Mervyn "Skip" Williamson (August 19, 1944 – March 16, 2017) was an American underground

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

and central figure in 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. Williamson's art was published in the '' National Lampoon'', ''

High Times ''High Times'' was an American monthly magazine (and cannabis brand) that advocates the legalization of cannabis as well as other counterculture ideas. The magazine was founded in 1974 by Tom Forcade. The magazine had its own book publishing d ...

'', ''

the Realist ''The Realist'' was a magazine of "social-political-religious criticism and satire", intended as a hybrid of a grown-ups version of ''Mad'' and Lyle Stuart's anti-censorship monthly ''The Independent.'' Edited and published by Paul Krassner, ...

'', '' the Industrial Worker'', the '' Chicago Seed'', ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

'' and others. His best-known character is '' Snappy Sammy Smoot''."Skip Williamson,"
''Lambiek Comiclopedia''. Accessed March 31, 2017.

Biography

Childhood

Williamson was born in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, but later moved to

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...

, and then to

Canton, Missouri Canton is a city in Lewis County, Missouri, Lewis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,774 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Canton is the home of Culver-Stockton College, a small liberal arts college affiliated with ...

. Williamson's real first name is Mervyn; however when he was a child, he was a bit of a troublemaker, so his grandmother gave him the nickname "Skip" after Percy Crosby's comic strip character "Skippy".

First publication

Williamson's first published cartoon was in

Harvey Kurtzman Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ...

's ''

Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their Help! (film), film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965 by Parlophone. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the sin ...

'' magazine in 1961. The cartoon was accepted by then ''Help!'' editor

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem ( ; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social movement, social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ...

.Williamson's biography on skipwilliamson.com
The cartoon was of two New Orleans trash cans. One was labeled "Negro Trash" the other "White Trash". Subsequently, comedian

Dick Gregory Richard Claxton Gregory (October 12, 1932 – August 19, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, writer, activist and social critic. His books were bestsellers. Gregory became popular among the African-American communities in the southern U ...

went on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...

'' and showed the cartoon on national television, launching Williamson into the mainstream.

Underground comix

Williamson moved to Chicago in 1967 and almost immediately teamed up with

Jay Lynch Jay Patrick Lynch (January 7, 1945 – March 5, 2017) was an American cartoonist who played a key role in the underground comix movement with his '' Bijou Funnies'' and other titles. He is best known for his comic strip ''Nard n' Pat'' and the r ...

to publish the underground newspaper '' The Chicago Mirror''. (Williamson and Lynch remained friends for the rest of their lives.) In 1968, Williamson, Lynch, and

Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American artist who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American c ...

rechristened the ''Chicago Mirror'' as '' Bijou Funnies'', which became one of the earliest and longest running underground comix titles. Williamson's character Snappy Sammy Smoot became popular enough to appear (played by

Carl Reiner Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, author, comedian, director and screenwriter whose career spanned seven decades. He was the List of awards and nominations received by Carl Reiner, recipient of many awards and ...

) on the 1960s television program ''

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for six seasons from January 22, 1968, to July 23, 1973, on the NBC television network. The show, hosted by comed ...

''. Some years later the ''Comix Journal'' wrote:

The Chicago 8

Because of Williamson's friendship with

Yippie The Youth International Party (YIP), whose members were commonly called Yippies, was an American youth-oriented radical and countercultural revolutionary offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the late 1960s. It was founded on D ...

activist

Abbie Hoffman Abbot Howard Hoffman (November 30, 1936 – April 12, 1989) was an American political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ("Yippies") and was a member of the Chicago Seven. He was also a leading proponent of the ...

, he was allowed into the courtroom where the Chicago 8 trial was being held, where he did sketches of key characters in the trial. Williamson designed the cover of the first printing of

's ''

Steal This Book ''Steal This Book'' is a book written by Abbie Hoffman. Written in 1970 and published the following year, it exemplifies the counterculture of the 1960s. The book sold more than a quarter of a million copies between April and November 1971. The n ...

''. Hoffman gave Williamson the advance from his book for Williamson to produce a comic that would raise money for the Chicago 8 defense fund. Williamson produced the comic book '' Conspiracy Capers'', which featured the art of

Art Spiegelman Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman ( ; born February 15, 1948), professionally known as Art Spiegelman, is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazin ...

Jay Kinney Jay Kinney (born 1950) is an American author, editor, and former underground cartoonist. Kinney has been noted for "adding new dimensions to the political comic" in the underground comix press of the 1970s and '80s. Career Kinney was a member, ...

, Dan Clyne, Paul David Simon, and others.

