Undergound legend Jay Lynch has passed away at age 72. He was one of the foundational underground cartoonists with such titles as Bijou Funnies and Nard ‘n’ Pat but made perhaps his greatest contribution to culture with his work as an illustrator on Wacky Packages and Garbage Pail Kids. He also wrote the long running comic strip Phoebe and the Pigeon People, illustrated by Gary Whitney, and wrote the Bazooka Joe comics inserts for years, as well. In recent years he wrote children’s books, including Otto’s Orange Day (illustrated by Frank Cammuso) and Mo and Jo (illustrated by Dean Haspiel) for Toon Books.
Topps just released a Jay Lynch Tribute set of trading cards this year, with classi cLynch gags illustrated by contemporary artists. It’s only availabel onf the Topps website until the 15th.
Lynch had an essential style, mixing the grotesque with the humorous, but always with a humane touch. One of the greats.
Here’s a short film posted by Patrick Rosenkrantz interviewing Lynch about his work.
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