Howard Cruse
Encyclopedia
Howard Cruse is an American
alternative
cartoonist
known for the exploration of gay themes in his comics.
Cruse was raised in Springville, Alabama
, the son of a preacher and a homemaker
. His earliest published cartoons were in The Baptist Student when he was in high school. His work later appeared in Fooey and Sick
. He attended high school at Indian Springs School
in (what is now) Indian Springs, Alabama, and college at Birmingham-Southern College
, where he studied drama, and had a brief career in television. In 1977, Cruse moved to New York City
, where he met Eddie Sedarbaum, his life partner, whom he married after moving to North Adams, Massachusetts
.
publications. His best-known character from this period was Barefootz, the title character of a surreal
series about a good-natured, well-dressed young man with large bare feet. Although dismissed by many underground fans as overly "cutesy", others found it a refreshing change of pace from "edgier" comix.
Cruse had been open about his homosexuality
throughout the 1970s, but never acknowledged it in his work. This changed in 1979, when he began editing Gay Comix
, a new anthology featuring comix by openly gay
and lesbian
cartoonists. For much of the 1980s, he created Wendel, a strip (1-2 pages per episode) about an irrepressible and idealistic gay man, his lover Ollie, and a cast of diverse urban characters. It was published in the gay newsmagazine The Advocate
, which allowed Cruse substantial freedom in terms of language and nudity, and to address content such as AIDS
, gay rights demonstrations, gay-bashing, closeted celebrities, and same-gender relationships, with a combination of humor and anger. Two collections of these strips have been published, as well as an all-in-one volume.
Cruse spent the first half of the 1990s creating Stuck Rubber Baby
, a 210-page graphic novel commissioned by editor Mark Nevelow for his DC Comics
imprint Piranha Press
but eventually published by DC's Paradox Press
. It is the story of Toland Polk, a young man growing up in the American South in the 1960s, and his growing awareness of both his own homosexuality and the racial injustice of American society. The book features Cruse's most detailed and realistic comics art and his most serious and complex storytelling. It received numerous awards and nominations.
Cruse briefly wrote a column in a comic book review magazine, Comics Scene, under the rhyming masthead "Loose Cruse".
Cruse is a regular contributor to the ongoing queer
comics anthology Juicy Mother, edited by Jennifer Camper
, which first appeared in 2005 and then in 2007, noteworthy for carrying on the tradition begun by Cruse with Gay Comix.
In August 2009, Howard Cruse self-published From Headrack to Claude, a collection of all his gay-themed strips accompanied by commentaries on his career and life, including the never-reprinted 1976 Barefootz story where the character Headrack came out, and some unpublished stories.
On March 17, 2010, an original one-off titled Lubejob penned by Cruse was published in Nib-Lit
Comics journal.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alternative
Alternative comics
Alternative comics defines a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to "mainstream" superhero comics which in the past have dominated the US comic book industry...
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...
known for the exploration of gay themes in his comics.
Cruse was raised in Springville, Alabama
Springville, Alabama
Springville is a town in St. Clair County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 2,521.-Geography:Springville is located at .According to the U.S...
, the son of a preacher and a homemaker
Homemaker
Homemaking is a mainly American term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping or household management...
. His earliest published cartoons were in The Baptist Student when he was in high school. His work later appeared in Fooey and Sick
Sick (magazine)
Sick was a satirical-humor magazine published from 1960 to 1980, lasting 134 issues. It was created by comic-book writer-artist Joe Simon, who also edited the title until the late 1960s. Sick was published by Crestwood Publications until issue #62 , when it was taken over by Hewfred Publications...
. He attended high school at Indian Springs School
Indian Springs School
Indian Springs School is a private school that includes grades eight through twelve with both boarding and day students. It is at the base of Oak Mountain, in Indian Springs Village, Shelby County, Alabama, United States, near Pelham and just outside Birmingham.-History:Indian Springs School was...
in (what is now) Indian Springs, Alabama, and college at Birmingham-Southern College
Birmingham-Southern College
Birmingham–Southern College is a 4-year, private liberal arts college located three miles northwest of downtown Birmingham. Founded in 1856, it is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Approximately 1400 students from 30 states and 23 foreign countries attend the college...
