Lawrence Edward Welz (born November 21, 1948) is an American cartoonist who created Cherry Poptart (now known simply as

Cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The na ...

). He was an early contributor to the

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, ...

movement in the

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

area during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He graduated from

Bakersfield High School Bakersfield High School (BHS) is a State school#United States, public four-year high school located in Bakersfield, California, United States. Opened in 1893, Bakersfield High School serves grades ninth through twelfth within the Kern High School D ...

Work

From 1969 to 1970, his work appeared regularly in '' Yellow Dog'', a comics anthology published by the

Print Mint The Print Mint, Inc. was a major publisher and distributor of underground comix based in the San Francisco Bay Area during the genre's late 1960s-early 1970s heyday. Starting as a retailer of psychedelic posters, the Print Mint soon evolved into ...

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. He also contributed to '' San Francisco Comic Book'', ''Captain Guts'', ''Funnybook'', ''Bakersfield Kountry Komics'', ''American Flyer Funnies'', and ''Good Eatin' Comix''. In the early 1980s, Welz created Cherry Poptart, a character who evolved from stories in ''Funnybook'' and ''Bakersfield Kountry Komics''. ''Cherry'' quickly became his most successful and well-known comic book series, with 22 issues and a variety of collections, posters, stickers and tattoos. Welz has collaborated with several other well-known artists and authors on comic books and other projects over the years, including

Mark Bodé Mark Bodē (() born February 18, 1963) is an American cartoonist. The son of underground comics legend Vaughn Bodē, Mark shares the Bodē family style and perpetuates many of his late father's creations as well as his own works . He is best kn ...

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

, and Larry Todd. After many years in the San Francisco Bay Area, Welz and his wife Sharon moved to

Roswell, New Mexico Roswell () is a city in and the county seat of Chaves County, New Mexico, Chaves County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 48,422 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fi ...

, and then to Albuquerque, where he continues his involvement in both comics and commercial artwork. In 2006, he drew the cover for Jeff Walker's album '' Welcome to Carcass Cuntry''.Roadrunnerrecords.com
/ref> In 2016, he drew the front and back covers for Marvin Gardens' album ''1968'', and contributed an original cartoon to the liner notes.

References

External links

*
Cherry Comix official online store

Larry Welz art on ComicArtFans.com

Larry Welz comic books on Comicbookdb.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welz, Larry category:1940s births category:1948 births category:American cartoonists category:American comics artists category:American erotic artists category:artists from the San Francisco Bay Area category:Bakersfield High School alumni category:living people category:people from Bakersfield, California category:underground cartoonists