"Suddenly my own work seemed insipid"
- Robert Crumb on S. Clay Wilson's art
From deceptively simple to insanely complex, underground artists have been among the most creative in the comics industry. S. Clay Wilson was among the latter. Love him or hate him, Wilson's lewd, crude and tattooed characters populated his claustrophobic comic panels that seemed ready to burst. Perhaps his best known character was The Checkered Demon. Among others, Star-Eyed Stella, Ruby the Dyke and a cast of lusty and rude pirates made appearances. He also had a story in one of the most deranged underground comics ever, FELCH CUMICS (look that word up, friends).
In 2008, Wilson was found face down on the street with critical injuries. It is not known if he had fallen (he was drinking heavily that same day at a Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco) or was assaulted. Suffering with a brain injury and debilitating motor functions, he was only able to sketch simple drawings until he died on February 7, 20121.
The following article is from ART ALTERNATIVES (#1, April 1992):
ZAP COMICS #3, with art by legendary underground cartoonists Wilson, Robert Crumb, Rick Griffin, Victor Moscoso and Gilbert Shelton:
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