, where he studied drama, and had a brief career in television. In 1977, Cruse moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he met Eddie Sedarbaum, his life partner, whom he married after moving to North Adams, Massachusetts
North Adams, Massachusetts
North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,708 as of the 2010 census, making it the least populous city in the state...
.
Career
Cruse's cartooning first attracted nation-wide attention in the 1970s, when he contributed to underground comixUnderground 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...
publications. His best-known character from this period was Barefootz, the title character of a surreal
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
series about a good-natured, well-dressed young man with large bare feet. Although dismissed by many underground fans as overly "cutesy", others found it a refreshing change of pace from "edgier" comix.
Cruse had been open about his homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
throughout the 1970s, but never acknowledged it in his work. This changed in 1979, when he began editing Gay Comix
Gay Comix
Gay Comix was an underground comics series published from 1980–1998. Created by Howard Cruse, Gay Comix featured the work of gay, lesbian, and transsexual artists. Much of the early content was autobiographical, but more diverse themes were explored in later editions...
, a new anthology featuring comix by openly gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
and lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
cartoonists. For much of the 1980s, he created Wendel, a strip (1-2 pages per episode) about an irrepressible and idealistic gay man, his lover Ollie, and a cast of diverse urban characters. It was published in the gay newsmagazine The Advocate
The Advocate
The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...
, which allowed Cruse substantial freedom in terms of language and nudity, and to address content such as AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, gay rights demonstrations, gay-bashing, closeted celebrities, and same-gender relationships, with a combination of humor and anger. Two collections of these strips have been published, as well as an all-in-one volume.
Cruse spent the first half of the 1990s creating Stuck Rubber Baby
Stuck Rubber Baby
Stuck Rubber Baby is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Howard Cruse, first published in 1995. Set mostly in the 1960s in the Southern United States, in the midst of the Black Civil Rights movement, it deals with homosexuality and racism....
, a 210-page graphic novel commissioned by editor Mark Nevelow for his DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
imprint Piranha Press
Piranha Press
Piranha Press, an imprint of DC Comics from 1989 to 1994, was a response by DC to the growing interest in alternative comics. The imprint was edited by Mark Nevelow, who instead of developing comics with the established names in the alternative comics field, chose to introduce several unknown...
but eventually published by DC's Paradox Press
Paradox Press
Paradox Press was a division of DC Comics formed in 1993 after editor Mark Nevelow departed from Piranha Press. Under the initial editorship of Andrew Helfer and Bronwyn Carlton the imprint was renamed. It is best known for graphic novels like A History of Violence and Road to Perdition...
. It is the story of Toland Polk, a young man growing up in the American South in the 1960s, and his growing awareness of both his own homosexuality and the racial injustice of American society. The book features Cruse's most detailed and realistic comics art and his most serious and complex storytelling. It received numerous awards and nominations.
Cruse briefly wrote a column in a comic book review magazine, Comics Scene, under the rhyming masthead "Loose Cruse".
Cruse is a regular contributor to the ongoing queer
Queer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT ...
comics anthology Juicy Mother, edited by Jennifer Camper
Jennifer Camper
Jennifer Camper is an American comics artist, graphic artist and editor residing in Brooklyn, New York.Camper, who is openly lesbian, has been producing comics since the 1980s. Her work has appeared in many publications including The Village Voice, San Francisco Bay Times, Ms...
, which first appeared in 2005 and then in 2007, noteworthy for carrying on the tradition begun by Cruse with Gay Comix.
In August 2009, Howard Cruse self-published From Headrack to Claude, a collection of all his gay-themed strips accompanied by commentaries on his career and life, including the never-reprinted 1976 Barefootz story where the character Headrack came out, and some unpublished stories.
