The Hun
BornBill Schmeling
April 30, 1938
DiedNovember 12, 2019(2019-11-12) (aged 81)
Portland, Oregon
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Cartoonist
Pseudonym(s)The Hun, Torro
Notable works
Hun Comics, Gohr

Bill Schmeling (April 30, 1938 – September 12, 2019), better known by his pen name The Hun, was an American artist active in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, known for his explicit, homoerotic fetish illustrations and comics.[1][2][3]

Recurring characters in his comics include Big Sig (a naïve but sexually adventurous, semi-literate young man) and Gohr (a barbarian living in a brutal, post-apocalyptic world).[4] His art is characterized by hyper-masculine characters with exaggerated muscles, nipples, and genitalia.[4] Sex scenes routinely involve BDSM with an emphasis on body fluids, including urolagnia and scatophilia.[4][1] Prison rape, fisting, leather and uniform fetishes, and police and military settings are also commonplace.[3]

Biography

Cover of Hun Comics #12 by Schmeling

Schmeling lived in Portland, Oregon.[4][1] He began producing erotic art in the 1960s, doing work for Physique Pictorial and other beefcake magazines, initially under the name Torro.[1][5] Using the pen name The Hun, he produced series of comics – Hun Comics and Gohr – featuring fantasy sexual adventures of gay men. Stories by Schmeling became regular features in publications such as Meatmen, Drummer,[6][7] and Handjobs magazine.[8]

Schmeling developed a close friendship with Tom of Finland during the 1980s when they lived in Los Angeles; the two men set up artist salons in their homes and shared their practices.[5]

In 1988, Schmeling collaborated with Jack Fritscher to produce two feature-length films for Palm Drive Video that highlighted hundreds of his drawings: The Hun Video Gallery 1: Rainy Night in Georgia and The Hun Video Gallery 2: Chain Gang Bang.[9]

In 1998, the Tom of Finland Company published The Hun Book, a collection of his work.[8] In 2006, Nazca Plains published a second book, Fetish and Fetters: A Selection of Artwork.[10]

Cultural Impact & Legacy

In a 2023 online exhibit, the Tom of Finland Foundation wrote:

"His artist name (The Hun) personifies the intense subject matter of his work [...] The Hun’s works occupy a unique place among gay erotic artists. He has spearheaded a more intense style of artwork that captures scenes and fantasies often avoided by other artists as well as emphasizes a uniquely grotesque style involving oversized body parts, excess body fluids, and other features on a hyper-sexual scale."[3]

During the 1980s, Schmeling frequently donated art to charity auctions for AIDS patients across the country.[9]

In July 2019, Schmeling donated all of his remaining artwork, notes, and other materials to the Leather Archives & Museum (LA&M) in Chicago.[11] The LA&M periodically sells comic reprints and merchandise featuring his art.[12]

Honors & Awards

  • In 1993, Schmeling received the Business of the Year award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards.[13]
  • In 1999, Schmeling and Hardy Haberman received the Steve Maidhof Award for National or International Work from the National Leather Association International.[14]
  • In 2002, Schmeling was inducted into the Tom of Finland Foundation's Artist Hall of Fame.[5] He was the third person to be inducted following Tom himself (Touko Laaksonen) and H.R. Giger.[15]
  • In 2004, Schmeling received the Northwest Regional Award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Bill Schmeling". lambiek.net. Retrieved 2017-01-27.
  2. ↑ cck. "Spotlight on...The Hun". www.coffeecakeandkink.com. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-27.
  3. 1 2 3 "The Galleries". Tom of Finland Foundation. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Leather Archives & Museum, Bill Schmeling, a.k.a. "The Hun", is a Portland,..." Leather Archives & Museum. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-27.
  5. 1 2 3 Daniels, Champ (2022-05-12). ""AllTogether" | Sultan, The Hun and Victor Arimondi". Tom of Finland Foundation. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  6. ↑ "Drummer Magazine No 15 May 1977". Jack Fritscher. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  7. ↑ "Drummer Magazine No 19 December 1977". Jack Fritscher. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  8. 1 2 "Art & Artists Online Gallery: The Hun". Tom of Finland Foundation. 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  9. 1 2 Fisk, Peter (2019-10-02). "Drummer Legends: "The Hun"". Drummer. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  10. ↑ Hun (2006). Fetish and Fetters: A Selection of Artwork. Nazca Plains. ISBN 978-1-887895-35-4.
  11. ↑ Peregrin, Tony (18 February 2020). "Drawn together". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  12. ↑ "Hun Collection at LAM". Leather Archives & Museum Store. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  13. ↑ 🖉"Pantheon of Leather Awards All Time Recipients - The Leather Journal". www.theleatherjournal.com. Archived from the original on 2020-12-28. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  14. ↑ "List of winners". NLA International. 2019-03-14. Archived from the original on 2020-01-03. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  15. ↑ "Bill "The Hun" Schmeling | 30th April 1938 - 12th September 2019". Tom of Finland Foundation. 2019-09-13. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  16. ↑ "Pantheon of Leather Awards All Time Recipients - The Leather Journal". www.theleatherjournal.com. Archived from the original on 2020-12-28. Retrieved 2020-12-27.


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