The comics world sadly lost cartoonist Howard Cruse on November 26th of last year, but now fans have the chance to celebrate his work and pay tribute to his legacy at a memorial being held for him in New York City. The public is welcome to come and celebrate the pioneering gay cartoonist at the LGBT Community Center on West 13th street on Saturday, March 28th. Cruse’s husband of 40 years Ed Sedarbaum made the announcement, and the memorial will take place from 6 pm to 8:30 pm. Cruse was a major LGBTQ and civil rights activist, and also won several awards for his autobiographical graphic novel Stuck Rubber Baby. In fact, Stuck Rubber Baby will be reissued in May in a special 25th-anniversary edition by First Second Books.
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In addition to Stuck Rubber Baby Cruse’s work can be found in From Headrack to Claude, The Complete Wendel, The Swimmer with a Rope in his Teeth, Felix’s Friends, Early Barefootz, and more.
You can also find more of his work on his official website, which catalogs original artwork he created for several publishers and outlets, including InSync Magazine, Commonwealth Magazine, Food Service Director Magazine, and more.
Cruse was born on May 2nd, 1944, and after getting his first comic work in a strip called Calvin in 1959, he would go on to be published in other magazines like Fooey and Sick. In 1980 he became the founding editor of Gay Comix, an underground anthology by lesbian and gay cartoonists, and he’s been creating content ever since.
Cruse passed away at the age of 75 from lymphoma and is survived by husband Sedarbaum, his daughter Kimberly Kolze Venter, and his brother Allan Cruse.
