November 26, 2019, at the age of 75. This blog mentioned it, with a brief look at his comics career, and a few sample pages of his work.

http://fourrealities.blogspot.com/2019/11/



Here's his page on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Cruse


One of my favorites of Cruse was a 3-page strip in ECLIPSE magazine 1, May 1981, "Quick Trim", with an opinionated conservative barber forcing his views on his clients, page 1 of which is in the blog linked above.

I like Cruse's earlier work the best, up through the early/mid 1980's, with a cleaner linestyle than his later work, whimsical stories where his characters interact in a friendly way with the roaches in his apartment, a monster who lives under his bed, space aliens, and other low-key interactions with odd characters.






Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29




Some gay characters in a story I enjoyed appeared in the McGregor/Graham/Freeman issues of SABRE (issues 3-9), two jailed political prisoners with the unlikely names of Summer Ice and Deuces Wild.

Despite the flamboyance of their names, they're pretty low-key characters who offer a nice commentary on human dignity and grace under pressure, as prisoners lawlessly held by an authoritarian future government.


full story online at:
http://www.12comic.com/issue.jsp?id=190227022732pkat&cu=11



Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29


Page 1 of "Quick Trim" by Howard Cruse.
From ECLIPSE magazine 1, May 1981.







Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29

Another comics artist I recall is Duffy Vohland.

I just ran across this pin-up Vohland did with artist Don Maitz, in the Marvel magazine DRACULA LIVES 10, Jan 1975:
https://comiconlinefree.com/dracula-lives/issue-10/3


Duffy Vohland was for a several years in the mid/late 1970's among the office staff at Marvel, and did a lot of pin-up illustrations and inking, mostly on their black and white magazine line.

I think I first saw his work in an issue of Marvel's fanzine, FOOM. As I recall, inking a Byrne Red Sonja pin-up.

And most memorably for me, Vohland was the bartender in the first "ROG 2000" backup story in E-MAN 6, in 1975. Apparently reflecting his real part time supplemental work as a bartender.

http://bronzeageofblogs.blogspot.com/2014/05/rog-2000.html


On page 1 (in a larger size):
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yJpUFboNhj0/U3WrF_n7VUI/AAAAAAAALoA/UvWtqMbEcRc/s1600/E-Man+06+17.jpg

Vohland died in the early 1980's of AIDS in 1982, in a time before it was officially identified and named AIDS.




Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29



A nice recollection of Duffy Vohland by Paul Kupperberg:

https://kupps.malibulist.com/2013/03/06/duffys-tavern/



One of several links from this topic about him:
http://m.byrnerobotics.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53118

Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29





Another Byrne/Vohland page, the centerfold from FOOM 11, Dec 1975. The issue celebrating Kirby's return to Marvel.



Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29



Here's a link to a 6-page story from the Marvel black and white magazine DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU issue 5, pencilled by Paul Gulacy, inked by Duffy Vohland.
https://comiconlinefree.com/the-deadly-hands-of-kung-fu/issue-5/32
or
https://diversionsofthegroovykind.blogspot.com/2011/08/?m=1


DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU provided a lot of great early work by George Perez, Keith Giffen, Neal Adams, Jim Starlin, Al Milgrom, Paul Gulacy, Dick Giordano, Keith Pollard, Bob McLeod, Rudy Nebres, Tony Dezuniga, Pat Brodeick, Terry Austin, Marshall Rogers, Sonny Trinidad, Rico Rival and others.
A lot of new talent in just 33 issues. In particular the "Sons of the Tiger" series by George Perez, his first regular series, preceding his work on "Man-Wolf" in CREATURES ON THE LOOSE, and preceding Perez's work on the first INHUMANS series, and later on FF, AVENGERS, and LOGAN'S RUN.

Vohland also inked a lot of Byrne pin-ups and stories in the 1975-1976 period across Marvel's black and white magazines, along with inks over pages by other artists.



Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29




Another Gulacy/Vohland page, this one of Morbius the Living Vampire, from the magazine VAMPIRE TALES 10.





Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29






Another Byrne/Vohland page from the 1975 ACBA SKETCHBOOK.

