Yesterday I attended a private preview of two new exhibitions at the Skirball Cultural Center (2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, 90049). The first was Outsiders, Outcasts, Rebels + Weirdos: Punk Culture 1976-1986, a history of the L. A. Punk Rock scene. Alison Buckles, my beautiful girlfriend back in the mid to late 1970s, was a huge punk rock fan, beginning in the early days of that musical movement. Through her, I saw almost every band happening back then, bands like X, Fear, The Germs, Wall of Voodoo, The Deadbeats (a Punk Jazz band), and The Rubber City Rebels. I saw the very first gig of The Go-Gos (They were horrible — but a year and enormous amounts of practice later, they became absolutely amazing.).
Alison often brought members of the bands home with her. I’d feed them (usually scrambled eggs), as they were typically broke and hungry.
I drew caricatures of Hal Negro and the Satin Tones (they performed punk lounge music) for their ad in Slash magazine. One of the members of that band was Brendan Mullen, who ran the underground (literally underground — it was underneath Hollywood Boulevard) punk club The Masque. I became friends with Brendan. This was during my bodybuilding days. I occasionally rescued Brendan from the threat of violence when it became necessary. Back then, my 6’3″ size and my big gun biceps could be quite intimidating.
This exhibition ends September 6, 2026.
But the punk rock exhibition is not the show I wanted to tell you about. The Skirball Cultural Center is also hosting an unbelievably great exhibition entitled Inventing America: The Comic Book Revolution. The show traces the origin of comic books and how comics have influenced America’s popular culture. It presents the history of comics, including its importance to the Jewish community, to women, to comics’ fight against racism, the underground comix scene, the censorship of comics, the importance of MAD and the other EC Comics, comics’ relationship to the rock ‘n’ roll music scene, and much, much more in this thoughtfully and carefully curated show.
There is loads of original comic art on display (I have 4 or 5 pieces in the show) and tons of information about comics and their creators; Kurtzman, Kirby, Eisner, Barks, Crumb, Mignola, Ware, Clowes, Griffin, Ditko — they’re all represented here.
To my amazement, Frank Frazetta‘s original art for the cover of Weird Science Fantasy #29, considered by many to be the greatest comic book cover ever created, is on display in the show. If you think you have seen that piece, you haven’t — not until you have seen Frank’s original art. The fineness, the drawing, the detail…it is absolutely breathtaking. It looks humanly impossible to have been achieved.
I give this exhibition an A+++!
Don’t miss this incredibly important show!
This exhibition ends February 28, 2027.
While we are on the subject of comics, my publisher John Fleskes, of Flesk Publications, has just given me an advance copy each of both the hardcover (the hardcover is limited; I expect it to sell out fast) and softcover editions of William Stout’s Comics & Stories Volume One, the first volume of a three-volume set on all of my comics-related work.
It’s magnificent! John couldn’t have done a better job. I can’t wait for you, my friends and fans, to see it. I am anxious to hear your response. We should be getting copies the first week in July, just in time for Comic Con International. It is already available as a pre-order on Amazon. I can’t believe such a huge book is so inexpensive. Way to go, John!
