I have done many unusual things in 40-odd years of life. Typically, people think I am lying when I tell them specifics, so — also typically — I tend not to bring these things up, anymore.
Sometimes, however, keeping quiet — while admireable — is not a viable option. Such does not work well when you’re about to be whacked with the cold, wet salmon of reality. And that salmon’s a-comin’, if it isn’t already here.
. . .
At some point in my early teens, I came upon a stash of prurient magazines. I enjoyed their prurience, of course, but I also caught on to a truth: these magazines printed cartoons. Looking more closely (for these were worthy reference material), I came to a teen-aged epiphany: “I can do this!”
I was, of course, referring to
- drawing cartoons, and
- getting said cartoons into subsequent issues of my reference material.
I could do it, and I did do it, though I made several mistakes along the way. I plead the stupidity of youth with a caveat: I have found that I’ve a surplus of stupidity carrying me past middle age.
One said mistake was to sign my cartoons with my stepfather’s last name. I had assumed his surname with his (and the court’s) blessing, but we had not discussed the rights thereto. He likely did not expect to see his last name in Sex to Sexty magazine when I was 14 or 15. When he did (for I was the fool who brought the magazine to him), there was . . . trouble.
I don’t actually know how many cartoons I had in Sex to Sexty, Good Humor and several similarly-slanted magazines, but from 1976 or so through the start of the 80s, there may have been a few, here and there. Due to a timely intervention by my grandfather, I drew considerably fewer naked folk thereafter.
. . .
So why bring this up? I mean, thirty-something years have passed, right? Heck, the magazines themselves died, didn’t they?
Um . . . yep. That’s where the problem lies.
While looking at my BNL indy tape auction on eBay (when you post something for a penny with no reserve, you want to pay some attention over the auction’s timeframe), I thought I’d search for original cartoon art; there are several million cartoonists and illustrators better than I am, and I like looking at their work. Some of their work I like owning, so I can look more closely. I mean, if you’ve ever had a chance to look at Gilbert Shelton’s work (e.g. The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers), you have seen the oceans of White-Out he used from panel to panel. Shelton’s work is tactile, f’rcry’nowtloud. Cool.
The search proved worrisome. What seemed to come up a lot was the work of cartoonists I knew . . . cartoonists represented in the 1970s in Sex to Sexty, Good Humor, and . . . uh oh.
. . .
Yep. The once-publisher of Sex to Sexty is selling decades of content, which means my stuff will come up soon, if it hasn’t already. I’m not going to give a link nor a photo ’cause I have no idea how old a given reader here is.
For those of you who are of legal age in the jurisdiction you’re currently occupying, I’d recommend looking for ‘rudzinski’ and/or ‘henn’.
Note: I will probably be bidding against you. If I’m not, shoot me an email and I’ll remedy that ASAP. 