Since the sad news of S. Clay Wilson’s death this month, many people are revisiting his comics and art. To that end, we’re shining a spotlight on the first of our three-volume series, The Mythology of S. Clay Wilson. This post was originally published in 2014. Read on for more information about the series, and a flip-through preview of Volume 1.
How did a nervous, creative kid from a normal family in Nebraska grow up to make some of the most outrageous, transgressive, Id-ful comics ever put to paper, a contemporary of R. Crumb and founding member of the Underground Comix movement? You’ll find the answer — and the comics — in Pirates in the Heartland, the first book in our 3-volume biography and retrospective of S. Clay Wilson by Patrick Rosenkranz.
This is the definitive account of the boldest and most audacious of the legendary underground cartoonists: the taboo busting, eyeball blistering S. Clay Wilson. This first volume contains all of his underground comic stories from Zap Comix, Snatch, Gothic Blimp Works, Bogeyman, Felch, Insect Fear, Pork, Tales of Sex and Death, and Arcade magazine as well as the many adventures of the Checkered Demon, Star-Eyed Stella, and Captain Pissgums, and even his earliest collaborations with William Burroughs. Rosenkranz is one of the preeminent authorities on underground comix and the author of the definitive history of the genre, Rebel Visions. Their mighty powers combine in this essential series that takes an unflinching look at the man and his work.
Click below for a flip-through preview of Pirates In The Heartland: The Mythology Of S. Clay Wilson Vol. 1. You can buy the book here.
S. Clay Wilson passed away on February 7, 2021. He was 79 years old and is survived by his beloved wife Lorraine Chamberlin. You can also read obituaries of S. Clay Wilson by The Comics Journal and The New York Times.