On March 17, 2010, an original one-off titled Lubejob penned by Cruse was published in Nib-Lit
Nib-Lit
Nib-Lit is a weekly comics journal edited by Mykl Sivak and published both independently in an electronic format as well as running as a two-page section in Southern News, the student newspaper of Southern Connecticut State University. The journal features original and syndicated strips by a wide...
Comics journal.
Publications
- Cruse, Howard. (1985) Wendel, New York: Gay Presses of New York. ISBN 0-914017-10-1
- Cruse, Howard. (1986) Howard Cruse's Barefootz: The Comix Book stories, Renegade PressRenegade PressRenegade Press was an American comic book company, founded by Canadian Deni Loubert, that operated from 1984 to 1988. Notable titles published by Renegade include Flaming Carrot, Ms...
. ASIN B00072X5YY - Cruse, Howard. (1987) Dancin' Nekkid with the Angels, St Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-01104-0
- Cruse, Howard. (1989) Wendel on the Rebound, St Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-03002-9
- Cruse, Howard. (1990) Early Barefootz, Fantagraphics BooksFantagraphics BooksFantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint...
. ISBN 1-56097-052-9 - Cruse, Howard. (1995) Stuck Rubber Baby, Paradox PressParadox PressParadox Press was a division of DC Comics formed in 1993 after editor Mark Nevelow departed from Piranha Press. Under the initial editorship of Andrew Helfer and Bronwyn Carlton the imprint was renamed. It is best known for graphic novels like A History of Violence and Road to Perdition...
. ISBN 1-56389-255-3 - Cruse, Howard. (2001) Wendel All Together, Olmstead Press. ISBN 1-58754-012-6
- Shaffer, Jeanne E. (April 2004) "The Swimmer with a Rope in his Teeth" illustrated by Howard Cruse, Amherst, NY: Prometheus BooksPrometheus BooksPrometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by Paul Kurtz, who also founded the Council for Secular Humanism and co-founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is currently the chairman of all three organizations. Prometheus Books publishes a range of books, including many...
. ISBN 1-59102-181-2 - Cruse, Howard. (August 2009) From Headrack to Claude, Nifty Kitsch Press. ISBN 0-57803-251-1
Contributions
- Robert KirbyRobert Kirby (comics artist)Robert Kirby is the creator of the syndicated comic Curbside.Curbside is the story of two young men, Drew, an aspiring writer, and Nathan, an aspiring musician, who meet and eventually form a tumultuous relationship...
and David Kelly, editors, (2008) The Book of Boy Trouble 2: Born to Trouble, Green Candy Press - Camper, Jennifer, editor (2007) Juicy Mother 2: How They Met Manic D PressManic D PressManic D Press is an American literary press based in San Francisco, California publishing fiction , poetry, cultural studies, art, narrative-oriented comix, and alternative travel trade paperbacks...
. ISBN 978-1-933149-20-2 - Fish, TimTim FishTim Fish is a comic book author and artist.Fish was born in 1970 and attended the University of New Hampshire, where he had a twice-weekly comic strip running in the college newspaper, The New Hampshire, and started a 100-issue superhero comic called "Arche-Lady." Fish has lived in St. Louis, San...
, editor (2007) Young Bottoms in Love, Poison Press. ISBN 0976278677 (includes the My Hypnotist short story) - Camper, JenniferJennifer CamperJennifer Camper is an American comics artist, graphic artist and editor residing in Brooklyn, New York.Camper, who is openly lesbian, has been producing comics since the 1980s. Her work has appeared in many publications including The Village Voice, San Francisco Bay Times, Ms...
, editor (2005) Juicy Mother Soft Skull PressSoft Skull PressSoft Skull Press is an independent publisher founded by Sander Hicks in 1992, and run by Richard Eoin Nash from 2001 to 2009. In 2007, Nash sold Soft Skull to Counterpoint LLC, where it continues to function as a division of the press...
. ISBN 1-932360-70-0
External links
- Varisco, Joe (2007), Howard Cruse Interview, 10 minutes. (Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
, RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
). - Howard Cruse Central - Cruse's site and blog
- Reproduced correspondance with Dr. SeussDr. SeussTheodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
- Interview with Howard Cruse