African-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
underground comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...
writer, publisher, and promoter. Along with other such notables as Richard "Grass" Green,
Guy Colwell
Guy Colwell (born March 28, 1945) is an American painter and occasional underground cartoonist. Although not African-American himself, Colwell's comics often portray blacks in strong roles in stories of life on the streets. His " Figurative Soci ...
, and Fuller's long-time business partner and friend, Raye Horne, Fuller made sure that the voices of black comic book creators were heard in a time when their artistic efforts were largely ignored.McCabe, Caitlin "Profiles in Black Cartooning: Larry Fuller," Comic Book Legal Defense Fund website (February 17, 2016). On the topics of race and sexuality, Fuller mastered the art of delivering social commentary in humorous form.
Biography
Military service
In the mid-1960s Fuller served with the
U.S. Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...
at the
Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...
Minot Air Force Base
Minot Air Force Base ( ; ) is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation in Ward County, North Dakota, north of the city of Minot via U.S. Route 83. In the 2020 census, the base was counted as a CDP with a total population of 5 ...
, in
North Dakota
North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...
.
''Ebon'' and early career
Moving to the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...
(the heart of the underground comix industry), in his late twenties, Fuller came up with the idea of an "authentic" African-American superhero, Ebon. After searching for an artist for more than a year, Fuller took art classes with the assistance of the
G.I. Bill
The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I. (military), G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in ...
, and then ended up drawing Ebon himself, " swiping" many poses from established superhero artists like
Gil Kane
Gil Kane (; born Eli Katz , ; April 6, 1926 – January 31, 2000) was a Latvian-born American comics artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and virtually every major comics company and character.
Kane co-created the modern-day vers ...
and
John Buscema
John Buscema ( ; born Giovanni Natale Buscema, ; December 11, 1927 – January 10, 2002)Social Se ...
. ''Ebon'' #1 was published in January 1970 by
Gary Arlington
Gary Edson Arlington (October 7, 1938 – January 16, 2014) was an American retailer, artist, editor, and publisher, who became a key figure in the underground comix movement of the 1960s and 1970s.Yardley, William"Gary Arlington, a Force in Unde ...
. (The back cover was a house ad for Arlington's comic book shop, the San Francisco Comic Book Company, an epicenter of the underground comix movement). ''Ebon'' is considered by many to be the first comic book title to star a black superhero (
Marvel
Marvel may refer to:
Business
* Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company
** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment
** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe
** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...
's
Black Panther
A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...
predating Ebon but not having his own title). Nonetheless, ''Ebon'' was a bad fit with the largely white, adult audiences of underground comix, and didn't meet with much success.Rifas, Leonard "Racial Imagery, Racism, Individualism, and Underground Comix," ImageTexT (2004). Accessed Apr. 14, 2009.
Shortly afterward, Fuller (in the guise of "Hairy" Larry Fuller) adapted H.P. Lovecraft's "The Ter'ble Old Man" for
Last Gasp
(The) Last Gasp may refer to
* Last Gasp (publisher)
Last Gasp is a San Francisco–based book publisher with a lowbrow art and counterculture focus. Owned and operated by Ron Turner, for most of its existence Last Gasp was a publisher, dis ...
's 1971 comic ''Laugh in the Dark'' #1.
Ful-Horne Productions
In 1975, Fuller teamed up with Raye Horne to form Ful-Horne Productions (later known as Fulhorne), putting out the sex-themed comics ''White Whore Funnies'' and the then ground-breaking '' Gay Heart Throbs''. ''White Whore Funnies'' was produced on high-quality paper; it was one of the few underground comics to also be distributed in porn shops. Fuller and Horne also published the anthology series ''The New Funny Book'' from 1975 to 1978, which featured contributions by artists such as
Danny Bulanadi
Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to and short for the male name Daniel.🖾🖾
People
*Danny Altmann, British immunologist
*Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer
*Danny Baker (born 1957), English jou ...
,
Alex Niño
Alex Niño (born May 1, 1940) is a Filipinos, Filipino comics artist best known for his work for the American publishers DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and Warren Publishing, and in ''Heavy Metal (magazine), Heavy Metal'' magazine.
Biography
Early l ...
Dan O'Neill
Dan O'Neill (born April 21, 1942) is an American underground cartoonist, creator of the syndicated comic strip ''Odd Bodkins'' and founder of the underground comics collective the Air Pirates.
Education
O'Neill attended the University of S ...
,
Ian Akin
Ian Akin (born July 28, 1959, in California) is a comic book artist, known primarily for inking. Along with his inking partner, Brian Garvey, Akin worked on many superhero comics (mostly for Marvel Comics) from 1982 to 1988.
Biography
Akin grew ...
, and numerous others.
Later forming Fuller Inkwell, Fuller went on to periodically publish other sex-themed titles, such as ''Adults Only!'' (1979–1987) and ''HandJob Library'' (1991).
Awards
In 2007, Fuller was the recipient of the Pioneer Award at the 2007
Glyph Comics Awards
The Glyph Comics Awards is an annual award ceremony for comic creators who are people of color. The ceremony was initiated with the goal of inspiring young writers from diverse backgrounds to participate in the comics industry.
The awards are ...
.Watson, Rich. Accessed Apr. 13, 2009.
Bibliography
; Publisher
* ''The New Funny Book'' (3 issues, Ful-Horne/Fulhorne/Larry Fuller Presents, 1975–1978)
* ''White Whore Funnies'' (3 issues, Fuller Inkwell, 1975–1979)
* '' Gay Heart Throbs'' (also known as ''Gay Heartthrobs'') (3 issues, Ful-Horne Productions, 1976–1981)
* ''Adults Only!'' (3 issues, Fuller Inkwell, 1979–1987)
* ''HandJob Library'' (Fuller Inkwell, 1991)
; Writer/artist
* ''Ebon'' (Gary Arlington, 1970)
* "H.P. Lovecraft's The Ter'ble Old Man," ''Laugh in the Dark'' #1 (Last Gasp, 1971)
* "Draw!" (Kid Cunt), ''White Whore Funnies'' #2 (Fuller Inkwell, 1978)
; Writer
* "Big Guns on the Panseyrosa" (Kid Cunt), ''Gay Hearthrobs'' #1 (Ful-Horne Productions, 1975)
* "Egad! The Fantastic Hunter" and "Lorok" (art by Danbold anny Bulanadi, ''The New Funny Book'' #2 (Fulhorne, 1977)
* "The Ballad of Kid Sadistic" and "The Wild Sex Fantasy of Mrs. White" (art by James Davis), ''White Whore Funnies'' #2 (Fuller Inkwell, 1978)
* "Some Tight White Ass" (pornographic limericks illustrated by James Davis), ''White Whore Funnies'' #3 (Fuller Inkwell, 1979)
; Inker
* ''The Decorator'' (written and illustrated by "Grass" Green) (
Eros Comix
Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed several awards for ...
, 1992)
* ''Horny No. 4'',"Up from The Ghetto! Part 4", "Honey-Talk Tomson in One Horrible Lonely Night...", (written and illustrated by "Grass" Green) (
Rip Off Press
Rip Off Press Inc. is a comic book mail order retailer and distributor, better known as the former publisher of adult-themed series like '' The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' and '' Rip Off Comix'', as well as many other seminal publications from ...