GARY HALLGREN (1945-)
Fritzi Ritz painting: “NANCY BOY AND SLUGGRRL.”
As a perhaps
an old-fashioned art collector who leans toward
comic art of the classic variety, you may have
trouble keeping up with contemporary
gender-bending sex roles and the challenge of
displaying comic art that combines the comfortable
imagery of your youth with a modern panache.
Concern yourself no more, because now you can
indulge in a genuine Nancy & Sluggo classic
by Gary Hallgren which
displays feminist strength and the self-confidence
of a proudly gay man in a form that even your most
politically correct visitor will appreciate and
endorse. The traditional stipple hair of Sluggrrl (formerly Nancy) is shorn, and cropped
tight, revealing a long-covered ear thrice
pierced, and her strident posture in Doc Marten
boots embodies the self-assured modern woman.
Meanwhile, Nancy Boy (formerly Sluggo) is in full peacock mode,
sporting an ascot, chic mustache, and a puffball
variant of his once-dreary hat. Acrylic painting
on illustration board, shrink-wrapped against
¼-inch foam board. Painted in December 2014.
Dimensions 15 x 20 inches. Signed by the artist.
* * *
About the
artist: Gary Hallgren’s illustrations have
appeared in The New York Times,
MAD, The Wall Street Journal, Entertainment
Weekly, and National Lampoon (his
Pinocchio cover for the Lampoon is an all-time
classic). And he illustrated all of the best-selling
books by Dr. Mehmet Oz. But he's probably best known
as a key member of the infamous “Air Pirates.”
Hallgren teamed with Dan O'Neill,
Ted Richards, Bobby London, and Shary Flenniken to
produce two notorious issues of Air Pirates
Funnies, which contained X-rated
parodies of Mickey & Minnie Mouse,
causing the Walt Disney organization to unleash its
army of lawyers on the unruly underground cartoonists.
The battle went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court,
which ruled 9-0 in favor of Disney. Hallgren currently
paints personal visions of his favorite comics,
especially “Nancy & Sluggo," he collects vintage
Studebakers, and he ghosts one of America's most
famous syndicated newspaper strips
Related
items: Besides additional Gary Hallgren
paintings, we have Nancy & Sluggo silk
neckties, Ernie Bushmiller
postcards, several rare N&S pinback
buttons, and the coolest Nancy poster ever.
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