What Happened to 80’s Punk Pioneer Cartoonist Shawn Kerri?
Shawn Kerri was an exceptional cartoonist in the 70s and 80s but save for a small but fervent cult following her contributions to comics and the early punk scene have been all but forgotten, cut short by her mysterious disappearance in the 90s and obscured by time well before internet sleuthing was a thing.
Kerri was no average cartoonist. By her late teens she was already a superb draughtsman. Her expressive exaggeration was on par with the E.C., era Mad Magazine greats, most notably Jack Davis with whom she’s most often compared and was undoubtably influenced by. Like all great artists however she transcended her influences to create her own unique style. That she was able to navigate and prosper in the field as one of the few women is even more remarkable.
Her development as a cartoonist coincided with the emerging punk scene and in 1977 she moved from San Diego to Los Angeles where she became an important part of the local scene creating iconic flyers and album art for several notable bands including the Circle Jerks and the Germs. it was for the Germs she created perhaps the most iconic illustration of the punk era, The Skank Man. A creation it should be noted for which she never received any compensation.
About her early career Wikipedia states:
“As a teenage girl, she was initially turned away when she applied to draw for CARtoons Magazine in 1975, but was hired on the strength of her portfolio of car illustrations.[5][2]She continued to work for the magazine until it ceased publication in 1991.[5] Between 1978 and 1982 she wrote scripts for Disney’s international Donald Duck comics, which were illustrated by Tony Strobl and the Jaime Diaz Studio.[5] She contributed comics to Cracked and pornographic cartoons for Hustler, Chic, Velvet and Gentlemen’s Companion under the pen name Dee Lawdid.[1] She also created short comics for Last Gaesp’s Cocaine Comix and Commies From Mars.[2]”
But somewhere in the 90s Kerri had faded from comics and the scene altogether and by the time people started asking questions on the internet the trail had gone cold. Apparently Sometime in the late 80s early 90s Kerri, struggling with a drug addiction well known to friends and peers moved back to San Diego. There where and a few stories of Kerri working on local art projects and selling of at least some of her art collection around this time but as sightings became less frequent, most apparently just assumed she had succumbed to her addiction.
I first stumbled across the story of Kerri’s disappearance circa 2013. Being the extreme comics nerd I am, immediately became obsessed not only with her work as an obscure genius cartoonist, but also with the complete lack of information about her disappearance. Over the next couple years, I scoured the internet searching through public records. There where a few public property records but nothing definitive and more importantly no death record. Time and time again I came up empty. What the hell happened to Shawn and why wasn’t there some concerted online movement to find out? That to me was more puzzling than anything. In my sleuthing I also spoke directly with friends and peers. Most where convinced she died but when pressed for details none could provide any first-hand knowledge.
The real first, first-hand account and last credible sighting I could find was from filmmaker Carl Schneider who was doing a documentary about Mad Marc Rude. Rude was another legendary cartoonist connected to the punk movement and one time boyfriend of Kerri. Schneider had mentioned tracking her down for an interview for his documentary in 2004. He reported she was in a highly diminished mental condition possibly as the result of an accident. Her condition was such that it was clear she wouldn’t be able to contribute to the documentary. This felt entirely plausible, plus he was the first person I had read about with any real first-hand knowledge. I decided to try emailing him and he was gracious enough to confirm his story as well as Kerri’s last known location. This wasn’t proof of anything, but it was enough for me to be convinced of its validity. I later followed up after a local screening of his documentary in L.A., he confirmed everything in person that we talked about over emails.
O.K. so Shawn Kerri was definitely alive in at least until 2004 and the lack of any death record had me convinced, she was quite possibly still alive in 2017. During this period, I was also able to track down what I consider to be most of Shawn Kerri’s original art still known to exist. (The whereabouts of most of her original art is still widely unknown) I also connected with few other fanatics but by 2018 the trail had gone cold, and I was fresh out of leads. Short of winning the lottery I was pretty convinced I was at the end of my road in the investigation. The best I could do at this point was document my findings and make everything public record for anyone else looking to pick up the trail.
Then as fate would have it in 2022 a curious thing happened. I stumbled across the Facebook post of another San Diego cartoonist and contemporary of Kerri who commented on the production of a new Skankman figure, and how Kerri never received any compensation for her creation. On a hunch I ask if he knew if Kerri was alive. He said she was alive but didn’t provide any details. I was in shock. After 8 years I just stumbled upon someone with first-hand knowledge that Kerri was alive. As dumbfounded as I was, I didn’t want to pry. This wasn’t a personal friend, and he wasn’t volunteering any information. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long for someone else to chime in on the thread. It was a former Boyfriend who said that Kerri was a ward of the state. She had been in a terrible bicycle accident and suffered severe brain damage, but she was indeed alive and otherwise apparently being well taken care of. He was even able to visit Kerri in person and occasionally speak to her on the phone. The news was conflicting, on one hand she had the mental capacity of a child, her drawing ability and much of her memory gone on the other hand at least she was alive and cared for.
Just like that the mystery was solved. Although at the time this story was published it’s still is not mainstream public knowledge Kerri is alive and even Wikipedia still lists “conflicting reports” as to what happened. Hopefully now a more complete scholarship of her work can commence, and she can take her rightful position as one of the great pioneers of American cartoons.
