Vaughn Bodé
Vaughn Bodé was an influential American cartoonist and comic book artist, born on July 22, 1941, in Syracuse, New York. He faced a tumultuous childhood, marked by familial instability and abuse, which led him to create cartoons as a means of escape. Bodé eventually dropped out of high school to serve in the army, after which he sought a career in comics and illustration. His breakthrough came in the early 1960s with the self-publication of "Das Kampf," considered one of the first underground comic books, and he later gained wider recognition for his characters, including the iconic Cheech Wizard.
Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, Bodé's work was featured in various notable publications, earning him prestigious awards and a reputation as a pioneer in the underground comics movement. His artistic style and themes often explored sexuality and relationships, reflecting his personal experiences and interests. Bodé's life took a tragic turn in 1975 when he died accidentally while experimenting with autoerotic asphyxiation. Despite his early demise, Bodé left a lasting impact on the comic art scene, with his work continuing to inspire future generations of artists, including his son, Mark Bodé, who carries on his legacy.
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Subject Terms
Vaughn Bodé
Writer
- Born: July 22, 1941
- Birthplace: Utica, New York
- Died: July 18, 1975
Biography
Vaughn Bodé was born on July 22, 1941, in Syracuse, New York, the second of four children born to Kenneth Bodé, an unemployable, violent drunk, and Elsie Bodé, who worked on a General Electric (GE)assembly line. Bodé, an introverted child whose mother dressed him like Shirley Temple, often hid under his bed to escape his father’s beatings. He began creating cartoons at an early age to escape the harsh realities of his daily life, and he drew almost constantly thereafter during an extremely productive, meteoric career.
In the early 1950’s, Elsie Bodé filed for divorce, and the family was split up for a time. Eventually, his mother gained custody of the children and moved to Utica, New York. Bodé dropped out of high school and joined the army. He served a year before he went absent without leave (AWOL), but he received an honorable discharge for psychiatric reasons, precipitating years of sporadic therapy. He went to New York City with his portfolio, fruitlessly seeking work with newspaper strip syndicates and comic book publishers.
In 1961, Bodé married former high school classmate Barbara Hawkins and was hired as a commercial artist at International Harvester. He worked periodically, but the couple essentially survived on welfare and on Bodé’s small psychiatric disability stipend. Their son, Mark, was born in 1963. The same year, Bodé self-published Das Kampf, a booklet of captioned illustrations now considered one of the first underground comic books. In 1964, he was admitted to Syracuse University, where for several years he contributed to the school newspaper and local satirical journals. At the university, Bodé debuted his best-known characters, the profane, floppy-hatted Cheech Wizard and a caveman named Man. The strips were later collected and published in book form.
Bodé’s fame began to spread, thanks to his contributions to comic and science- fiction magazines and fanzines, and he won a Hugo Award in 1969 as Best Fan Artist. After illustrating stories and drawing covers for If and Galaxy magazines, he was nominated for another Hugo Award as Best Professional Artist in 1970. He drew a cartoon serial, Sunspot, for Galaxy, but it was withdrawn for sexual content, a reflection of Bodé’s long-held fascination for sex in all its myriad forms. Frequently unfaithful to his wife, Bodé had sexual relationships with both men and women; experimented with domination, bondage, and bisexuality; and began cross-dressing in the early 1970’s.
During the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, Bodé’s work reached its peak. His Deadbone strip, featuring lizards and voluptuous women, appeared monthly in Galaxy from 1969 until 1971. Junkwaffel ran in Print Mint from 1971 to 1974, and Cheech Wizard was a monthly feature in National Lampoon from1971 until 1975. His work, particularly Gothic Blimp Works, one of the first weekly underground comics, also appeared in the East Village Other. Many commercial tie-ins, including-posters, T-shirts and other items, were linked to his work, which also inspired early graffiti artists. An early performance artist, Bodé also produced “The Bodé Cartoon Concert,” a sight-and-sound slide show that premiered in 1972 in Detroit.
Late in 1974, Bodé, who was consuming a wide variety of drugs, moved to San Francisco, the heart of the alternative comics scene, where his life rapidly disintegrated. On July 18, 1975, not long after he received Italy’s Yellow Kid Award for Illustration, he was found dead, having accidentally strangled himself while experimenting with autoerotic asphyxiation. He was cremated and his ashes scattered over San Francisco Bay. Bodé was a finalist for induction into the Eisner Hall of Fame in both 1998 and 2002. His son Mark, also a cartoonist, has continued his father’s legacy by completing Bodé’s the Lizard of Oz parody.