Vaughn Bodē

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vaughn Frederic Bodē (born July 22, 1941 in Utica , NY ; † July 18, 1975 ) was an American comic book artist and author. His drawing style had a major impact on the graffiti scene .

biography

Vaughn Bodē was the second of four children in a Catholic family. He was still very young when his mother and an alcoholic father were divorced. The father died of his alcoholism. Bodē developed a deep aversion to the alcohol, but began drinking shortly before his own death. Bodē was a sensitive loner who fled into detailed fantasy worlds as a child. At the age of 5 he was already drawing his first cartoons, in the first grade he created the comic strip Sammy the Garbage Man goes to Moon , which was published posthumously in Denny O'Neil 's Death of the Cheech Wizard in 1977 . With his younger brother Vincent he created the strange worlds and characters in his stories.

As a youth he signed up and joined the army at the age of sixteen, but suffered from the regulations there. Homosexual encounters resulted in deep feelings of guilt. During this time the Cheech Wizard was created , which will appear again and again in his later work. In 1960 he graduated from Syracuse University with an art degree and the following year he married his high school sweetheart Barbara. He self-published his first comic, Das Kämpf, in 1963 and his son Mark was born in the same year. He divorced Barbara in 1971. Vaughn Bodē died three years later, at the age of 33, in an " autoerotic suicide accident ".

Since his death, his ex-wife Barbara and his son Mark have been managing his estate and taking care of the posthumous publications of his work. Mark Bodē continues various concepts, drafts, and unfinished works .

aesthetics

Bodē figure in a piece from the early 1980s

Bodē's most famous character is the Cheech Wizard , a red man with big feet, whose torso and head are forever hidden under his hat, and whose life consists of parties, beer and beautiful women. Whenever he has to take his hat off, his head is covered by a speech bubble ( Captured by Morton Frog , 1967) or the comic strip ends abruptly ( Who is Cheech Wizard?, 1974). The illustrator Ralph Bakshi has been accused of plagiarizing the character of the Cheech Wizard in his film Wizards , Bakshi replied that it was a tribute to Vaughn Bodē.

Many of the male characters in Bodē's comic fables are lizard- like or reptile-like in shape, while his women are sex goddesses. The usual plot of his comics serves contemporary, countercultural clichés, everything revolves around sexual liberation, drugs and the demonstrated rejection of the social norm in general, but with War Lizards he succeeded in a powerful critique of the Vietnam War . Bodē's work influenced the visual language of New York graffiti writers through numerous publications during his lifetime and his characters have been part of the canon of writing culture to date.

Publications

Original editions

Bodē has published in various magazines and journals such as the satirical magazine National Lampoon (1971–1975, Cheech Wizard), the men's magazine Cavalier (1969–1975, Deadbone / Deadbone Erotica / Bodē's Erotica), the pornographic magazine Swank (1971–1972, Purple Pictography) or the underground magazine East Village Other (1968–1971, War Lizards, Machines, Junkwaffel et al.). He also frequently illustrated books and his work has appeared in a vast number of comic anthologies, student magazines, and comic and science fiction fanzines. The following publications mainly contain reprints of these works:

