Howard Cruse is one of the groundbreaking cartoonists of the last 30 years, with his iconic BAREFOOTZ and WENDEL—the latter a pioneering gay-themed comic that ran in the Advocate—and his founding GAY COMIX, an underground anthology. His STUCK RUBBER BABY was one of the early post-MAUS examples of the graphic novel coming of age as a literary medium. And that’s just the highlights of a long award winning career.
Now Boom! Town is bringing out THE OTHER SIDES OF HOWARD CRUSE, a thick hardcover which includes his work from the light-hearted Barefootz strips, his take on Nancy and Little Lulu, and the iconoclastic sheep Shearwell going on a “trip” or two, and other underground comics. The book is available in May. Boom has provided us with an exclusive preview — and yes, this story is VERY NSFW.
Click on the first page and you’ll be taken to the rest of the story.
THE OTHER SIDES OF HOWARD CRUSE has an introduction by Jay Lynch and goes on sale in May.
That was the first side I ever knew. Later when we became friends, I had to remind myself this gentle man was behind the cheerful drawings of men fisting each other. Good stuff!
I am *such* a total Howard Cruse fangirl. I met him at Comic Con International (San Diego Comic con) in..2010..? And he was just as charming & wonderful as you can imagine. My nighttime reading over the past couple of days was a tade paperback, bought from his very hands at the Prism Comics booth @ CCI, & signed to me – it was this book:
http://www.amazon.com/From-Headrack-Claude-Howard-Cruse/dp/0578032511/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1331976804&sr=8-6
Howard is the best – I love running into him at Massachusetts area indie shows.
I feel that once a year ever member of comic fandom should join hands and dance in a giant circle in celebration of Mr Cruse and Stuck Rubber Baby.
I too am a huge fan of Cruse, and have Dancin Nekkid with the Angels and Headrack to Claude as well as all the Wendell stuff. This preview is actually in those collections, and since this is a “huge hardcover” I’m gessing it’ll contain many of the same strips he keeps reprinting over and over. Great to see it kept in print, but I wish he’d draw some new comics.