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ENEG
(1923-1971)
Gene Bilbrew also
signed thousands of pieces of art as “Eneg” (Gene spelled backwards). I
don’t know when his art was first published. Probably in the 1940’s. The
earliest dated artwork I have goes back to 1953 in association with Irving
Klaw.
I’ve seen so much of his art for 40+ years, but I do not remember details
of where he worked, who he worked with, etc. I’ve also seen art by a “J.
Bondo” – only a dozen pieces or so, but the art style is nearly identical
to Bilbrew. I’ve often wondered if this was another chop that he used on
his art.
Gene Bilbrew made his
debut in the Los Angeles Sentinel with the series 'The Bronze Bomber',
together with Bill Alexander. After this, he made the series 'Hercules' in
Health Magazine. He then became an assistant to Will Eisner on 'The
Spirit'.
Gene Bilbrew (1923-1971?) produced a tremendous quantity of work for
Irving Klaw and later publishers, such as Leonard Burtman. Bilbrew, an
African-American, met Eric Stanton while both were students at The School
of Visual Arts in NYC. Here Bilbrew studied under Burne Hogarth, creator
of the famous Tarzan comic strip. It was via Stanton that Bilbrew met and
came to work for Klaw in 1951.
b. 1923 - d. 1974?
Los Angeles-born illustrator also known as Van Rod and Bondy. He began his
fetish comic work in the late '40s and early '50s, producing strips for
Irving Klaw's Movie Star News, after working for the Will Eisner Comic
Book Studio. Eric Stanton -- who he'd met while attending Burne Hogarth's
School of Visual Arts -- may have first introduced him to Irving Klaw. He
largely set the standard that other fetish comics illustrators followed.
As with many of the Movie Star News artists (Jim, Ruiz), the strips from
the period he is best known for are few and far between, scattered among
the hidden collections of his fans, as few of the originals have survived.
He also drew for Fantasia, Exotique and Nutrix, and did
forced-feminization art for the latter, although his bondage work is best
remembered. |
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