  • 1963 Dǎs Kämpf (self-published; booklet, 100 pages) One of the very first underground comixes .
  • 1966 The Man (Office of Student Publications, Syracuse, NY .; issue, 24 pages)
  • 1967 Machines (Office of Student Publications, Syracuse, NY .; Issue, 16 pages)
  • 1967 Cheech Wizard (Office of Student Publications, Syracuse, NY .; issue, 16 pages)
  • 1971 Sunpot (Stellar Productions, New York, NY .; issue, 32 pages)
  • 1971 Deadbone Erotica (Bantam Books, New York, NY .; Paperback, 132 pages)
  • 1972 Junkwaffel # 1 (The Print Mint, San Francisco, CA .; issue, 36 pages)
  • 1972 Junkwaffel # 2 (The Print Mint, San Francisco, CA .; issue, 36 pages)
  • 1972 Junkwaffel # 3 (The Print Mint, San Francisco, CA .; issue, 36 pages)
  • 1972 Junkwaffel # 4 (The Print Mint, San Francisco, CA .; issue, 36 pages)
  • 1972 The Man (The Print Mint, San Francisco, CA .; booklet, 28 pages)
  • 1972 The Collected Cheech Wizard (Company & Sons, San Francisco, CA .; issue, 36 pages)
  • 1973 Lizard Zen (in the self-founded publishing house TKII; booklet, 32 pages)
  • 1973 Zooks (TKII; issue, 28 pages)
  • 1973 Bodē´s Cartoon Concert (Dell Publishing, New York, NY .; Paperback, 132 pages)
  • 1973 Schizophrenia / Cheech Wizard (Last Gasp, San Francisco, CA .; issue, 36 pages)
  • 1975 Deadbone: The First Testament of Cheech Wizard (Northern Comfort, Smithers, BC .; hardcover album, 80 pages) ISBN 0969050607
  • 1976 Cheech Wizard: The Collected Adventures of the Cartoon Messiah (Northern Comfort, Smithers, BC .; hardcover album; 80 pages) ISBN 0969050623
  • 1977 Dǎs Kämpf (Bagginer Press, New York, NY .; issue, 52 pages)
  • 1978 Orange Bodē (Coughlin Publications, Marietta, GA .; Paperback, 160 pages)
  • 1983 Junkwaffel # 5 (Last Gasp, San Francisco, CA .; issue, 36 pages)
  • 1983 Vaughn Bodē´s Erotica (Last Gasp, San Francisco, CA., hardcover album, 48 pages) ISBN 978-0867193176
  • 1986 The Complete Cheech Wizard # 1 (Rip Off Press, San Francisco, CA .; issue, 36 pages)
  • 1987 The Complete Cheech Wizard # 2 (Rip Off Press, San Francisco, CA .; issue, 36 pages)
  • 1987 The Complete Cheech Wizard # 3 (Rip Off Press, San Francisco, CA .; issue, 36 pages)
  • 1987 The Complete Cheech Wizard # 4 (Rip Off Press, San Francisco, CA .; issue, 36 pages)
  • 1988 Junkwaffel # 1-4 (Last Gasp, San Francisco, CA .; booklets, 36 pages each) reprints of the Print Mint editions from 1972.
  • 1989 Poem Toons (Tundra Publishing, Northampton, MA .; Paperback, 48 pages) ISBN 978-1879450394
  • 1991 The Collected Purple Pictography (Eros Comix, Seattle, WA .; issue, 36 pages) with Berni Wrightson .
  • 2004 Rare and Well Done (Pure Imagination Publishing, Williamsburg, VA .; album, 110 pages) ISBN 1566850290
  • 2013 Dǎs Kämpf (Les Editions Aux forges de Vulcain, Paris; album, 160 pages) ISBN 978-2919176267 Bilingual edition English / French.
  • 2015 Cheech Wizard's Book of Me (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, WA .; Album, 96 pages) ISBN 978-1606998199 With Mark Bode.
  • 2017 Vaughn Bode's Poem Toon Colorin 'Book (Flights of Imagination, Williamsburg, VA .; issue, 26 pages)

From 1988 to 2001 Fantagraphics Books published a retrospective of his works in 14 volumes in the series The Bodē Library . The following volumes were published:

  • 1988 Vaughn Bodē´s Erotica Vol. 2 (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, WA .; Album 48 pages) ISBN 978-0930193553
  • 1989 Deadbone (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, WA .; album, 64 pages) ISBN 978-0930193980
  • 1990 Cheech Wizard Vol. 1 (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, WA .; album, 68 pages) ISBN 978-1560970422
  • 1990 Vaughn Bodē Diary Sketchbook # 1 (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, WA .; Album, 64 pages) ISBN 978-1560970286
  • 1990 Vaughn Bodē Diary Sketchbook # 2 (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, WA .; Album, 64 pages) ISBN 978-1560970446
  • 1991 Vaughn Bodē Diary Sketchbook # 3 (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, WA .; Album, 64 pages) ISBN 978-1560970538
  • 1991 Cheech Wizard Vol. 2 (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, WA .; album, 68 pages) ISBN 978-1560970545
  • 1993 Junkwaffel Vol. 1 (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, WA .; Album, 84 pages) ISBN 978-1560970866
  • 1995 Junkwaffel Vol. 2 (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, WA .; Album, 80 pages) ISBN 978-1560971108
  • 1996 Vaughn Bodē´s Erotica Vol. 1 (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, WA .; Album 48 pages) ISBN 978-1560973072 Reprint of the 1983 Last Gasp edition.
  • 1997 Vaughn Bodē´s Erotica Vol. 3 (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, WA .; Album 48 pages) ISBN 978-1560972679
  • 1997 Vaughn Bodē´s Erotica Vol. 4 (Fantagraphics Book, Seattle, WA.s; album, 56 pages) ISBN 978-1560972839
  • 1998 Lizard Zen (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, WA .; album 48 pages) ISBN 978-1560973096
  • 2001 Schizophrenia (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, WA .; album, 138 pages) ISBN 978-1560973713

