Sean and Shawn were the pen-names of John Klamik (July 22, 1935 – January 5, 2005), was an American artist specializing in gay male erotica and comics. His homosexual-themed cartoons were among the first to appear in US publications, including a regular feature in the early years of '' The Advocate''. He worked under two pen-names: ''Shawn'' for more mainstream gay publications such as ''In Touch'', and ''Sean'' for fetish publications such as ''

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 ...

'' and '' Bound & Gagged''.

Career

Klamik was born on July 22, 1935 in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and studied at the Art Institute. He moved to

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

, California in the mid 1960s, where he worked in an art factory producing paintings for hotel rooms, and as Display Director for

the Akron Akron Stores or The Akron was a Southern California-based imported goods and home decorating department store retail chain established in 1948 and was known to carry unusual merchandise, mostly imports. The chain had over 24 stores throughout Sout ...

stores. His first erotic work was "published" in 1963, by taking photographs of the illustrations and making prints in home darkrooms. In 1965, he began doing editorial and gag comics for ''The Advocate'', and in the late 1960s did a half-page series under the title "Gayer Than Strange". In the 1970s he did both softcore and hardcore illustrations for erotic novels and collections of short stories published 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 ...

, and his ''Leatherman’s Handbook''. In the mid 1970s he created stand-alone wordless hardcore comics ''Biff'' and ''Biff Bound'' for San Francisco publisher Le Salon, which featured centerfolds with 10 and 15 men having sex, respectively. During this time he produced eighteen 10-page comics stories for hardcore photo-story magazines published by

Nova Studios Nova Studios was a gay pornographic film studio established by Scott Masters in 1977. It closed in 1986.Hardesty, "Nova Studios, Part One: The Pre-Sound Years," ''Manshots,'' July 1997. Genesis of the studio In 1969, Masters (then using the pseud ...

, which were reprinted in '' Meatmen''. In the 1980s he also did art direction for some of Nova's porn films and videos. In the late 1980s he produced "Up the Block", a humor comic strip set in a gay neighborhood, for ''

Frontiers Frontiers may refer to: * Frontier, areas near or beyond a boundary Arts and entertainment Music * ''Frontiers'' (Journey album), 1983 * ''Frontiers'' (Jermaine Jackson album), 1978 * ''Frontiers'' (Jesse Cook album), 2007 * ''Frontiers'' ( ...

''. He produced 27 installments of "Jake", a 4-page series for ''Jock'' magazine; over 20 episodes of "Dick Darling, Hollywood Cover Boy", a 2- or 4-page strip for a twink-themed porn magazine; and 7 episodes of "Johnny Guitar" for another magazine. At the end of the 1980s, he moved to

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, and continued to work with California publishers by mail.

Personal life

In 1965 Klamik began a relationship with Jim Newberry; they remained companions until Klamik's death from lung cancer in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sean 1935 births 2005 deaths American cartoonists American comics artists Artists from Chicago Gay artists LGBT comics creators LGBT artists from the United States Pseudonymous artists Fetish artists Gay male erotica LGBT people from Illinois Deaths from cancer in the United States Deaths from lung cancer 20th-century LGBT people