A 1970's Marvel villain, the Scarecrow.
Not to be confused with the DC Batman villian.





Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29




Another Byrne/Vohland page of Solomon Kane, this one from SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN 29, May 1978.


Vohland also inked a 15-page adaptation of Robert E. Howard's "Blades of the Brotherhood", pencilled by David Wenzel, in SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN 33, Sept 1978.
https://comiconlinefree.com/the-savage-sword-of-conan/issue-33/42






Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29


Two more introductory splash pages, both are David Wenzel pencils Duffy Vohland inks:


SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN 36, Dec 1978 (Conan)
https://comiconlinefree.com/the-savage-sword-of-conan/issue-36/2

SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN 37, Feb 1979 (Solomon Kane)
https://comiconlinefree.com/the-savage-sword-of-conan/issue-37/52


Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29



Another I'm surpised no one mentioned is Jeffrey Jones.

The first things I noticed by Jones were some covers for WONDER WOMAN issues 199 and 200.
https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?tid=181601&pgi=151
https://comiconlinefree.com/wonder-woman-1942/issue-199
https://comiconlinefree.com/wonder-woman-1942/issue-200


Jones also was an uncredited inker on several Wrightson issues for DC, including the SHOWCASE issues featuring "Nightmaster", and SWAMP THING 9.

SHOWCASE 83 and 84
https://comiconlinefree.com/showcase/issue-83
https://comiconlinefree.com/showcase/issue-84


SWAMP THING 9
https://comiconlinefree.com/swamp-thing-1972/issue-9

Jeffrey Jones' wife in that early period was Louise Jones. And obviously with Jones turning coming out as gay, that relationship didn't work out in the long run. Louise Jones is immortalized by Wrightson on the cover of HOUSE OF SECRETS 92, and in the enclosed first "Swamp Thing story in that issue. Kaluta's appearance was used as photo-reference for the villain in that story.
Louise Jones eventually remarried and became Louise Simonson.

Jones was mostly on the periphery of mainstream comics, and more of a contributor to titles like NATIONAL LAMPOON and HEAVY METAL, CREEPY, EERIE, VAMPIRELLA, and later books like TWISTED TALES, ALIEN WORLDS, and PATHWAYS TO FANTASY.








But Jones is best known for his paintings, one of the four comics artists who breach the realm of fine art with their 1970's posters and limited edition prints, works collected in the book THE STUDIO (1979), from the years of the studio he shared with Kaluta, Wrightson and Windsor-Smith.



My mother, a patron of the arts, was most impressed by this image from THE STUDIO book when I gave her a copy in 1980. So I got her a copy of the poster available then from Bud Plant, and she's had it framed and on the wall in her home for 40 years now.




Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29




A Jones Tarzan cover, for an Edgar Rice Burroughs fanzine.

Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29





Jones' WONDER WOMAN 200 cover, June 1972.



Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29





Jones also did a lot of book illustration. When deadlines got tight, sometimes with the assistance of Wrightson and Kaluta.




Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29





A Warren cover by Jones, for EERIE 27, May 1970.




Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29




Another cover for VAMPIRELLA 4, April 1970, a collaboration between Jones and Vauhgn Bode.
Bode was also gay.



Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29





Eric Shanower, who I know mostly for his L.Frank Baum Oz adaptations, that I first saw in the mid 1980's as 5 sporadically published graphic novels for First Comics from 1986-1992.

And pages in Dark Horse's Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor series, from 1995-1996. That despite my affection for Ellison's work overall, I found a rather dull and poorly thought out collection of adaptations of Ellison's stories for the most part. That Dark Horse at the time hyped as "Ellison adaptations by comics best talents", that I wrote to Dark Horse and told them were "first rate talents doing third-rate work on the series." But Shanower's work was pleasant enough, mostly introductory splash pages and bridging of Ellison introducing each story, along the lines of Cain introducing stories in HOUSE OF MYSTERY, or Rod Serling in the Twilight Zone series. Which to me was annoying and un-original. But Shanower's paages were pleasant enough.

Shanower does nice clean and detailed art, but somehow it just doesn't set me on fire and make me say "wow".

