Shary Flenniken (born 1950) is an American editor-writer-illustrator and

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground (S ...

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

. After joining the burgeoning underground comics movement in the early 1970s, she became a prominent contributor to '' National Lampoon'' and was one of the editors of the magazine for two years. Flenniken is widely recognized as an influential figure in the integration of

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

concerns into underground comics. Her best-known creation is the comic strip ''Trots and Bonnie'', a no-holds-barred satire of the adult world seen through the eyes of the naïve girl of the title and her talking dog (and their worldly-wise, precocious friend Pepsi); these three main characters are all sex-obsessed, and the two girls are in eighth grade, i.e. the final year of

Junior High A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

. Available in a 1989 French edition entitled ''Sexe & Amour'' for many years, an American edition was not released until 2021; it provides much cultural context. Despite the sometimes raunchy subject matter, it is illustrated in the vein of early comic strip artists like Clare Briggs and

H. T. Webster Harold Tucker Webster (September 21, 1885 – September 22, 1952) was an American cartoonist known for '' The Timid Soul'', ''Bridge'', ''Life's Darkest Moments'' and others in his syndicated series which ran from the 1920s into the 1950s. Because ...

Biography

Shary Flenniken grew up in Alaska, Panama, and Seattle, where she studied at a commercial art school.

Air Pirates

In 1970, Flenniken was living in Seattle. In late summer that year she attended the Sky River Rock Festival, producing a daily Sky River newsletter on a mimeograph machine. She met

Bobby London Robert "Bobby" London (born June 29, 1950) is an American underground comix and mainstream comics artist. His style evokes the work of early American cartoonists like George Herriman and Elzie Crisler Segar. Biography As a child, London was "pen ...

Dan O'Neill Dan O'Neill (born April 21, 1942) is an American underground cartoonist, creator of the syndicated comic strip ''Odd Bodkins'' and founder of the underground comics collective the Air Pirates. Education O'Neill attended the University of Sa ...

, and Ted Richards at the media booth,RINGGENBERG, S.C
"Bobby London and the Air Pirates Follies,"
''Comix Art & Graffix Gallery'' (5-12-98). and before the festival was over the four of them produced a four-page tabloid comic, ''Sky River Funnies'', mostly drawn by London. After the festival, Flenniken returned to Seattle where she did graphics for the Seattle Liberation Front's brief-lived underground newspaper, ''

Sabot Sabot may refer to: * Sabot (firearms), disposable supportive device used in gunpowder ammunitions to fit/patch around a sub-caliber projectile * Sabot (shoe), a type of wooden shoe People * Dick Sabot (1944–2005), American economist and busi ...

''. She moved to San Francisco in 1971, where she joined the Air Pirates collective. Flenniken was a marginal contributor to the Air Pirates, and the only member not to be sued for their Disney parodies.

''National Lampoon''

Flenniken and London were recruited by Michel Choquette, an editor of ''National Lampoon'', where Flenniken's ''Trots and Bonnie'' appeared from 1972 to 1990. Flenniken was an editor of ''National Lampoon'' from 1979 to 1981, recruited many of the magazine's best-known cartoonists during that time, and co-wrote the screenplay of ''

National Lampoon Goes to the Movies ''National Lampoon's Movie Madness'' is a 1982 American comedy film produced by '' National Lampoon'' as the second film from the magazine. The film was originally produced under the title ''National Lampoon Goes to the Movies''; completed in 1981, ...

''.

Other work

Flenniken edited ''Seattle Laughs: Comic Stories about Seattle'' (Homestead, 1994), and she continues to freelance from Seattle. In addition to contributions to DC Comics' Paradox Press anthologies, her work has appeared in '' Mad'', ''

Premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

'', ''

Details Detail(s) or The Detail(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''Details'' (film), a 2003 Swedish film * ''The Details'' (film), a 2011 American film * ''The Detail'', a Canadian television series * "The Detail" (''The Wire''), a television epis ...

'', '' The American Lawyer'' and other magazines. In recent years she contributed to the ''

Graphic Classics ''Graphic Classics'' is a comic book anthology series published by Eureka Productions of Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. ''Graphic Classics'' features adaptations of literary classics by authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle, H. P. Lovecraft, and Edgar Alla ...

'' series, praised by ''School Library Journal'' and '' Publishers Weekly'' for its adaptations of

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the M ...

and other authors.

Personal life

Flenniken and Air Pirates co-founder

were married in the early-to-mid 1970s.Boyd
Flenniken interview
''The Comics Journal'' #146 (Nov. 1991): "We were up here from 1973 ’til ’76. We broke up and Bobby went back to New York." Her second marriage was with the late Bruce Jay Paskow of the band Washington Squares. After the couple wed in 1987, they moved two years later from Manhattan to Seattle, where they were together for six years until Paskow's death in 1995.

Books

*''Drought Chic'' (self-published, 1977) *''Shary Flenniken's Sketch Book'' (self-published, 1977) *''Sexe & Amour'' (éd. Spécial USA, 1989) — French edition *''Trots and Bonnie'' (S.I. Comics, 1990) — French edition *''Seattle Laughs: Comic Stories about Seattle'' (Homestead Book Co., 1994) *''Trots and Bonnie'' (New York Review Comics, 2021) Illustrations in books by others: *''Nice Guys Sleep Alone: Dating in the Difficult Eighties'' (Dell, 1986) — written by

Bruce Feirstein Bruce Feirstein (born 1956) is an American screenwriter and humorist, best known for his contributions to the James Bond series and his best-selling humor books, including ''Real Men Don't Eat Quiche'' and ''Nice Guys Sleep Alone''. ''Real Men Do ...

*''Eastside Eats: Including Bellevue, Kirkland, & Redmond'' (Homestead Book Co., 1988) — written by Kim & Sunny Baker *''How to Live Without Electricity—and Like It'' (Breakout Productions, 1997) — written by Anita Evangelista *''When a Man Loves a Walnut'' (Simon & Schuster, 1997) — written by Gavin Edwards *''Blood-Lust Chickens and Renegade Sheep: A First Timer's Guide to Country Living'' (Loompanics Unlimited, 1999) — written by Nick & Anita Evangelista *''

: O. Henry'' (Eureka Productions, 2005) *''Graphic Classics: Mark Twain'' (Eureka Productions, 2007)

References

External links

*
personal website (Shary Flenniken Is a Slave to Her Pets)Video Interview with Shary Flenniken – Crossroads Road

Flenniken's Rear Admiral father and growing up
YouTube
Flenniken's "Trots and Bonnie" and the National Lampoon.
YouTube
Flenniken's "Trots and Bonnie" French collection
YouTube
Flenniken's current projects
YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Flenniken, Shary 1950 births American comic strip cartoonists American feminists Female comics writers American female comics artists Inkpot Award winners Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Underground cartoonists National Lampoon people