The Hun | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Bill Schmeling (1938-04-30)April 30, 1938 |
| Died | November 12, 2019(2019-11-12) (aged 81) |
| Known for | Erotic illustration |
| Notable work | Hun Comics,Gohr |
| Style | Cartoonist |
| Partner | Roland Bynum |
| Signature | |
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Bill Schmeling (April 30, 1938 – September 12, 2019), better known by his pen nameThe Hun, was an American artist active in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, known for his explicit, homoeroticfetish illustrations and comics.[1][2][3]
Recurring characters in his comics include Big Sig (a naïve but sexually adventurous, semi-literate young man) and Gohr (abarbarian living in a brutal, post-apocalyptic world).[4] His art is characterized by hyper-masculine characters with exaggerated muscles, nipples, and genitalia.[4] Sex scenes routinely involveBDSM with an emphasis on bodily fluids, includingurolagnia andscatophilia.[4][1]Prison rape,fisting,leather anduniform fetishes, and police and military settings are also commonplace.[3]
Schmeling lived inPortland, Oregon.[4][5] At the age of five, he began drawing what he described as "hunky dudes in varying stages of undress, duress, and excess."[6][7] He received no formal training, but citedTom of Finland,Dom Orejudos,A. Jay,Rex, andBill Ward as having considerably influenced his style.[6][7]
He began professionally producingerotic art in the 1960s, doing work forPhysique Pictorial and otherbeefcake magazines, initially under the nameTorro.[1][8] Using thepen nameThe Hun, he produced series of comics –Hun Comics andGohr – featuring fantasy sexual adventures ofgay men. Stories by Schmeling became regular features in publications such asMeatmen,[9]Drummer,[10][11] andHandjobs magazine.[12] Schmeling also produced artwork for gay bars and businesses such as Bunkhouse (Los Angeles),[13] Manhole (Chicago),[14]Mineshaft (New York City),[15][16] and Studstore (San Francisco),[17] as well as commissions for private collectors.[5]
Schmeling met his lifelong partner Roland Bynum in 1978.[5]
Schmeling developed a close friendship with Tom of Finland during the 1980s when they lived inLos Angeles; the two men set up artist salons in their homes and shared their practices.[8]
During the 1980s, Schmeling frequently donated art to charity auctions forAIDS patients across the country.[18] In 1983, his work was exhibited at The Drum in Houston.[19]Fey-Way Studios also exhibited his work.[20] In 1986, he was featured inNaked Eyes, an artist showcase organized byOlaf Odegaard that highlighted gay men's visual art for the International Gay and Lesbian Archives.[21]
In 1988, Schmeling collaborated withJack Fritscher to produce two feature-length films for Palm Drive Video that highlighted hundreds of his drawings:The Hun Video Gallery 1: Rainy Night in Georgia andThe Hun Video Gallery 2: Chain Gang Bang.[18][6]
In 1997, Schmeling wrote a forward for'Rasslers, 'Ranglers & Rough Guys: The Erotic of Matt, in which he expressed his longtime admiration for fellow erotic artistCharles Kerbs.[22] In 1998, theTom of Finland Company publishedThe Hun Book, a collection of his work.[6][12] In 2004, Nazca Plains published a second book,Fetish and Fetters: A Selection of Artwork.[5]
In 2003, theLeslie-Lohman Museum of Art featured Schmeling alongsideMichael Kirwan,Howard Cruse, Rob Clarke, and Adam (Jack Bozzi) in itsDeliciously Depraved exhibit.[23]
In 1995,Durk Dehner wrote:[6][7]
But the truly fortunate aspect of this work is that the Hun allows us to be pigs, to be as cruel as all hell, to endure excruciating pleasure, and to dish out or take the slimy, grunting, brutal, hairy, messy, expansive limits of taboo kink. And all this happens without committing unsafe acts or cruelty to animals – oh, I mean men. He is the ultimate safe sex provider. Thank you Hun!
TheTom of Finland Foundation awards aBill "the Hun" Schmeling Single Figure Award each year as part of its annual Emerging Artist Competition.[24] In a 2023 online exhibit, the foundation wrote:
"His artist name (The Hun) personifies the intense subject matter of his work [...] The Hun’s works occupy a unique place among gay erotic artists. He has spearheaded a more intense style of artwork that captures scenes and fantasies often avoided by other artists as well as emphasizes a uniquely grotesque style involving oversized body parts, excess body fluids, and other features on a hyper-sexual scale."[3]
In July 2019, Schmeling donated all of his remaining artwork, notes, and other materials to theLeather Archives & Museum (LA&M) in Chicago.[25] The LA&M periodically sells comic reprints and merchandise featuring his art.[26]
Authors:Winston Leyland (Editor), Tom (Illustrator), Jerry Mills (Illustrator), Howard Stangroom (Illustrator), Stephen Lowther (Illustrator), Domingo Orejudos (Illustrator), Kurt Erichsen (Illustrator), John Klamik (Illustrator), Rupert Kinnard (Illustrator), Gerard P. Donelan (Illustrator), Jeffrey A. Krell (Illustrator), Michael Goldberg (Illustrator), Brad Parker (Illustrator), Bruce Billings (Illustrator), Hun (Illustrator), A. J. Toos (Illustrator), Rick Campbell (Illustrator), Leyland Publications (Publisher)
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