Harry Chess is the central character of the first gay-themed ongoing comic strip, first appearing in the mid 1960s. He was created by Al Shapiro under the pseudonym "A. Jay". He is a parody of the

secret agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

trope popularized in the 1960s, as exemplified by ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by MGM Television, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who wo ...

'' and the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

franchise. Rather than the heterosexual romantic themes common to the source material, the adventures of Harry Chess were openly homosexual, intended to appeal to gay male readers. Harry Chess is a former trapeze artist; his name is a pun referring to his hairy chest. He has a long thin face with a prominently

cleft chin The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible ( mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm. Evolution The presence of a well-developed chin is considered to be one ...

. His

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...

is his adopted brother Mickey Muscle, an inarticulate teenage body builder. "A.U.N.T.I.E." stands for "Agents' Undercover Network to Investigate Evil", parodying the "U.N.C.L.E." of the TV series using the affectionate gay slang for an older gay man. Harry and Mickey would later become members of F.U.G.G ("Federal Undercover Gay Goodguys"). The strip also featured contemporary political satire, parodying the families of Republican figures such as

Spiro Agnew Spiro Theodore Agnew (November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 39th vice president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. He is the second vice president to resign the position, the other being John ...

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

, and

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

. The comics villains were similar to threats gay men faced at the time and the character Harry Chess asserted a humorous and positive approach to gay sex and life. The illustrations of the comic were frequently of muscular, hairy, men wearing tight and revealing clothes if wearing any clothes. For example, in one issue Harry Chess and Mickey Muscle foil a plot to mix ground glass into tanks at the “Cay-Why” factory, a reference to

K-Y Jelly K-Y Jelly is a water-based, water-soluble personal lubricant, most commonly used as a lubricant for sexual intercourse and masturbation. A variety of different products and formulas are produced under the K-Y banner, some of which are not water- ...

, a sexual lubricant. The text of the comic was filled with gay slang, homoerotic innuendo, and double entendres that were at risk of being labeled obscene by the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

History

Harry Chess was created by Allen J. Shapiro (1932–1987) under the pseudonym "A. Jay". The character appeared in a one-off cartoon in November 1964 in ''

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

'' magazine, a

homophile Terms used to describe homosexuality have gone through many changes since the emergence of the first terms in the mid-19th century. In English, some terms in widespread use have been sodomite, Achillean, Sapphic, Uranian, homophile, lesbian, g ...

publication featuring news and erotica. He then became the protagonist of Al Shapiro's ''Harry Chess: That Man from A.U.N.T.I.E.'', which began running in ''Drum'' in March 1965 and ended in 1966. These early strips, edited by ''Drum'' publisher

Clark Polak Clark Philip Polak (15 October 1937 – 18 September 1980) was an American businessman, publisher, journalist, and LGBT activist. Polak was from a Jewish, middle-class family in Philadelphia. He was the youngest son of Arthur Marcus Polak and A ...

, were reprinted in a collection entitled ''The Uncensored Adventures of Harry Chess 0068 7/8: That Man from A.U.N.T.I.E.'' (1966). After ''Drum'' ceased publication, the character's strips were picked up by ''Queen's Quarterly''. In 1977, the series began appearing in ''

Drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

'' magazine, where Shapiro served as art director. His role at Drummer brought him into contact with other pioneering gay comic artists including Bill Ward. Strips were reprinted in various volumes of Leyland Publications' '' Meatmen'' series in the 1980s.

Significance

Harry Chess was an important part of the gay liberation movement. ''Drum's'' publisher Clark Polak wanted "to put the ‘sex’ back into ‘homosexual'" and he used the Harry Chess comic strip to do just that. Harry Chess “served as an emblem of political transgression as well.” The comic was known for its political barb, ridiculous puns, Jewish jokes, and bad spelling.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chess, Harry 1964 comics debuts Chess, Harry

Harry Chess Harry Chess is the central character of the first gay-themed ongoing comic strip, first appearing in the mid 1960s. He was created by Al Shapiro under the pseudonym "A. Jay". He is a parody of the secret agent trope popularized in the 1960s, as e ...

Comics characters introduced in 1964

Fictional gay males Fictional secret agents and spies

Chess, Harry

Satirical comics

Gay male erotica artists