I am trying to ID the artist who did this work. Stark. Bruce Stark? The born-again New York Daily News guy who drew sport and celebrity figures for over 20 years? I can't be sure, but it is a dark and delightful denizen. The signature certainly looks the same as his earlier drawings, but if so as Bruce found above-ground success he left his ladies of the night behind. A DARN SHAME as it looks, on the basis of this drawing, This "Stark" was the ONLY artist on the scene with the skills and talent to tackle the redoubtable and out-of--control Bill Ward! Bruce Stark attended the same School of Visual Arts in New York city as Ward. Mr. Stark, (who, on his website, includes drawings of notable comedians and sports figures) was a serious, award winning illustration artist, and a very good one indeed, but it looks like he could have produced some wonderful girlie work had he not gone commercial. If you have any other examples of the "not so stark" work of THIS Stark, please let me know? Have other drawings have been identified? This image comes from a 1980 publication which I believe reprinted panels from many years earlier, as well as more contemporary work by current artists...but documentation in these publications sets a new low in bibliographic control, so who knows?
