Gahan Wilson: 50 years of Playboy Cartoons

AS NEW COPY! 3 volumes in boxed set slipcase.

Wilson is among the most popular, widely read, and beloved cartoonists in the history of the medium, whose career spans the second half of the 20th century and all of the 21st. His work has been seen by millions – no, hundreds of millions – in the pages of Playboy (Wilson appeared in every issue of Playboy from the December 1957 issue to today), The New Yorker and many other magazines.

Wilson ridicules everything from state sponsored executions to teenage dating with hilarious satirical jabs. Although Wilson is known for his black comedy, this three-volume set truly demonstrates the depth and breadth of his range. Gahan Wilson: 50 Years of Playboy Cartoons is a testament to one of the funniest – and wickedly disturbing – cartoonists alive. It’s not only a perfect holiday gift for his legion of fans, but also has crossover appeal to those who favour the darker sensibilities of cartoonists such as Charles Addams or Edward Gorey.

Few cartoonists ever had as lavish a tribute as a three-volume-slipcased collection, but few are as deserving as Wilson. Collecting 50 years worth of his monthly single page gag cartoons from Playboy , it’s a definitive overview of a remarkable talent and viewpoint. Considering the timeframe, Wilson’s fabled black humor and art style remain remarkably consistent—as time passes, the drawing renders into slightly blobbier shapes that retain all of their wit just the same—but the source and degree of the humor is a constant. Although best known for his slightly lugubrious subjects—monsters, witches, corpses, vampires and skeletons are frequent visitors to these pages—Wilson also targets consumerism, materialism, and other basic human foibles. As publisher Gary Groth writes in a biography in the third volume, “He has…constructed a world that is eerily family, unsettlingly recognizable and lethally consistent.” Beautifully designed and printed, the books contain cut-out pages, and the slipcase itself becomes a window for a trapped photo of Wilson. Text extras include Wilson’s prose short stories and an appreciation by Neil Gaiman. If these three volumes are a bit much for one sitting, periodic dipping in will always satisfy.

Exceptionally heavy item, which will incur additional shipping costs if ordered via Abebooks, Biblio or from overseas. #030424