The Checkered Demon is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

created by S. Clay Wilson, one of the leading

underground comix Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...

artists of the 1960s. The character debuted in 1967 in ''Groulish'' magazine;Fox, M. Steven
"The Checkered Demon"
ComixJoint. Accessed June 8, 2018. his comix debut was in ''

Zap Comix ''Zap Comix'' is an underground comix series which was originally part of the youth counterculture of the late 1960s. While a few small-circulation self-published satirical comic books had been printed prior to this, ''Zap'' became the model for ...

'' #2, in 1968.

Publication history

Checkered Demon stories — many of which were one-pagers — ran in many issues of ''Zap'', and then occasional issues of Robert Crumb's '' Weirdo'' anthology. Stories also ran in Wilson's own comics, such as ''Pork'' (1974), and the Demon's own title (mostly collecting a strip which ran in an alternative weekly), of which three issues were published in the late 1970s. Checkered Demon stories were collected in the book ''The Collected Checkered Demon: Volume One'', published by

Last Gasp Last Gasp or The Last Gasp may refer to * Last Gasp (publisher) * ''Last Gasp'' (''Inside No. 9''), a TV episode * '' The Last Gasp'', a 2007 album by Impaled * ''The Last Gasp'' (novel) * "Last Gasp" (song) {{dab ...

in 1998. He also frequently appears in ''The Art of S. Clay Wilson'', published by

Ten Speed Press Ten Speed Press is a publishing house founded in Berkeley, California in 1971 by Phil Wood. Ten Speed Press was bought by Random House in February 2009 and is now part of their Crown Publishing Group division. History Wood worked with Barnes & ...

. He appears as a signature on the cover of ''Wilson's

Grimm Grimm may refer to: People * Grimm (surname) * Brothers Grimm, German linguists ** Jacob Grimm (1785–1863), German philologist, jurist and mythologist ** Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859), German author, the younger of the Brothers Grimm * Christia ...

'' (Cottage Classics, 1999).

Characterization

A portly, shirtless being generally seen wearing checkered pants, the Demon emerged from Wilson's experience of watching Federico Fellini's 1965 film ''

Juliet of the Spirits ''Juliet of the Spirits'' ( it, Giulietta degli spiriti) is a 1965 fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Federico Fellini and starring Giulietta Masina, Sandra Milo, Mario Pisu, Valentina Cortese, and Valeska Gert. The film is about the vi ...

'' while on

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

. The Checkered Demon's gap-toothed grin was inspired by '' Mad'' magazine's mascot

Alfred E. Neuman Alfred E. Neuman is the fictitious mascot and cover boy of the American humor magazine '' Mad''. The character's distinct smiling face, parted red hair, gap-tooth smile, freckles, protruding nose, and scrawny body, first emerged in U.S. iconog ...

.Knudde, Kjell
S. Clay Wilson profile
''Lambiek's Comiclopedia''. Accessed June 8, 2018. It is also rumored that Wilson's inspiration for the Checkered Demon was artist and friend Alfredo Arreguin. The Checkered Demon is frequently called upon to kill the various demented bikers, pirates, and rapists who populate Wilson's universe. The Demon is unbeatable in combat, but prefers to copulate with rapacious women—such as Star-Eyed Stella, Ruby the Dyke, or Lady Coozette—or to sit around drinking Tree Frog beer. He has no concern for human life. Although the Demon is generally shown as having red skin and black and white checkered pants in color illustrations, Wilson has claimed that the character can actually make himself any color. He generally turns green on Saint Patrick's Day.''The Art of S. Clay Wilson'', Ten Speed Press, 2006

In other media

The song "The Checkered Demon", inspired by the character, is part of the American hardcore band

AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...

's debut album, ''

Answer That and Stay Fashionable ''Answer That and Stay Fashionable'' is the debut studio album by American punk rock band AFI. It was originally released on July 4, 1995, through Wingnut Records and rereleased on April 22, 1997, through Nitro Records. Background ''Answer Tha ...

'' (1995).

List of appearances (selected)

* "The Hog Ridin' Fools", ''Zap Comix'' #2 (Print Mint, 1968) * untitled The Fat Demon sitting in the broken throne was chatting with the recently captured female pirate, ''Zap Comix'' #4 (Print Mint, 1969) * "Thumb and Tongue Tales", parts I and II, ''Bent'' (Print Mint, 1971) * "The Unsolicited Brochure with Dumpy & the Grenade Hearted Broccoli", ''Zam-Zap Jam'' (Print Mint, 1974) * "The Swap", ''Zap Comix'' #8 (Print Mint, 1975) * ''The Checkered Demon'' (3 issues,

, 1977–1979) — collected from a ''Checkered Demon'' comic strip which ran in the '' L.A. Weekly'' * untitled I'm gonna get some pussy and I don't mean maybe, baby!!" '' Weirdo'' #14 (Fall 1985) * ''Zap Comix'' #12 (Last Gasp, 1989) ** "The Girl" ** "Picnic in Hell / Devil's Table Top Model #666" * "Bus Stop! #666", ''Zap Comix'' #13 (Last Gasp, 1994) * "Ruby the Dyke Enters Rotting Zombiesville", ''Zap Comix'' #14 (Last Gasp, 1998) * ''The Collected Checkered Demon'' (Last Gasp, 1998)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Checkered Demon, The Demons in comics Comics characters introduced in 1968 American comics characters Last Gasp titles Underground comix Fictional demons and devils Male characters in comics 1968 comics debuts