I was unaware till I looked him up that Shanower is the exact same age as me, and like me from Florida (he's from Key West).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Shanower


Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29






A guy named Neal Pozner, who scripted a four-issue AQUAMAN miniseries in 1986, with really nice art by a then-unknown Craig Hamilton.

Pozner did mostly design work for DC's line of books and house ads, in addition to other design work outside of comics, advertising, album covers and other stuff. I didn't know that he was active in fanzines for about 15 years before he began working in comics professionally. Aside from the AQUAMAN miniseries, I don't know of any comics Pozner did.

Unfortunately he died of AIDS in 1994, at the very young age of 38.



Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29



You can read the four-issue AQUAMAN seies by Pozner and Hamilton online here:
https://comiconlinefree.com/aquaman-1986/issue-1


And here's a link to Neal Pozner on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Pozner

Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29



Someone closely related to Neal Pozner, actually first hired at DC by Pozner, is Phil Jiminez.

I know him best for his WONDER WOMAN run in the early 2000's. Nice clean and detailed art.

When I first saw his work, I joked to a guy with me at the comic shop as I was looking at Jiminez's work in the new releases. I said, "Hey, I have a great nickname for this guy. George Perez!"

I like his work, but clearly Jiminez borrows quite a bit from Perez. That certainly is part of the appeal of his run on WONDER WOMAN.





Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29




The second issue of a particularly fun 2-part Jiminez offering (both story and interior art, cover by Adam Hughes), where Wonder Woman time travels back to the Golden Age and fights the Nazis.
Jiminez worked on WONDER WOMAN 164-188.





Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29




More of a mainstream horror writer, but with many adaptations of his work in comics, is Clive Barker.

With few exceptions, I'm not a fan of Barker's work, that goes out of its way to be unpleasant, dark, violent and perverse.

A few that I liked more for the artists than the stories are in the 5-issue TAPPING THE VEIN anthology series in 1989-1990, are by Scott Hampton, Craig Russell, John Bolton and Bo Hampton.

Marvel/Epic had a longer-running HELLRAISER series, 20 issues, that was beautifully designed, but the content again is not my cup of tea.
The one that stood out for me in this series as excellent storytelling is "The Threshold" by Scott Hampton in issue 4.

Both these titles have a very sophisticated design, more akin to book publishing than how comics, at least till that time, were designed.





Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29




What gay comics topic would be complete without mentioning HULK magazine issue 23, Oct 1980. The story where Bruce Banner is living in New York City, staying under the radar less visibly at the local YMCA, where two gay men attempt to rape him in the shower room. Story by Jim Shooter, art by John Buscema/ Alfredo Alcala.
Enhanced by a striking Walt Simonson cover.

You can see by multiple letters pages in subsequent issues that the story generated a lot of backlash and hostility from gay readers. Despite that such rapes do occur.

My own experience writing about gay issues when I wrote editorials in the early/mid 1990's is that gays are the most intolerant, militant, organized and threatening of any political/demographic group. And in the three years of my column, and I wrote about a great many other political and controversial issues, such as the Bill Clinton election, Rodney King and the L.A. riots, genocide in Bosnia, anti-Christian bias in the media, illegal immigration and many other issues. Only with the one column I did on gays in the military and Bill Clinton's introduction of "don't ask, don't tell" did my editor and publisher both receive threatening phone calls. Both were visibly intimidated, I was not. I wrote back to anyone who wrote letters, and was willing to meet any reader or advertiser. Copies of our magazine were stolen from the coin-distribution newstand racks, and one angry reader left a message "You published a story, and now you're going to pay the price."

Which surprised me, because it was a 3-page editorial about gays in the military and detailing Bill Clinton's concession to gays with "don't ask/don't tell" policy, a concession Clinton made to pay off gay activists who were among his largest political campaign donors in the 1992 election. Those are just facts.
I laid out: this is how gays see the issue, and this is how conservatives see the issue, giving what I thought was fair representation of both sides, and concluding "thereign lies a diametric opposition of two belief systems, as divided as those over which the bloodiest of wars are fought."
And that gays in the military was not where it would end, that it was a beach-head for advancing homosexual ideology, using gays in the military as a state-endosed precedent that could be used to force mainstream concessions to gay advocates across the entire American mainstream.
That was early 1992, and that was clearly factual when I wrote it. And that gay agenda has been expanded way beyond my wildest imaginings: Gay marriage, gay adoption, forcing Christian bakeries and photographers to participate in gay weddings against their beliefs, or be fined out of business. Forcing Catholic schools and hospitals to fund birth control and abortion against their beliefs. Basically forcing the Boy Scouts out of business nationwide for refusing to admit gay scout leaders (who would do so to recruit or force themselves on young boys.)

