| Robert Triptow | |
|---|---|
| Born | Robert James Triptow (1952-05-10)May 10, 1952 (age 73) |
| Nationality | American |
| Area | Cartoonist, Editor |
Notable works | Gay Comix |
| Awards | Lambda Award for Humor, 1990 Special Achievement Award, San Diego Comic Con, 1989 |
| Spouse | William Blakely |
Robert Triptow (born May 10, 1952 inSalt Lake City, Utah) is an American writer and artist. He is known primarily for creatinggay- andbisexual-themed comics and for editingGay Comix in the 1980s, and he was identified byunderground comix pioneerLee Marrs as "the last of the underground cartoonists."[1]
A long-time resident ofSan Francisco,[1] Robert Triptow was one of the earliest contributors toKitchen Sink Press' anthologyGay Comix, beginning with issue #2. He succeededHoward Cruse as editor of the series,[2] editing issues #5 through #13 (1984–1991). During this time he edited the 1989 anthologyGay Comics, one of the earliest histories of the subject,[3] which won the firstLambda Literary Award for Humor. He also co-edited and contributed to the HIV-research fund-raising and educational anthologyStrip AIDS U.S.A. (1988) withTrina Robbins &Bill Sienkiewicz.[4]
As a journalist, Triptow has contributed toThe Advocate,TheBay Area Reporter,Frontiers,TheSan Francisco Sentinel, and other West Coast LGBT publications.[5]
In 1978, as the assistant to the publisher of The Advocate,David B. Goodstein, Triptow was close to the heart of the historic events “during the year ofHarvey Milk.”[1]
Triptow received his title as "the last of the underground cartoonists" atWonderCon when asked whether he consideredGay Comix to bealternative orunderground.[6] Lee Marrs, standing witness to the question, asked Triptow if he starved while living in theHaight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, to which he answered yes. It was then that Marrs coined his title. This conversation was filmed and circulated widely via the internet.[7]
In 2009, Triptow announced his plans to relaunchGay Comics as a series of trade paperbacks under a new publisher, hoping to begin gathering comics for the collection by the end of the year.[8] These plans were confirmed by Triptow in 2013, adding that he wants it serve as "a platform for all the queer cartoonists,"[9] however, no such series has reached publication yet.
In 2015, he releasedClass Photo, which has been described as a wryly comedic graphic novel imagining short biographies for the individuals depicted in a 1937 school group photograph.[1]
Born and raised inSalt Lake City, Utah, Robert Triptow considers himself a "late bloomer" in the gay community as he did not come out until his mid-20s.[1] Triptow had no exposure to alternative cartooning until a junior high journalism field trip toBrigham Young University, where he discovered the works of cartoonistsJules Feiffer,Gilbert Shelton, andR. Crumb in the school's book store.[10] This prompted him to begin cartooning, creating a rift between him and his conservative parents as they deemed the nature of hisqueer-themed comics pornographic and sinful.[7] Triptow commonly references his home state's denseMormon population, noting he was often considered an outsider as a non-Mormon in Utah. Triptow broke away from his family in 1971, the same year he found the photograph which inspiredClass Photo.[11]
Triptow moved from Salt Lake City to San Francisco on Halloween of 1977.[7]
He is married to William Blakely.[12]
Robert Triptow became involved inStrip AIDS U.S.A. (1988) when invited onto the fundraiser as co-editor byTrina Robbins, who felt unable to complete the project by herself as aheterosexual. Triptow then brought other cartoonists fromGay Comics onto the team,[13] resulting in 136 pages contributed by over 50 different artists.
Triptow's two-page comic titled "Needs" appears in the last half ofStrip AIDS U.S.A between "The Quilt" byDonelan and an untitled comic bySharon Rudahl. Triptow considers his piece one of few in the compilation to portray an individual living withAIDS.[14] The comic features a man named Joe with a male suitor whom he romantically declines on multiple occasions until the end when the two are shown together as Joe is dying of AIDS. The comic has a dedication written underneath the last panel which reads, “for Peter, Mickey, Spig & Rig, John, Steve, Vince, Joah, Raven, Tom, Hippler, and too many others.”[15] In 2008 only one of the individuals listed in this dedication was still alive, according to Triptow.[16]
Class Photo (2015) is Robert Triptow's first solo book venture. The comic consists of illustrated, fictionalized outcomes of each individual posing for a black and white 1937 class photograph labeled "Public School 49" fromBrooklyn, New York, which Triptow found with his uncle as college students under a pile of garbage in their hometown ofSalt Lake City. Triptow kept the photo, hanging it on a wall in his home to laugh at with house-guests for over 20 years.[12] In 2009 a cancer diagnosis motivated Triptow to finalize the project and proceed with publication.[11][17]
In addition toGay Comix, his cartoon work has appeared in:
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