Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Ed Wood Wednesdays: The Wood Collaborator Odyssey, Part Four by Greg Dziawer

A new variation on Glen or Glenda? perhaps: Artwork by Phil Cambridge.

"I asked him about angora, why not silk or satin? He said, 'There's nothing more sensual than angora.'"
-Phil Cambridge, Nightmare of Ecstasy

"And he wore those women's cuffs, and always an angora top, an angora sweater... He was always on the sauce... always."
-Ibid.
The art of Phil Cambridge adorned hundreds of splash pages for short stories and articles appearing in the Pendulum family of  adult magazines, including dozens by Ed Wood. This week, we're taking a closer look at some of Phil's work: his fine, flowing lines and evocative shading effortlessly painting somber moods. His work, as much as any of the artists at Pendulum, defined the look and feel of these mags. Ed was the go-to writer at the Pendulum office for the gay-themed mags. His stories and articles there among his most revealing and personal, and Phil contributed some of his most plaintive work in that milieu.

Note: Due to the nature of the artwork in this week's story, the images themselves will be posted to the Ed Wood Wednesdays Tumblr. They are, to one degree or another, NSFW. Proceed with caution.

  • A splash page image by Phil Cambridge for the uncredited article "Gay Power" from Gay Studs, vol. 1,  no. 2, 1969. 
  • "Blindfold" from The Boy Friends, vol. 2,  no. 1. Artwork by Phil Cambridge.
  • The Cambridge splash page for Ed's short story "I, Warlock." This story also appeared in Gay Guys Book 1 with an identical layout. A Libra Press publication circa 1971.