Cruse, Howard

CRUSE, HOWARD (1944-2019). Underground cartoonist, editor, gay activist, and graphic novelist, Howard Cruse introduced gay comics to a wide audience and wove his personal saga around social movements.

Howard Cruse was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and more four years later his family moved to nearby Springville. His experience growing up in Springville served as the basis for the fictional Southern town depicted in his graphic novel Stuck Rubber Baby (1995). Despite growing up in the conservative South, Cruse managed to receive a progressive education at the experimental Indian Springs School, where young boys were encouraged in their creativity and social responsibility. His education continued at Birmingham-Southern College, where, as a theater major, he fell in with a group of artistic, activist students and began cartooning for student publications.

In 1972, Cruse began submitting his comic strip Barefootz to Denis Kitchen at Krupp Comics Works (later Kitchen Sink Press), where it appeared in various underground anthologies in the 1970s. Also during this time, Cruse moved toward increased activism when he attended the first Gay Pride march in Atlanta.

One of Cruse’s significant contributions to comics was his founding editorship of the anthology series Gay Comix, initially published by Kitchen Sink. Beginning in 1980, Cruse edited the first four issues of the series, which highlighted work by established queer cartoonists, while also providing an outlet and source of inspiration for the new generation. Alison Bechdel cites her discovery of Gay Comix 1 as an inspiration for her career as a cartoonist. In addition, Cruse created two of his most significant and influential short comics stories for the series: “Billy Goes Out” and “Jerry Mack.” For much of the 1980s, Cruse also produced the serial comic Wendel for The Advocate. Through Wendel Trupstock and a varied supporting cast, this series served as a document of queer life and culture in the United States during that period, including issues of gay rights, AIDS, and media representation.

Cruse’s major work, the semi-autobiographical graphic novel Stuck Rubber Baby, focuses on Toland Polk, a young, white, gay man living in Alabama in the 1960s, whose social consciousness is sparked while he also comes to grips with his sexual identity. The book explores the intersection between the gay rights and the black civil rights movements. Stuck Rubber Baby was nominated for the Lambda Literary Award and a later edition was introduced by Tony Kushner.

Throughout his career, Cruse devoted his cartooning skills to political commentary and social satire. Though most of his work dealt with issues related to the LGBTQ+ experience, his work also addresses such topics as censorship, anti-pornography crusades, and abortion. He often donated his work to comics anthologies related to these various causes, as well as producing pro bono illustration and design work. Even toward the end of his life, he continued to produce comics for queer anthologies, lending his reputation, status, and support to a younger generation of queer cartoonists. He was joined in his devotion to gay rights activism by his husband, Ed Sedarbaum, with whom he shared his life for forty years.

Kunka, Andrew J. The Life and Comics of Howard Cruse: Taking Risks in the Service of Truth. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2021.

Howard Cruse, Official Website. http://www.howardcruse.com