Acquired Tastes LXIII: Gay Pulp Fiction
Part Five: Companion Book
Dick Dale, Marcus Miller, and Alan Fair
Today we'll begin to delve into the world of Companion Books from Greenleaf Classics. This imprint features 318 titles, with the first being published back in January of 1967. Of those 318 titles, only 20 were gay-oriented. The others? The usual breezy swap/swinging hetero books with an occasional sexy murder mystery thrown in for good measure. And, as with the previously explored Adult Book imprint, during its latter years, Companion would bend to market trends, with kinky niche content such as Uncle's Naughty Niece, Dogging It With Daddy, Going Down With Mom, and, ummm, Animal Farm.
Hmmm.
Yeah.
Animal farm...
However, everything seemed gay and bright December of 1967 through April 1968, with four gay titles being published every month - their only output for those months.
If you read my previous posts about the Adult Book imprint, you will recognize quite a few of the names associated with Companion Books; Illustrators Darrell Millsap, Robert Bonfils and Ed Smith, Authors Dick Dale, Chris Davidson, Aaron Thomas, for example.
Today, we'll take a look at authors: Dick Dale, Marcus Miller and Alan Fair and have a bit of fun at their expense (and Darrell Millsap's, too). Keep in mind that titles do not appear in the order they were published.
I've also included a one-off by Michael Scott, whose body of work provides a peephole into the world and practices of gay pulp fiction publishing.
Three by Dick Dale
Dick Dale is author of nine books in this genre. See more of his work: here.
Cover Art: Darrell Millsap
Oh, my... something tells me someone is going be squealing like a piggy by the end of this one. I see that canoe coming down the river and all I can think of is Deliverance. Scary, Mary! And speaking of scary, get a load of that knife-wielding, roasted old rooster with his bleach-damaged, yellow hair. You know that shit is going be falling out and breaking within days. Look at him, wearing white pants on a G.D. camping trip! What is she thinking? And, yes, Mary... one can be too tan! At the rate he's cooking, he's gonna give the term 'Leather Queen' a whole new meaning!
Cover Art: Robert Kinyon
"Meet Rodney Manlove... A lad who is..."
Sigh. Who says money can't buy happiness? Just look a those wheels! I would kill to preen and pose next to a vehicle so beautiful. But, oh, no... not Ms. 'Glass Half Empty' Rodney Manlove. Oh, no... That well-preserved queen needs him a man in his life to feel fulfilled. Roll eyes, here. Darling, get behind the wheel of that souped-up love machine of yours, cruise the parking lot of the nearest local cruising hot spot and getcha some happy, bitch. And lose the melon-colored sack coat... it's not fitted correctly and does not flatter y'all at all.
Cover Art: Darrell Millsap
"Back when men were men... more or less."
That tagline! Throw a little shade, dearie? And old Darrell Millsap - who never met a color combination he could not learn to love - did you really give that gunslinger a pink cowboy hat? SMH. Not that depictions of the old west have ever been true to life. Those dudes did not bathe and were certainly not GQ ready. I do admire Mr. Pink Hat, though... protecting his green jean-ed little twink. Just imagine the wagon 'train' that little feller could pull!
Three by Marcus Miller
Cover Art: Darrell Millsap
"Already an outcast... what did he have to lose?"
Looks like Charlie is about to lose a load at the hands of Nurse Ratchet! Though he does seem open to her peculiar bedside manner. Hey! I don't think they teach that in Nursing School. Hope there's lotion handy. Hee, hee... 'handy' - get it? Okay. Let's talk about the elephant in that room... it appears Darrell drew himself a white male nurse, but then read the story and realized it was supposed to be a Black male nurse, but rather than redraw it, he just went and gave the dude a darker hue? And what's with the dress? Is she Florence Tuck-N-Tail? Just what kind of hospital did Charlie check himself into?
Cover Art: Darrell Millsap
"Their mismatched marriage led to..."
Remember that film Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice? Yeah, well, this book predates that film by a year. How nice that these two couples found one another, so each could fulfill their 'true desires'. Brings to mind Shel Silverstein's The Missing Piece, you know, in that 'I'm a homo hiding behind a wedding ring' sort of way. Eh. Let's not lie to ourselves. Back then - and probably always - there was a lot of that going on. All that social acceptance? The tax breaks? Not to mention all those wedding gifts. One cannot have too many Rubbermaid spatula sets. And don't tell me that in all those thousands of swap/swinging porn novels a dick didn't 'accidentally-on-purpose' slip into a hole it wasn't supposed to. Let's just hope they all douched properly before they got started. Or they'll be giving the term 'brown-out' a whole new meaning.
Cover Art: Darrell Millsap
"The boys on bikes played the shame game with..."
The shame game? Do tell. I wanna learn. If the first two names are ever the same, then fuck them both and come again? I take it the bikers somehow got the upper hand and it's the mother truckers who got stripped down to their tighty whities and are all tied up. Those two dudes do not look like any of the truckers I sucked off behind the glory hole in the mens room at my local Big Bear truck stop off highway 35W. No, sir...They both look like extras from the film The Lords of Flatbush. In fact... is that... Sylvester Stallone?
