Harry Chess
Harry Chess is the central character of the first gay-themed ongoing comic strip, first appearing in the mid 1960s.
Harry Chess is a former trapeze artist;
The comics villains were similar to threats gay men faced at the time and the character Harry Chess asserted a humorous and positive approach to gay sex and life. The illustrations of the comic were frequently of muscular, hairy, men wearing tight and revealing clothes if wearing any clothes. For example, in one issue Harry Chess and Mickey Muscle foil a plot to mix ground glass into tanks at the “Cay-Why” factory, a reference to K-Y Jelly, a sexual lubricant. The text of the comic was filled with gay slang, homoerotic innuendo, and double entendres that were at risk of being labeled obscene by the United States Postal Service.[4]
History
Harry Chess was created by Allen J. Shapiro (1932–1987)[2] under the pseudonym "A. Jay". The character appeared in a one-off cartoon in November 1964 in Drum magazine, a homophile publication featuring news and erotica. He then became the protagonist of Al Shapiro's Harry Chess: That Man from A.U.N.T.I.E., which began running in Drum in March 1965 and ended in 1966.[1] These early strips, edited by Drum publisher Clark Polak, were reprinted in a collection entitled The Uncensored Adventures of Harry Chess 0068 7/8: That Man from A.U.N.T.I.E. (1966).
After Drum ceased publication, the character's strips were picked up by Queen's Quarterly.
Significance
Harry Chess was an important part of the gay liberation movement. Drum's publisher Clark Polak wanted "to put the ‘sex’ back into ‘homosexual'"[1] and he used the Harry Chess comic strip to do just that.
Harry Chess “served as an emblem of political transgression as well.”[6] The comic was known for its political barb, ridiculous puns, Jewish jokes, and bad spelling.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Michael J. Murphy (March 2014). "The Lives and Times of Harry Chess". The Gay & Lesbian Review. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
- ^ a b James Snidle. "the drawings of Al "A. Jay" Shapiro". Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
- ^ a b c Drewey Wayne Gunn (2013). The Gay Male Sleuth in Print and Film: A History and Annotated Bibliography. Rowman & Littlefield.
- ^ Murphy, Michael (March–April 2014). "The Life and Times of Harry Chess". The Gay & Lesbian Review: 22–24.
- ^ Jack Fritscher (August 1987). "AL SHAPIRO, A. JAY, & HARRY CHESS: CONFESSIONS OF A COMIC STRIPPER". Drummer. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
- ^ Booker, Marvin Keith (2014). Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas. Greenwood.