It was my first taste of how gay activists are the frontline storm troopers of the radical Left, who are utterly intolerant and unquestionably threatening to the slightest dissent, and even threatening to those who just give a balanced representation to conservative/Christian views in the same article. Any and all dissent has to be silenced. It was the exact point where I ceased to be passively accepting of gays as a political force, and opened my eyes to how intolerant and militantly threatening they truly are, to any dissenting views. There was an incident a few years later where the New York school system removed children's books like "Heather Has Two Mommies" that introduced children at a young age to the gay lifestyle. Parents objected and protested until the books were removed, and as a result there were some car bombs set off by the displaced gay activists in a show of intimidation. I definitely related when I saw that on the news.

And the backlash to this HULK story in 1980 was just a softer precursor to just how intolerant and threatening gay activists would become by 1992. And even more so now. Not just gays, but the entire radicalized Bolshevik Left.






Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
Vaughn Bode
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaughn_Bod%C4%93

As I mentioned earlier, in collaboration with Jeff Jones on Warren covers.


I know Bode's work most for his underground stuff in JUNKWAFFEL and CHEECH WIZARD, and his work for Ralph Bakshi's animated 1977 film Wizards. That movie had some great panoramic art by Michael Ploog and Ian Miller, but the core characters in the movie are clearly based on Bode's Cheech Wizard.

One of Bode's series Cobalt 60 had one episode reprinted in EPIC ILLUSTRATED 27, and then followed with a new Cobalt 60 series by his surviving son Mark Bode, in issues 27-31 (1984-1985).

Another I know Bode for were his Purple Pictography series (originally serialized in SWANK magazine, later collected in BERNI WRIGHTSON: A LOOK BACK, and a later PRPLE PICTOGRAPHY one-shot by Fanbtagraphics) that Bode did in collaboration with Berni Wrightson As best as I can see, Bode came up with the stories, and Wrightson alone did the art, but it's possible the collaboration was more than that.

And a number of covers by Bode for CREEPY, EERIE and VAMPIRELLA. I don't recall if he did any interior stories.

Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
Something went wrong with the Vaughn Bode wikipedia link, so here it is again:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaughn_Bode


And complete online versions of his best known series...

JUNKWAFFEL 1-5 (1971-1972, reprints published in 1983)
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Junkwaffel/Issue-1?id=194017#2

CHEECH WIZARD (1972, reprinted in 1986, and 1990)
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Complete-Cheech-Wizard/Issue-1?id=193914#2

Like the 1977 movie Wizards that director/animator Ralph Bakshi was inspired to create due to his inspiration by Bode's work, these comics series by Bode project a similar and very groovy 1970's vibe.
Along the lines of Robert Crumb's "Keep on truckin' " motif, Bode's work was a clear influential part of the times it was created.

[Linked Image from i.pinimg.com]


DAS KAMPF (1963) - Bode's first published work, among the very first underground comics.
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Das-Kampf/Full?id=174957#1

Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
.


Here's an article by Craig Yoe on Vaughn Bode:
https://13thdimension.com/remembering-vaughn-bode/

Quote
Usually artists, especially comics artists, take the approach of studying the output of a few individuals whose work they admire. If they do it right, this results in a rich combo of their visual mentors and they develop their own personal style. A very few artists draw deep from their inner selves with seemingly no influences whatsoever. Their art achieves a look with no ancestry–it’s new, it’s different! Vaughn Bodé‘s art is like that. I can’t think of anyone with whom to compare him. Vaughn Bodé was, in the truest sense of the word… UNIQUE!

