Al Shapiro (1932–1987), artist known as “A. Jay,” created Harry Chess, the world’s first ongoing gay comic strip, debuting in Clark Polak’s Drum magazine before moving to Queen’s Quarterly and then Drummer. Shapiro left New York for San Francisco in 1977 to become Drummer‘s founding art director, on the condition that Jack Fritscher be hired as editor-in-chief, and the two designed the magazine’s look during what many call its Golden Age. Shapiro died of AIDS at home with his partner of eleven years, Dick Kriegmont, on May 30, 1987; Fritscher’s tribute, “Al Shapiro, A. Jay, & Harry Chess: Confessions of a Comic Stripper,” ran in Drummer 107 (August 1987).

SKIN Magazine Vol 2 No 6 1981 &
DRUMMER Magazine – Issue 107 August 1987
“Al Shapiro, A. Jay, & Harry Chess“