Jon Macy
Encyclopedia
Jon Macy is a gay American comics
writer and artist. He began his career in 1990 with the series Tropo. Since then he has contributed to various LGBT
comics anthologies and gay pornographic magazines, but is best known for his graphic novel Teleny and Camille, which won a 2010 Lambda Literary Award
.
Macy's first series Tropo was part of the early 1990s black and white alternative comics
boom. It was followed by the erotic horror series Nefarismo. These stories contain dark and surreal
motifs, mixing eroticism
with hallucination
and death
, which remain a signature within nearly all Macy's personal works.
Throughout the 1990s, Macy contributed to queer comics anthologies, Meatmen and Gay Comics
and gay skin magazines, Steam by Scott O'Hara
, Bunkhouse and International Leatherman. His work on Meatmen included a short story entitled "Tail". Gilad Padva argues in his academic paper "Dreamboys, Meatmen and Werewolves: Visualizing Erotic Identities in All-male Comic Strips" (2005) that Macy's "Tail" eroticizes and politicizes Sigmund Freud
’s homophobic myth of the Wolf Man
.
After a hiatus of eight years, during which time he worked on his graphic novel Teleny and Camille, Macy began publishing again with an autobiographical story, "Crazy in Bed", published in Robert Kirby
's anthology The Book of Boy Trouble, Vol. 2. He has since collaborated with various established and independent gay cartoonists including Sina Evil, Brian Andersen and Justin Hall.
In 2010 Macy's Teleny and Camille was published by Northwest Press, a graphic adaptation of the classic anonymous erotic novel Teleny attributed to Oscar Wilde
and his circle of friends. Teleny and Camille then was awarded the 2010 Lambda Literary Award
for Gay Erotica. An excerpt was also featured in Teleny Revisited, a special issue of The Oscholars, the only official academic evaluation of the source novel Teleny.
Macy's most recent work is the self-published comic book series Fearful Hunter (2010–2011), written as an act of protest against California's Proposition 8
. Fearful Hunter won the Prism Comics
Queer Press Grant in 2010.
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
writer and artist. He began his career in 1990 with the series Tropo. Since then he has contributed to various LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
comics anthologies and gay pornographic magazines, but is best known for his graphic novel Teleny and Camille, which won a 2010 Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
.
Macy's first series Tropo was part of the early 1990s black and white alternative comics
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...
boom. It was followed by the erotic horror series Nefarismo. These stories contain dark and surreal
Surreal
Surreal may refer to:*Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art*"Surreal" , a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki*Surreal , an album by Man Raze*Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor...
motifs, mixing eroticism
Eroticism
Eroticism is generally understood to refer to a state of sexual arousal or anticipation of such – an insistent sexual impulse, desire, or pattern of thoughts, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality and romantic love...
with hallucination
Hallucination
A hallucination, in the broadest sense of the word, is a perception in the absence of a stimulus. In a stricter sense, hallucinations are defined as perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli which have qualities of real perception, in that they are vivid,...
and death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
, which remain a signature within nearly all Macy's personal works.
Throughout the 1990s, Macy contributed to queer comics anthologies, Meatmen and Gay Comics
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...
and gay skin magazines, Steam by Scott O'Hara
Scott O'Hara
Scott O'Hara was an American pornographic performer, author, poet, editor and publisher. Rising to prominence during the mid 1980s for his work in such gay adult films as Winner Takes All, Ramcharger, The Other Side Of Aspen 2, Below The Belt and In Your Wildest Dreams, O'Hara went on to write...
, Bunkhouse and International Leatherman. His work on Meatmen included a short story entitled "Tail". Gilad Padva argues in his academic paper "Dreamboys, Meatmen and Werewolves: Visualizing Erotic Identities in All-male Comic Strips" (2005) that Macy's "Tail" eroticizes and politicizes Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
’s homophobic myth of the Wolf Man
Sergei Pankejeff
Sergei Konstantinovitch Pankejeff was a Russian aristocrat from Odessa best known for being a patient of Sigmund Freud, who gave him the pseudonym of Wolf Man to protect his identity, after a dream Pankejeff had of a tree full of white wolves.- Biography :The Pankejeff family Sergei...
.
After a hiatus of eight years, during which time he worked on his graphic novel Teleny and Camille, Macy began publishing again with an autobiographical story, "Crazy in Bed", published in Robert Kirby
Robert 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...
's anthology The Book of Boy Trouble, Vol. 2. He has since collaborated with various established and independent gay cartoonists including Sina Evil, Brian Andersen and Justin Hall.
In 2010 Macy's Teleny and Camille was published by Northwest Press, a graphic adaptation of the classic anonymous erotic novel Teleny attributed to Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
and his circle of friends. Teleny and Camille then was awarded the 2010 Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
for Gay Erotica. An excerpt was also featured in Teleny Revisited, a special issue of The Oscholars, the only official academic evaluation of the source novel Teleny.
Macy's most recent work is the self-published comic book series Fearful Hunter (2010–2011), written as an act of protest against California's Proposition 8
California Proposition 8 (2008)
Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
. Fearful Hunter won the Prism Comics
Prism Comics
Prism Comics is a non-profit organization that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender creators, stories, characters, and readers in the comics industry....
Queer Press Grant in 2010.