It shows a number of covers and pages of Vaugn Bode's work, and photos and personal info about the artist himself. He almost looks like a 1970's glam-rock musician in some of his photos.
As detailed at the Wikipedia link, he was not just hetero, bisexual or homosexual, but had, shall we say, some very unusual sexual outlets. And he died of self-inflicted erotic asphixiation.

Whatever his personal quirks, his art manifests that he clearly was an innovative and talented artist. Whose art remains appreciated and influential at least 50 years beyond his passing.

Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
.

Originally Posted by Wonder Boy
.


I was recently reading Craig Russell's listing on Wikipedia. They credit him with being the first openly gay comics creator.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._Craig_Russell

Among many other great stories in comics, Russell, paired with writer Don McGregor, early on did the "Killraven" series in AMAZING ADVENTURES 27-39 from 1974-1976.
https://viewcomiconline.com/amazing-adventures-1970-issue-27/
One of my favorite comics series, its beautiful lyrical writing and art making it a series I've revisited often.

[Linked Image from cdn.shopify.com]



Right after, Russell did NIGHT MUSIC, the second graphic novel published by Eclipse, in 1979.

[Linked Image from i.etsystatic.com]

Originally in black-and-white, NIGHT MUSIC was reprinted in color with other material as a NIGHT MUSIC comic-size series in its first 2 issues, and continued with other adaptations and new work.
https://viewcomiconline.com/night-music-issue-1/

Russell also contributed adaptations of Wagnerian operas and plays, and adaptaions of Rudyard Kipling, O. Henry, Oscar Wilde, the Jungle Book, and other literary works (much of it showcased in NIGHT MUSIC 1-7).
Beautiful stuff, and definintely filling a void, not likely to be adapted by any other comics artists. Russell's work is at times whimsical and even cartoonish, but overall presents a wealth of elegant and sophisticated work. Relative to the more fanboyish offerings in comics, Russell's work presents a deep sense of culture, literature, and the arts.

[Linked Image from i.pinimg.com]

Russell further cemented his reputation with the ELRIC Marvel graphic novel in 1982.
https://viewcomiconline.com/marvel-graphic-novel-issue-02-elric-the-dreaming-city/



Followed up by an equally nice 6-issue ELRIC series from Pacific Comics in 1983-1984.
And several follow-up Elric books and adaptations over the last 40 years. Russell has probably done more work on Elric than he has any other character.
https://viewcomiconline.com/elric-1983-issue-1/


In 1983, Russell also did a KILLRAVEN graphic novel, the last McGregor/Russell collaboration on the series.
https://viewcomiconline.com/marvel-graphic-novel-issue-07-killraven-warrior-of-the-worlds/

[Linked Image from images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com]



Here's an IDW "artists edition" book of Russell's original art on the KILLRAVEN graphic novel, and also a DR STRANGE: WHAT IS IT THAT DISTURBS YOU STEPHEN? one-shot (the latter being a revised version of Russell's DR STRANGE ANNUAL 1 from 1976), along with a sampling of other classic pages of Russell's early work:

https://aeindex.org/reviews/p-craig-russells-strange-dreams-artists-edition/

Among many other exceptional contributions to the comics field. Even Russell just providing inks on projects by artists like Michael Golden, Jim Starlin and Tom Artis turned those books into something exceptional and among my favorites.


So what other offerings by gay creators, or stories about gay issues or characters do you see as great contributions to the comics field?


I updated all the links to new working ones.

Aside from the AMAZING ADVENTURES / KILLRAVEN work that I love, I was recently re-reading ELRIC (Marvel Graphic Novel 2, 1982), that is I think one of the best offerings of art in comics history, enhanced even more by magnificent coloring.
Before Elric was completed, the first two chapters of the graphic novel were previewed in EPIC ILLUSTRATED 3 and 4.
https://viewcomiconline.com/epic-illustrated-issue-3/
https://viewcomiconline.com/epic-illustrated-issue-4/
Published two years before the final graphic novel was completed. Other Craig Russell stories also appear in EPIC 2, 9, 14 and 33.

Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
.
Here's a civil war backup story by Jeffrey Jones that I stumbled on, worth seeing.
At first glance, it looks like Chaykin to me, but it's Jeffrey Jones. And among his earliest work, if not his very first published story.

