Naughty comics: Bernie Wrightson & Vaughn Bode - Purple Pictography

In 1971, legendary underground comix artists Vaughn Bode briefly teamed up with then newcomer and future comic book superstar, Bernie Wrightson for a strange collaboration on a series of "adult" themed comic shorts called "Purple Pictography" for the US men’s magazine "Swank" . At the time Bode was very busy on other work and had asked his friend Bernie if he would illustrate some of his stories. The result was a series on beautifully painted strips in a cartoon style by the man that would soon take on the artistic chores on DC's "Swamp Thing" comic. Below are a few of the first pages featuring Bernie’s art in what was one of the most bizarre collaborations in US comics.

Bode had drawn a few of the strips in his own style before he asked Wrightson for his assistance. Together the team produced five 3 page strips before the series ended.

The Bode and Wrightson strips were collected by the Fantagraphics Eros line. Originally the above strip as printed in black and white but the colour version of Bernie's art was printed in this collection.

Below as a special treat is the full 3 pages from the "Monster's Thing" (Frankenstein ) strip. It's strange to think that in 1971 these comics would have been considered pretty risky whereas today they are for the most part (some of Bode's pages are still a bit out there) pretty tame.

Next up the Christmas countdown.