Dave Sheridan (artist)
Encyclopedia
Dave Sheridan was an American
cartoonist
and underground comix
artist. He was the creator of Dealer McDope and Tales from the Leather Nun
and collaborated with Gilbert Shelton
and Paul Mavrides
on The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers
.
area, Sheridan had arrived in San Francisco, California
by the early 1970s. There he collaborated with fellow midwesterner
Fred Schrier
on three issues of Mother's Oats Comix, Meef Comix, the Overland Vegetable Stagecoach (anthologized by And/Or Press in 1975), and a one-shot title called The Balloon Vendor, which were all published by underground comix pioneers Rip Off Press
and The Print Mint
. Dave Sheridan was the Art Editor for three issues of The Rip Off Review of Western Culture
in 1972. This was a combination of a magazine and a comix book, also published by the Rip Off Press
. His solo work can be seen in Slow Death and Skull Comix and in cartoons he made for the Berkeley Barb
. He also did the art for the first mini-album produced by Cleveland area folk singer/songwriter John Bassette
, Weed and Wine. The "Black Death Malt Liquor" shirt regularly worn by Howard Hesseman
on WKRP in Cincinatti in his role as Dr. Johnny Fever
, was designed and drawn by Sheridan.
Dave Sheridan eventually settled in San Anselmo, California
. There, he became a member of the Artista collective, an artists collective with its own jackets and softball team. During the 1972 Major League Baseball strike, he appointed himself the head of the "Scab League", offering to have his team take the strikers' places for $100 per week and all the beer they could drink.
He also befriended and worked closely with comedian Don Novello
, drawing the album cover for Novello's Father Guido Sarducci
comedy album. A characterization of Sarducci appeared in a Dealer McDope adventure.
In 1974, Sheridan began collaborating on Gilbert Shelton's strips. These were syndicated
by Rip Off Press to alternative and college weeklies nationwide, and later collected into comix. His first issue of the Freak Brothers was Number 4, with a many-page story arc entitled The Seventh Voyage of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers: escaping the landlady and her demands for rent, the hirsute trio go to Mexico where they encounter far worse perils, including a Carlos Castaneda
parody
. Sheridan's detailed graphic style lent itself well to the fantastic imagery needed to lampoon
Castaneda's drug
-related Central America
n-cum-New Age
sorcery
. He then continued to collaborate on the Freak Brothers comix series through issues 5, 6 and 7; the team was joined by Paul Mavrides in 1978 for issue 6.
In 1981, a few months after his marriage to Dava Stone, Sheridan fell ill. Early in 1982 he was diagnosed with cancer
, and he died of a brain hemorrhage in March 1982— just a week before the birth of his daughter Dorothy.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
and underground comix
Underground comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books which are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality and violence...
artist. He was the creator of Dealer McDope and Tales from the Leather Nun
Tales from the Leather Nun
Tales from the Leather Nun was a American underground comic published by Last Gasp in 1973. It was a one-shot anthology of bizarre, violent and perverted stories featuring nuns by Dave Sheridan, Robert Crumb, Spain Rodriguez, Jaxon, Roger Brand, and Pat Ryan....
and collaborated with Gilbert Shelton
Gilbert Shelton
Gilbert Shelton is an American cartoonist and underground comix artist. He is the creator of The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Fat Freddy's Cat, Wonder Wart-Hog, Philbert Desanex, Not Quite Dead, and the cover art to The Grateful Dead's 1978 album Shakedown Street.He graduated from Lamar High...
and Paul Mavrides
Paul Mavrides
Paul Mavrides is an American artist, best known for his critique-laden comics, cartoons, paintings, graphics, performances and writings that encompass a disturbing yet humorous catalog of the social ills and shortcomings of human civilization...
on The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers
Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers
The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers are a trio of underground comic strip characters created by the U.S. artist Gilbert Shelton. The Freak Brothers first appeared in The Rag, an underground newspaper published in Austin, Texas, beginning in May 1968; and were regularly reprinted in underground papers...
.
Biography
Born in 1943 and raised in the Cleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
area, Sheridan had arrived in San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
by the early 1970s. There he collaborated with fellow midwesterner
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
Fred Schrier
Fred Schrier
Fred Schrier is an artist, writer, and animator, best known as partner to the underground comic book artist Dave Sheridan. Together, using the name Overland Vegetable Stagecoach, they worked on Meef Comix, three issues of Mother's Oats Funnies, Skull Comics #1 , and The Balloon Vendor, which were...
on three issues of Mother's Oats Comix, Meef Comix, the Overland Vegetable Stagecoach (anthologized by And/Or Press in 1975), and a one-shot title called The Balloon Vendor, which were all published by underground comix pioneers Rip Off Press
Rip Off Press
Rip Off Press, Inc. is a seminal publishing company that specializes in adult-themed literature and graphic novels, mostly in a specific comic book format known as underground comix.-Overview:...
and The Print Mint
Print Mint
The Print Mint was a major publisher of underground comics during the genre's heydey. Starting as retailer of psychedelic posters, it soon evolved into a publisher, printer, and distributor. It was "ground zero" for the psychedelic poster...