Bodē left behind a series of works that he could no longer complete or for which he only designed the concepts. Some of this work was completed by his son Mark. So far published:

  • 1992 Cobalt 60 Book One (Tundra Publishing, Northampton, MA .; issue, 52 pages) ISBN 1879450356 With Larry Todd .
  • 1992 Cobalt 60 Book Two (Tundra Publishing, Northampton, MA .; issue, 52 pages) ISBN 1879450366 With Larry Todd.
  • 1992 Cobalt 60 Book Three (Tundra Publishing, Northampton, MA .; issue, 52 pages) ISBN 1879450372 With Larry Todd.
  • 1992 Cobalt 60 Book Four (Tundra Publishing, Northampton, MA .; booklet, 52 pages) ISBN 1879450380 With Larry Todd.
  • 2004 The Lizard of Oz (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, WA .; album, 60 pages) ISBN 978-1560975953
  • 2015 Cobalt 60: The Rise of Lithium Pt.1 (Infzone Publications, Bristol; booklet, 40 pages) ISBN 978-0993112836
  • 2018 Cobalt 60 Episode Zero (Butler Digital; booklet, 24 pages) ISBN 978-0692075180 Augmented Reality Comics: If the individual pages are captured with a smartphone camera, 3D animations of the pages can be called up via an app.
  • 2019 Cobalt 60: The Death of Cobalt (Mark Bodē self-published; album, 86 pages) ISBN 978-1794162624

Portfolios

  • 1976 Vaughn Bodē Portfolio (Northern Comfort, Smithers, BC .; 16 sheets, full color)
  • 1977 The Bodē Broads (Bagginer Press, New York, NY .; 19 sheets, black and white)
  • 1978 Vaughn Bodē Productions Portfolio (Bodē Productions, Berkley, CA .; 10 sheets, black and white)

German editions

  • 1975 War Lizards and Cheech Wizard: From his university time in: Melzers Comic Reader (Melzer Verlag, Cologne; album, 318 pages, 10 pages Bodē)
  • 1977 Vaughn Bodē , U-Comix special volume No. 8 ( Volksverlag , Linden; album, 150 pages)
  • 1979 Das Kämpf , U-Comix Extra No. 6 (Volksverlag, Linden; issue, 52 pages)
  • 1983 Erotica ( Carlsen Verlag , Hamburg; album, 48 pages) ISBN 978-3551027917

Secondary literature

  • 1975 James Van Hise (Ed.): RBCC # 121 - Vaughn Bode Memorial Issue (Rocket's Blast Comicollector, Miami, FL .; 76 pages) Articles and essays on Vaughn Bodē by Gary Brown, Manny Lezcano, Geoge Beahm, and others. a., illustrations and comics by Vaughn Bode.
  • 1976 George W. Beahm: Vaughn Bodē Index (Blankenship Printing; album, 64 pages) Publications index and biography, with illustrations and comments by Vaughn Bodē.
  • 2013 Mark Bodē: The Big Book of Bodē Tattoos (Last Gasp, San Francisco, CA .; book, 418 pages) ISBN 978-0867197792 Contains mostly drawings and tattoo designs by Mark Bodē, but also some works by his father Vaughn.
  • 2016 George W. Beahm (Ed.): The Bode Bulletin: Facsimile Edition - Issues one through eight (Pure Imagination Publishing, Williamsburg, VA .; Album, 114 pages) ISBN 978-1536950236 Facsimile reprint of all 8 issues of the Bodē Bulletin , a fanzine dedicated to Vaughn Bodē published by George W. Beahm and Cuyler W. Brooks Jr. in the early 1970s.

Prices

swell

  • René Westhoff. Vaughn Bodé laughing light. In: Henkel / Domentat / Westhoff (eds.). Spray City - Graffiti in Berlin. Pp. 16-19.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bodé, Vaughn
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bodé, Vaughn Frederic
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American comic artist
DATE OF BIRTH July 22, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Utica , New York , USA
DATE OF DEATH 18th July 1975