Vaughn Bode emerged from the 1960s/70s underground comic scene to become a major influence on New York City’s graffiti artists. His distinctive style (which owed a bit to his friend R. Crumb and Disney Studios) was also the touchstone for his pal Ralph Bakshi’s animated film Wizards.

There’s very little video or film footage of Bode, so this clip from the 1974 Toronto Comic Con is a real treat.

Bode, who died in 1975 at the age of 36, lived a life that became as phantasmagorical as some of the fictions he spun in his comic strips. A biography seems long overdue. I found this short bio I See My Light Come Shining by Bob Levin informative and fascinating.