The Art of S. Clay Wilson

by S. Clay Wilson

THE ART OF S. CLAY WILSON is the long-awaited career retrospective of the most extreme of the Zap cartoonists of the late 1960s. A self-described ""graphic agoraphobe,"" Wilson draws manically dense scenes of lurid mayhem that rank among the seminal works of underground, counterculture American art. It's all here, from the classic chronicles of the Checkered Demon to salacious stories about the pirates, prostitutes, and poets that inhabit Wilson's divinely depraved world.The definitive collection of the art of legendary Zap comic artist S. Clay Wilson.Features 200 full-color images, including new work and previously unpublished prints commissioned for private collections.Introduction by R. Crumb touts Wilson's role as one of the originators of underground comix."Wilson was the strongest, most original artist of my generation that I had yet met. . . . There was something very familiar about the drawings, yet something entirely new, never before seen! It looked like folk art, like old-time tattoos, like some high school hotrodder's notebook drawings. They were rough, crazy, coarse, deeply American."-from R. Crumb's introductionReviews"To hell with Capt. Jack Sparrow, when are they going to make a movie about Cap'n Pissgums and his Pervert Pirates?. . . Even the least of the prints throb with diabolical energy and are ornamented by the kind of hardboiled captions you wish could be turned into movie dialogue."-San Jose Metro". . . rather rude (but very welcome). . . it's mesmerizing work, and hugely influential as well."-PW Daily

Genres: Comics, Art

176 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2006

About the author

S. Clay Wilson (Steve or Steven) was an American underground cartoonist and central figure in the underground comix movement. Wilson is known for aggressively violent and sexually explicit panoramas of "lowlife," often depicting the wild escapades of pirates and bikers.

Reviews

[Robert Hudder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This artwork reminds me of the way that Richard Kadrey writes. A lot of detail, humour, motion and gore filled. Profane and edgy.

Whereas Kadrey can talk more about what motivates his characters and over time, you get an idea of what is being said, the individual works of Wilson don't provide much context. But having it all in one place and being able to compare and see the arc, you have a better appreciation. It doesn't scream profanity but rather a more Brueghellian tone. Someone who is obsessed with these bad things while mildly condemning them.

All visceral and viscera. Normally, I scan art but when I see a page like his, I want to explore all the details. I won't try to say how I feel about the topics because I think that is for each viewer to decide whether the artist is doing or maybe ask the artist himself.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

To see it is to beleive it - Wilson lays it all out there form the vantage pooint of the the inimitable Checkered Demon - from bikers to pirates, if you're a fan of R. Crumb, Spain Rodriguez and their ilk you'll find CD's expoits entertaining, if you don't know what I'm talking about best ferget it :-/

[Printable Tire]

Good grief! If you aren't nervous about someone seeing what you're looking at in this book while you sit and stare at it on a park bench on a pleasant day, you've got bigger balls than I do. R. Crumb describes Wilson's art best in the introduction: "folk art, old-time tattoos, a demented high school hot rod's notebook drawings."

[Cal Hackeltoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

As it should be, The quality of reproduction is high and the subject very well presented. Several noteworthy introductions and appreciations with very little of the usual Art jazz. The primary introduction by one R. Crumb tells of his first meeting Wilson and it's an entertaining and humorous story. I peruse this volume from time to time

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very unusual and very graphic art. Not a style I enjoy but a nice book of selected pieces of this artist's work. Recommended