Another artist who dared to be different and explore the dark domain of erotic underground comix was Vaughn Bodé. His strips would often feature sexually charged characters with strange accents, and one of his most enduring characters was Cheech Wizard, a foul-tempered magician’s hat on legs. His Deadbone Erotica strip would eventually replace Robert Crumb’s revered Fritz the Cat strip in the men’s magazine Cavalier.
Bodé also produced Purple Pictography with fellow artist Bernie Wrightson for men’s magazine Swank, which was published from 1971 to 1972. Bodé’s work was collected into various editions like Junkwaffel and Erotica, and featured Disney-esque characters with an underground twist—sex and drugs, mainly. Bodé would often “perform” his strips at his Cartoon Concerts—lewd and erotic shows in which the artist would show slides, narrate, and play the voices of his characters to audiences at colleges and comic conventions.
Tragically, Bodé hanged himself accidentally in 1975 in an autoerotic act that would strangely portend the demise of INXS’s lead singer, Michael Hutchence, 22 years later. But Bodé’s legacy lives on, with his erotic art inspiring thousands of graffiti artists across the globe. His son, Mark, has continued the family tradition of erotic cartooning, and still ocassionally performs Cartoon Concerts.
Elsewhere, others were also exploring the realms of erotic comics. Interestingly, Bizarre Sex was one of the rare underground comix that didn’t spring from San Francisco, but from the rather more parochial Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Published by legendary underground artist, distributor, and publisher Denis Kitchen, Bizarre Sex continued to push the envelope the Californian artists had opened and would go on to feature early work by legendary creators such as Howard Cruse, Art Spiegelman, Trina Robbins, and Harvey Pekar.
The title lasted for 10 issues, from 1972 to 1982, and later issues saw work by Robert Crumb and Fred Hembeck (with his Sexterrestrial strip). The comic was also the original home of Omaha the Cat Dancer by Reed Waller and Kate Worley. This latter strip was a “funny animal” story that owed its roots to Robert Crumb’s earlier successful creation, Fritz the Cat. Where Crumb left off, Waller and Worley picked up, portraying fully realized characters with genuinely erotic storylines, quality writing, and superior art.
Publisher and cartoonist Denis Kitchen’s provocative and amusing cover to Bizarre Sex #1.
A John Howard biker slut strip, God Forgives, Weasels Don’t, which followed the underground comix tradition of excessive sex and violence in equal measure.
The cover to Horny Biker Slut Comics #4, by John Howard and colored by James Burchett.