THE PHANTOM 25, Sept 1967
https://viewcomiconline.com/the-phantom-1966-issue-25/

The Phantom Stranger lead story is by artist Senio Pratesi, who I never heard of before, but I like the art.
And Jeffrey Jones did the 4-page "Fort Sumter" backup story.

Pretty cool, Jeff Jones' rendition of president Abraham Lincoln, and of the historic event that began the Civil War.

Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
OP Offline
brutally Kamphausened
15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,963
Likes: 29
.


I just ran across this article on the site of one of the local West Palm Beach news channels :



Author barred from mention of Batman co-creator's gay son


  • by Scripps News Staff, Posted at 7:58 PM, Sep 20, 2023


    Marc Tyler Nobleman was supposed to talk to kids about the secret co-creator of Batman, with the aim of inspiring young students in suburban Atlanta's Forsyth County to research and write.

    Then the school district told him he had to cut a key point from his presentation — the fact that the artist he helped rescue from obscurity had a gay son. Rather than acquiesce, he canceled the last of his talks.
    "We’re long past the point where we should be policing people talking about who they love," Nobleman said in a telephone interview. "And that’s what I’m hoping will happen in this community."

    State laws restricting talk of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools have proliferated in recent years, but the clash with Nobleman shows schools may be limiting such discussions even in states like Georgia that haven’t officially banned them. Some proponents of broader laws giving parents more control over schools argue they extend to discussion of sex and gender even if the statutes don’t explicitly cover them.

    Eleven states ban discussion of LGBTQ+ people in at least some public schools in what are often called "Don’t say gay" laws, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ+ rights think tank. Five additional states require parental consent for discussion, according to the project.
    Legislation restricting LGBTQ+ rights gained steam this year, but suppression is not new. A school district in New Jersey, which requires curricula to be LGBTQ+-inclusive, tried to bar a valedictorian from discussing his queer identity during a graduation speech in 2021. Two years later, Indiana passed a law banning discussion of LGBTQ+ people in grades K-3.

    Schools nationwide have been challenged on books with LGBTQ+ themes or characters, and many have removed them, including Forsyth County, which has been a battleground in the politics of schooling.
    LGBTQ+ advocates say Nobleman bumped up against a moral panic fomented by conservatives seeking to roll back acceptance.

    "The idea that these folks are saying that they just don’t want to talk about it at all is very disingenuous," said Cathryn Oakley, a lawyer for the Human Rights Campaign, a leading advocacy group. "What they mean is they don’t want views other than theirs to be expressed. And they believe that that means everyone should have to hear what they believe."

    Discussion of straight people with traditional gender identities is everywhere, she said, and if all discussion of sexuality is going to be banned, Oakley said, "then you certainly better not be teaching 'Romeo and Juliet.'"
    Nobleman, a self-described "superhero geek" who lives in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., is best known as the author of "Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-creator of Batman." The book lays out the story of Bill Finger, the long-uncredited author who helped create Batman and other comic book characters.

    Finger died in obscurity in 1974, with artist Bob Kane credited as Batman’s only creator. Finger's only child was a son, Fred Finger, who was gay and died in 1992 at age 43 of AIDS complications. Bill Finger was presumed to have no living heirs, meaning there was no one to press DC Comics to acknowledge Finger's work.
    But Nobleman discovered Fred Finger had a daughter, Athena Finger. That, he said, is a showcase moment of the presentation he estimates he has given 1,000 times at schools.
    "It’s the biggest twist of the story, and it’s usually when I get the most gasps," Nobleman said. "It's just a totally record-scratch moment."

    Nobleman’s research helped push DC Comics into reaching a deal with Athena Finger in 2015 to acknowledge her grandfather and Kane as co-creators. That led to the documentary "Batman & Bill," featuring Nobleman.


    In Forsyth County, the author gave his first presentations at Sharon Elementary on Aug. 21. After Nobleman mentioned in his first talk that Fred Finger was gay, the principal handed him a note during his second talk that said, "Please only share the appropriate parts of the story for our elementary students."
    Forsyth County schools spokesperson Jennifer Caracciolo said that just mentioning Fred Finger was gay isn't the problem. But she said it led to questions from students, meaning Nobleman and students might discuss sexuality without parents being warned.

