Source: Daily Collegian
State College, Penn -- In 1975, cartoonist Howard Cruse was a staff artist at a Birmingham, Ala. ad agency. But beginning at dawn each day until he had to leave for work, Cruse would spend his time writing and drawing comics for underground comic publications.

"Underground comics meant cutting the bullshit and getting to the truth," Cruse said.

Last night, Cruse spoke about his life and the comics he has created as a reflection of some of his own life experiences. Those experiences range from growing up as a preacher's son in Civil Right's Era Birmingham, Ala., and identifying as a homosexual male. He spoke in Foster Auditorium of Pattee Library at 7 p.m. The University Libraries Diversity Committee and the LGBTA Student Resource Center sponsored his talk.

Cruse said he knew he wanted to draw comics when he was 8 years old. He said he was drawn to underground comics of the '60s because he liked the sexual freedom and psychedelic drugs.

"You could draw about issues that mattered," Cruse said.

In the 1970s, Cruse began the "Barefootz" series. It featured a character who wore a suit, tie and no shoes and lived with 100 cockroaches. "Barefootz" was reflective of his own "hippie lifestyle" at the time, Cruse said.

The cockroaches symbolized humanity and excess, he said, and Barefoot represented the untroubled cosmic overview.

But in the late '80s, things began to get more political in the gay community with the AIDS epidemic. Cruse was then living in New York City and began work on more politically charged comics.

One strip Cruse spoke about was the character, Wendel, he created. Cruse said many people told him that his Wendel comics helped people come out, made them less afraid and that it was a great relief once they were out.

The first job of an artist, Cruse said, is to know who they are. Some of Cruse's work is semi-autobiographical. Many of his comic strips feature the character in the physical world and also above the character's head, their thoughts are displayed.

Full article: Gay cartoonist discusses his art | Daily Collegian