. Dave Sheridan was the Art Editor for three issues of The Rip Off Review of Western Culture
The Rip Off Review of Western Culture
Rip Off Review Of Western Culture was an underground comic magazine based in San Francisco, California. There were three issues in 1972. The publication was historically significant in that it brought together the work of many noteworthy underground artists and writers.-History:The Rip Off Review...
in 1972. This was a combination of a magazine and a comix book, also published by the Rip Off Press
Rip Off Press
Rip Off Press, Inc. is a seminal publishing company that specializes in adult-themed literature and graphic novels, mostly in a specific comic book format known as underground comix.-Overview:...
. His solo work can be seen in Slow Death and Skull Comix and in cartoons he made for the Berkeley Barb
Berkeley Barb
The Berkeley Barb was a weekly underground newspaper that was published in Berkeley, California, from 1965 to 1980. It was one of the first and most influential of the counterculture newspapers of the late 1960s, covering such subjects as the anti-war and civil-rights movements as well as the...
. He also did the art for the first mini-album produced by Cleveland area folk singer/songwriter John Bassette
John Bassette
John Bassette was a folk singer/songwriter, poet and cable television personality in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio, United States, area. He was born in Hampton, Virginia, USA.- Musical career :...
, Weed and Wine. The "Black Death Malt Liquor" shirt regularly worn by Howard Hesseman
Howard Hesseman
Howard Hesseman is an American actor best known for playing disc jockey Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati and schoolteacher Charlie Moore on Head of the Class.-Early life:...
on WKRP in Cincinatti in his role as Dr. Johnny Fever
Dr. Johnny Fever
Dr. Johnny Fever is an off-the-wall character and disc jockey on the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. He was inspired by Atlanta DJ Skinny Bobby Harper...
, was designed and drawn by Sheridan.
Dave Sheridan eventually settled in San Anselmo, California
San Anselmo, California
San Anselmo is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, in the western United States. San Anselmo is located west of San Rafael, at an elevation of 46 feet . It is located about north of San Francisco. Neighboring towns include San Rafael to the east, Fairfax to the west, and Ross to the...
. There, he became a member of the Artista collective, an artists collective with its own jackets and softball team. During the 1972 Major League Baseball strike, he appointed himself the head of the "Scab League", offering to have his team take the strikers' places for $100 per week and all the beer they could drink.
He also befriended and worked closely with comedian Don Novello
Don Novello
Don Novello is an American writer, film director, producer, actor, singer, and comedian. Novello is best known for his work on NBC's Saturday Night Live, from 1977 until 1980, and then 1985 until 1986, often as the character "Father Guido Sarducci". Novello has appeared as "Sarducci" on many...
, drawing the album cover for Novello's Father Guido Sarducci
Father Guido Sarducci
Father Guido Sarducci is a fictional character made famous by American comedian Don Novello. Sarducci, a chain-smoking priest with tinted eyeglasses, works in the United States as gossip columnist and rock critic for the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano .-Background:Novello...
comedy album. A characterization of Sarducci appeared in a Dealer McDope adventure.
In 1974, Sheridan began collaborating on Gilbert Shelton's strips. These were syndicated
Print syndication
Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. They offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own/represent copyrights....
by Rip Off Press to alternative and college weeklies nationwide, and later collected into comix. His first issue of the Freak Brothers was Number 4, with a many-page story arc entitled The Seventh Voyage of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers: escaping the landlady and her demands for rent, the hirsute trio go to Mexico where they encounter far worse perils, including a Carlos Castaneda
Carlos Castaneda
Carlos Castaneda was a Peruvian-born American anthropologist and author....
parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
. Sheridan's detailed graphic style lent itself well to the fantastic imagery needed to lampoon
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
Castaneda's drug
Psychoactive drug
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, or psychotropic is a chemical substance that crosses the blood–brain barrier and acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it affects brain function, resulting in changes in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, and behavior...
-related Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
n-cum-New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
sorcery
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
. He then continued to collaborate on the Freak Brothers comix series through issues 5, 6 and 7; the team was joined by Paul Mavrides in 1978 for issue 6.
In 1981, a few months after his marriage to Dava Stone, Sheridan fell ill. Early in 1982 he was diagnosed with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, and he died of a brain hemorrhage in March 1982— just a week before the birth of his daughter Dorothy.
