Joe Johnson was an American gay cartoonist, whose Miss Thing and Big Dick were among the first ongoing gay comics characters, appearing in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The characters were featured in single-panel humor cartoons originally published in ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * ''The Advocate'' (LGBT magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States *''The Harvard Advocate'', a literary magazin ...

''. Miss Thing is an unflappable, stereotypically effeminate, gay "queen"; the name was a popular expression in gay male subculture for such a person. He has a willowy physique and a pompadour hairstyle, and wears floral prints,

bell-bottoms Bell-bottoms (or flares) are a style of trousers that become wider from the knees downward, forming a bell-like shape of the trouser leg. These are similar to flared jeans. History Naval origins In the early 19th century, when a standardized uni ...

, and flamboyant blouses. Big Dick is an outgoing, stereotypically macho gay man. He has a highly muscular physique, and wears tight jeans which emphasize his large penis, a baseball cap, and a leather jacket and boots, in the mold of a

Tom of Finland Touko Valio Laaksonen (8 May 1920 – 7 November 1991), pseudonym Tom of Finland, was a Finnish artist who made stylized highly masculinized homoerotic art, and influenced late 20th-century gay culture. He has been called the "most influential ...

character. Both characters are sexually adventurous, and the cartoons are blatantly sexual with frequent nudity, but not sexually explicit. The characters usually appear separately in cartoons under their respective names, but sometimes meet. Johnson published a collection of Miss Thing and Big Dick cartoons through Funny Bone Press in 1973 as: ''...and so, this is YOUR life, Miss Thing'' (the title being a reference to the then-recent popular television program ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

''), with an introduction by

Larry Townsend Larry Townsend (27 October 1930 – 29 July 2008) was the American author of dozens of books including ''Run, Little Leather Boy'' (1970) and ''The Leatherman's Handbook'' (1972), published by pioneer erotic presses such as Greenleaf Classics a ...

. Some of Johnson's cartoons were also reprinted in volumes of '' Meatmen'' in the 1980s, as well as in historical overviews such as ''

No Straight Lines ''No Straight Lines'' is an anthology of queer comics covering a 40-year period from the late 1960s to the late 2000s. It was edited by Justin Hall and published by Fantagraphics Books on August 1, 2012. The anthology traces the turning poin ...

'' published by

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

in 2012. Johnson also produced explicit erotic illustrations for sale. Cartoonist Donelan was inspired by Johnson's work to begin his series "It's a Gay Life", which appeared in ''The Advocate'' after "Miss Thing" and "Big Dick" ended.

Howard Cruse Howard Cruse (May 2, 1944 – November 26, 2019) was an American alternative cartoonist known for the exploration of gay themes in his comics. First coming to attention in the 1970s during the underground comix movement with ''Barefootz'', he wa ...

cited Johnson's "brazenly gay" cartooning as an inspiration.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Joe American cartoonists Gay artists LGBT comics creators LGBT artists from the United States Year of death missing Year of birth missing