Later work

During the 1970s and 1980s Williamson art-directed and contributed artwork to

men's magazines This is a list of men's magazines from around the world. These are Magazine, magazines (periodical print publications) that have been published primarily for a readership of Man, men. The list has been split into subcategories according to the t ...

. In 1973 he was art director of '' Gallery'' magazine, where he created the “Girl Next Door” concept by publishing snapshots of sweethearts and wives sent in by readers. In 1974 Williamson was the founding art director of '' Hustler'', and in 1976 he joined the staff of ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

''. There he created the popular "Playboy Funnies" section and introduced millions of readers to his characters Neon Vincent and the "postmodern" couple Nell ‘n’ Void. Williamson designed album covers for blues artists like

Albert Collins Albert Gene Collins (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993)Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. He was noted for his powerful playing ...

(''

Cold Snap A cold wave (known in some regions as a cold snap, cold spell or Arctic Snap) is a weather phenomenon that is distinguished by a cooling of the air. Specifically, as used by the U.S. National Weather Service, a cold wave is a rapid fall in temp ...

'', 1986), Koko Taylor (''An Audience With the Queen'', 1987), Little Charlie and the Nightcats (''All The Way Crazy'', 1987) and Mudcat (''You Better Mind'', 2013). For the band

Wilderness Road The Wilderness Road was one of two principal routes used by colonial and early national era settlers to reach Kentucky from the East. Although this road goes through the Cumberland Gap into southern Kentucky and northern Tennessee, the other ...

he drew a special comic book, ''Snuk Comics'', to promote them. In later years Williamson concentrated on producing large-scale canvases depicting political social abomination and political treachery.

Death

He died at Albany Medical Center at 12:30 pm on March 16, 2017. The official cause of death was renal failure and complications from heart disease and diabetes.

Exhibitions

Williamson's work has been exhibited at the New York Cultural Center (New York City), the Maryland Institute of Design (Baltimore), the Chicago 4 Show (Chicago), the Phoenix Gallery (Berkeley, California), the American Contemporary Graphics Exhibition (a travelling exhibition), the Words & Pictures Museum (Northampton, Massachusetts), the 23rd Century Gallery (Chicago), the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...

(Washington, DC),

Lucca Comics & Games Lucca Comics & Games is an annual Comic book convention, comic book and gaming convention in Lucca, Italy, traditionally held at the end of October, in conjunction with All Saints' Day. It is the largest comics festival in Europe, and the secon ...

(Lucca, Italy), the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

(London), the La Luz de Jesus gallery (L.A.), Gallery Bink (Portland, Oregon), the Vinson Gallery (Atlanta), and many others. His work was shown throughout Europe in the

Comix 2000 ''Comix 2000'' was an international one-shot independent comic book published in 1999 by L'Association (France) and distributed in the United States by Fantagraphics Books. All the comics featured in ''Comix 2000'' are wordless in order to accom ...

traveling exhibition sponsored by the French publisher L’Association. His art has been auctioned at

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

, and

Heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also ...

auction houses. Williamson's large-scale canvases depicting political social abomination and political treachery have been exhibited in galleries in New Orleans, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Portland, Oregon, and other cities. In 2000 Williamson exhibited his paintings in a solo show at Atlanta's Eyedrum gallery. Dr. Jerry Cullum, senior editor of '' Art Papers'', wrote in the ''

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

'': Williamson's art has been documented by Penguin Books, Brumm Publishing, E.P. Dutton and Company, Studio Vista Publishers, Boston Art & Books, the Graphis Press, Arcanum Press, the School of African Studies — Harvard University, the Designer's Gaukuin College, Northwestern University Press, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN radio and WGN tel ...

'', the ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the '' Belleville News-Democra ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', the '' Milwaukee Bugle-American'', the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'', the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...

'', ''

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

'', and many others. Williamson's comics are included in the permanent collection of the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

Skip Williamson characters

* Snappy Sammy Smoot *Rag-time Billy *Necropolis Keester *Neon Vincent *Nell & Void

References

Notes

Sources

*''A history of underground comics'' by Mark James Estren, Ronin Publishing 091417164X

External links

Official Blog

Official Blog

Vinson Art Gallery and biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Skip 1944 births 2017 deaths Underground cartoonists American comics writers American comics artists 20th-century American painters American satirists American satirical comics writers American satirical comics artists American political artists American album-cover and concert-poster artists Courtroom sketch artists Artists from San Antonio Deaths from kidney failure in New York (state) Deaths from diabetes in New York (state) People from Lynchburg, Virginia People from Canton, Missouri 21st-century American painters