Obituary/Tribute
- Obituary/Tribute by Fred Schrier - Changeling Times #6 (ACEAssociation for Consciousness ExplorationThe Association for Consciousness Exploration LLC is an American organization based in Northeastern Ohio which produces events, books, and recorded media in the fields of "magic, mind-sciences, alternative lifestyles, comparative religion/spirituality, entertainment, holistic healing, and related...
magazine)http://rosencomet.com/changelingtimes/archives/changeling%20times%2000006.pdf
Overland Vegetable Stagecoach
- Mother's Oats Comix No. 1 - San Francisco Comic Book Company/Rip Off Press 1969
- Mother's Oats Comix No. 2 - San Francisco Comic Book Company/Rip Off Press 1970
- Skull Comics No. 1 (with Greg IronsGreg IronsGreg Irons was a poster artist, underground cartoonist, animator and tattoo artist. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he moved to San Francisco, California, in 1967, where he soon found work doing posters for Bill Graham at the Fillmore Auditorium.After working on the film Yellow Submarine, he...
, Jack JacksonJack JacksonJack Jackson may refer to:* Jack Jackson , bandleader and disc jockey* Jack Jackson , US cartoonist Jaxon* Jack Jackson , American football player...
and Rory Hayes) - San Francisco Comic Book Company/Rip Off Press 1970 - The Balloon Vendor - San Francisco Comic Book Company/Rip Off Press 1971
- Meef Comix No. 1 - San Francisco Comic Book Company/Rip Off Press 1972
- Meef Comix No. 2 - San Francisco Comic Book Company/Rip Off Press 1973
- Tales of the Leather Nun No. 1 - Last GaspLast GaspLast Gasp is a book and underground comix publisher and distributor based in San Francisco, California.- History :Founded in 1970 by Ron Turner to publish the ecologically-themed comics magazine Slow Death Funnies, followed by the all-female anthology It Ain't Me Babe, Last Gasp soon became a major...
Eco Funnies, 1973 - Mindwarp: An Anthology by Sheridan & Schrier - And/Or Press, 1975
- Mother's Oats Comix No. 3 - San Francisco Comic Book Company/Rip Off Press 1976
Other
- Slow Death Funnies #1 (with Fred Schrier, J. Osborne and Gilbert Shelton) - Last Gasp 1970
- Slow Death Funnies #2 "The Sex Evulsors of Tecnicus" - Last Gasp 1970
- The Food Stamp Gourmet by William Brown, Illustrations by Greg Irons, Gilbert Shelton, and Dave Sheridan - Bellerophon Books, 1971.
- The Legion of Charlies by Tom Veitch, Greg Irons, and Dave Sheridan (Paperback) Last Gasp, 1971
- Light Comitragies - Greg Irons - Print Mint 1971
- Skull Comics No.s 2-5 - San Francisco Comic Book Company/Rip Off Press 1971-1972
- Yellow Dog #19 (with Fred Schrier) - The Print Mint 1971
- Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers issues 4, 5, 6 (with Paul Mavrides), and 7
- Jayzey Lynch's Nard n' Pat No. 1 "We Could Get Any Artist ta Draw Us!" (1974)
- U-Comix Sammelband Nr. 1 (Introduction to Paperback) UPN-Volksverlag (1974)
- U-Comix Sammelband Nr. 2 (Introduction to Paperback) UPN-Volksverlag (1975)
- The Seattle Simpleton (vol. 1 No. 3) "The Mellow Cab Man" (Freewheelin' Frank) and "The Story of Phineas and the Organic Mechanic", both by Shelton & Sheridan. Spring 1976.
- Adventures of Fat Freddy's Cat Books 1-3 - with Gilbert Shelton - Rip Off Press, 1977
- Thoroughly Ripped with the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and Fat Freddy's Cat! by Shelton and Sheridan - Rip Off Press, 1978
- Rip-Off Comix No.s 3-9 Rip-Off Press 1978-1981
- The Best of High Times Comix, vol. 4 (1983) including Dr. McDope in Peru by Siegel & Sheridan, The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers by Shelton & Sheridan, The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and the Mysterious Visitor by Shelton & Sheridan, and "Notorious Norbert" by Fleagle & Fosdick (AKA Shelton & Sheridan)
- Dealer McDope - Rip Off Press, 1985 (part of Underground Classics No. 2-3)
- Time Twisted Tales Rip Off Press, 1986
- The Collected Fat Freddy's Cat. Vol. 1 by Gilbert Shelton & Dave Sheridan - Rip Off Press, 1989.
- The Freak Brothers Bus Line and Other Tales by Gilbert Shelton, Paul Mavrides and Dave Sheridan - Rip Off Press, 1990
- The Collected Fat Freddy's Cat by Gilbert Shelton & Dave Sheridan - Rip Off Press (April 1990) ISBN 0896200965, ISBN 978-0896200968
- The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers Library by Gilbert Shelton, Dave Sheridan, and Paul Mavrides Rip Off Press, Incorporated (March 1995) ISBN 0896200949, ISBN 978-0896200944