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| Sylvester Stallone in The Lords of Flatbush |
Three by Alan Fair
Alan Fair has a total of five titles in this genre. I suspect this is a pseudonym and possibly connected to Marcus Miller and Len Harrington, since works by those two authors kept coming up when I was looking for info on Alan. Nothing I've verified. Could be the result of coincidences or faulty site cataloging.
Cover Art: Robert Bonfils
"For Wayne, passion was a one-way trip!"
Wow. Wayne's world is indeed a trip. I don't know what he just ingested, but I want none of it. WTF is going on in that cover painting? I am at a loss. Is the Ken doll wearing only his boxers hitchhiking in the abode of the damned? Who is about to pick him up? Satan? Is this Robert Bonfils way of communicating that all gay relationships are doomed and hell to go through? Well, tell me something I don't already know. And that title. When I think of an 'affair' I think upscale hotel room in neutral shades with a sweet Andes chocolate on the pillow and free bath and shower stuff to take home as kind of a well-earned swag bag. Not the fiery pits of hell and possible serial killers with doors that only open from the outside. If I wanted that, I'd just attend a family reunion.
Cover Art: Robert Bonfils
"Loneliness led him to..."
Olive drab used to refer to clothing worn by boys in the army. So, I take it our preppy stalker in the white pants, lurching toward Mr. Cutie Boots, has a thing for a man in a uniform. Or, to be more precise, a thing for one out of uniform. And, from the looks of it, it will not take a whole lot get Mr. Cutie Boots out of his. The fly on his pants appears to already be undone! Will our stalker catch this Rainbow Trench Monkey in his crumb catcher and then proceed to guide him to his Fourth Point Contact? Or is this just going to end in one big Charlie Foxtrot? An ugly soup sandwich? Well, let's hope our boys are both free of galloping dandruff and the clap. After all, looks like they are going be nuts to butts long enough for transmission to occur. Roger wilco that, motherfucker! Out.
Cover Art: Darrell Millsap
"Violence and dark desire haunted the..."
Violence and dark desire? Back where I come from we call that childhood. Oh, those poor, long suffering queens of the villa. It seems that murder is afoot, or maybe it is just a good old fashioned gay bashing. In either case, clearly someone does not approve of that over-sized orange shirt Mr. Bloodyface is wearing. And what happened to his pants? And that other queen. Why is she sitting on the stairs in her undies? Is she trying to help Mr. Bloodyface or just get him to smell her stinky pinky? Don't do it, Mr. Bloodyface. Everyone in the villa knows where that queen's pinky has been! P.S. Do NOT hire Darrell Millsap as your interior decorator. He only seems to use the crayons no one else wants.
And... one for the road, by Michael Scott (aka Roland Graeme, aka Barry Dunn).
This is the only title written by Michael Scott for this imprint. However, in total, he published 36 books under the name Michael Scott, all in this genre, for the Adam, Blueboy, Midwood and His69 imprints. As Barry Dunn, he wrote 10 books, while credited with 35 works for a variety of imprints under the name Roland Graeme. Here is a bio I found for Roland Graeme:
And, if my research is correct, he's still pumping out gay-related product. On March 28, 2020 he released Beach Ball: Their Lifeguard Lover. A possible secret to his prolificacy? It is believed he recycles older novels by updating the references, giving them a modern spin and a new title. Presto-chango - new novel. The Gay Male Sleuth in Print and Film: A History and Annotated Bibliography by Drewey Wayne Gunn traced one such transformation: A Cop Coming Out by Barry Dunn became Undercover Cop by Michael Scott, which then became State Trooper Buddies by Roland Graeme. Very enterprising, indeed.
Not to be confused with:
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| Michael Scott |
Cover Art: Darrell Millsap
"Deadly in battle, desperate with desire."
More boys in olive drag? No, not at all. For these two appear to be men. Real men. Fighting men. Then, what's with that title? What does it reference? The all-female Queen tribute band that hails from San Francisco? Or that popular southern-flavored true crime podcast? Surely it does not refer to these two all-american G.I. Joes? But, on second look, the dude on the right? He could lighten up on the eyeliner and mascara. Wait! Are you telling me that Max Factor is what they carry in those little satchels attached to their utility belts? Well paint me green. No, don't bother. Looks like Darrell beat you to it.
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Tune in next week for the remaining gay-oriented titles published under the Companion Book imprint. We have ten more to go.
Like what you see? Did I get something wrong? Let me know in the comments section.
Killer Queen - Queen
3 comments:
Coincidently my name on Fire Island is also Four Way Gay. Oh Upton...you'd adore the place.
Ohhh
You're gonna make me go to a thrift store! Now I want Killer Queens and A Man's Affair. I love the covers. So... lurid?
XOXO
Never heard of any of these... 😏
Interestin'! 🙂✌🏻
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