    In the past three years, conservatives in the 54,000-student district have tried to tamp down diversity policies and books they view as immoral.
    The district was sued by a conservative group called the Mama Bears after it banned a member of that group from reading explicit book excerpts at meetings. A federal judge ruled the policy unconstitutional.

    The district was also warned by the U.S. Department of Education after pulling some books from libraries, with federal officials saying the discourse may have created a hostile environment that violated federal laws against race and sex discrimination.
    Nobleman's discussion of sexual orientation has nothing to do with the state English language arts learning standards his presentation was supposed to bolster, Caracciolo said.
    "We have a responsibility to parents and to guardians that they will know what students are learning in school," Caracciolo said.

    Nobleman said he was blindsided and agreed to drop the reference to Fred Finger's sexual orientation in remaining presentations that day, as well as in three at another school the next day. But by the morning of the third day, Nobleman started fielding questions from reporters after the principal at Sharon Elementary sent an electronic message to parents apologizing for the mention of Fred Finger's homosexuality.

    "This is not subject matter that we were aware that he was including nor content that we have approved for our students," Principal Brian Nelson wrote. "I apologize that this took place. Action was taken to ensure that this was not included in Mr. Nobleman's subsequent speeches and further measures will be taken to prevent situations like this in the future."

    And so, on the third day he was presenting, after a discussion with district officials, Nobleman refused to give the last two of his scheduled presentations if required to omit Finger's sexual orientation.
    Many parents have applauded Forsyth County's actions, Caracciolo said. Cindy Martin, chair of the Mama Bears, said Nobleman should be "ashamed of himself."

    She argues that a 2022 Georgia law bans discussion of sexuality without parental consent for any minor because it gives parents "the right to direct the upbringing and the moral or religious training" of their children.
    "No one has the right to talk to a child about sexuality unless it’s the parent, or the parent has given permission," Martin said. "Mr. Nobleman did not have permission. So he went against Georgia law."

    Matt Maguire, a Sharon Elementary parent who had a daughter who attended one of Nobleman's presentations, said he was disappointed by the message and felt the school district was being bullied by Martin and others into "reactionary" censorship.

    The mere mention of the word "gay" didn't merit claims made online by critics that Nobleman was "grooming or sexualizing children," he said, and it ignored that some Sharon Elementary students have gay parents.
    "It didn't sit right with me. It made me feel like certain parts of our community were being kept as a dirty secret," Maguire said. "I couldn't imagine coming from a family with gay members and reading that apology just for saying the word 'gay.'"



I mostly included this for the interesting background on Bill Finger, and the fact that he had a gay son, which investigation revealed he also had a til-then-unknown grandaughter, who was the rightful heir to Bill Finger as his only living relative.

Also interesting that Finger's son who died unusually young at age 43 of AIDS, who was gay, still had enough of a heterosexual chapter in his brief life to have fathered a daughter despite being gay.

I could easily write another 1,000 words about the Florida law being labelled "Don't Say Gay" law. (it certainly isn't, it is simply about NOT presenting/indoctrinating children too young to understand ANYTHING, hetero-or homo-, of a sexual nature, certainly inappropriate below the age of 10. I think it could validly be argued that the author's presentations should be limited to middle school or high school students, and while his presentation on Bill Finger is clearly not "recruitment", there are plenty of outreach programs and speakers or books introduced in schools that clearly ARE recruitment or indoctrination. )
That it is labelled in the articvle as "Don't Say Gay" law expresses the biases (or ignorance, but I would go with bias) of the article's anonymous writers.

I was amused by the name "Mama Bears" for the school parents' advocacy group, guarding what is taught to their kids in schools.

Not revealed in the article is whether author Marc Tyler Nobleman is gay or heterosexual, or trans, or a social justice warrior Leftist, or just a regular guy with no agenda who likes comics. I'd say with his hardline vocal advocacy and resistance to any impediment of his presenting these aspects to kids, even young elementary students, indicates some zealous Leftist ulterior agenda.


Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5