National Doctors' Day 2026: Gahan Wilson 1969

Tomorrow is National Doctors' Day. Let's celebrate with a 1969 Playboy cartoon by Gahan Wilson set in a physician's office. The original art was sold by Heritage in the November 4 Illustration Art Signature Auction #8224.

"We may already be too late, Mr. Parker."
Gahan Wilson
Original art
Playboy, June 1969, p. 27

The doctor's eyes are squinting—never a good sign. The patient doesn't show any good signs either.

"We may already be too late, Mr. Parker."
Gahan Wilson
Original art
Playboy, June 1969, p. 27

Verso

Sixteen hours before the live auction, the bidding was already strong. But, unlike the patient, it would get stronger.

Gahan Wilson
Heritage Auctions Mainstream Illustration listing accessed sixteen hours before the sale of November 4, 2025

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/mainstream-illustration/gahan-wilson-american-1930-2019-we-may-already-be-too-late-mr-parker-playboy-cartoon-june-1969/a/8224-71272.s?ic16=ViewItem-Auction-Open-OtherAvailable-081514

Gahan Wilson
Heritage Auctions Mainstream Illustration item description

Sold!

Finally, here's the prognosis as it appeared on the printed page:

"We may already be too late, Mr. Parker."
Gahan Wilson
Playboy, June 1969, p. 27

https://www.blackgate.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Gahan-Wilson-We-May-Already-Be-to-late.jpg

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Gahan Wilson: Apparently Every Christmas . . .

In the November 4 sale of illustration art, Heritage Auctions offered an original Gahan Wilson Playboy cartoon that is hardly the usual Christmas fare.

"Apparently, every Christmas he'd take the tree out of storage and add a few more ornaments!"
Gahan Wilson
Original art
Playboy, December 2001

Wilson inscribed the original "For Doc Schiff from" followed by his signature. Playboy's stamps are in place in the upper margin of the art.

"Apparently, every Christmas he'd take the tree out of storage and add a few more ornaments!"
Gahan Wilson
Original art
Playboy, December 2001

Sixteen-and-a-half hours prior to the sale, when I checked in, online bidding was going strong.

Gahan Wilson
Heritage Auctions listing of November 4, 2025 accessed sixteen hours before the live bidding 

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/mainstream-illustration/gahan-wilson-american-1930-2019-apparently-every-christmas-playboy-cartoonmixed-media-on-paper/a/8224-71273.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Open-MyTrackedLots-101116

Gahan Wilson
Heritage Auctions item description

And an even better price was achieved when the bidding went live.

Note:  Many thanks to David from Manhattan for identifying the month and year of publication. 

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Gahan Wilson: At the Barber's

An original Playboy cartoon by the irrepressible Gahan Wilson was sold two weeks ago in East Moriches. The setting is a barber shop.

"The usual, sir?"
"Yes, please."
Gahan Wilson
Original art
Playboy, December 1982

Gahan Wilson's signature

With overlay

Gahan Wilson
South Bay Auctions, Inc., listing of June 18, 2025

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/Gahan-Wilson-American-1930-2019-,-Playboy-Magazi-116-c-6584FCFB46?utm_term=cartoon&utm_source=alerts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=keywordalerts&utm_content=group-noapp&utm_term=347083

The drawing appears on page 472 of Gahan Wilson: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons (2009) which helpfully dates it to the December 1982 issue:

https://archive.org/details/Gahan_Wilson_50_Years_of_Playboy_Cartoons/page/n453/mode/2up

The cartoon can be licensed through CartoonStock. The letters PB stand for Playboy:

https://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoon?searchID=PB400439

04989

Rowland B. Wilson: An Alternative to Women's Lib

A Playboy cartoon from 1972 pokes fun at the women's rights movement and offers a more promiscuous alternative. Rowland B. Wilson's original art was sold this week at Heritage Auctions.

"Don't count on me for the revolution, girls—I've decided
to work for change within the system."
Rowland B. Wilson
Original art
Playboy, February 1972

Playboy and Wilson walk a fine line here since a liberated woman may be liberated sexually as well. Two of the signs are anti-male, to make the liberated women less sympathetic. One woman holds a paintbrush in her teeth, hardly an attractive pose. All the women protesters wear muted colors. But the bombshell walking in through the door is a stereotype herself, dating a wealthy older man who drives about town in a chauffeured limousine. Playboy, of course, takes the side of the overtly sexualized woman, but how much can its young male readers profit from this laugh?

"Don't count on me for the revolution, girls—I've decided
to work for change within the system."
Rowland B. Wilson
Original art
Playboy, February 1972

Rowland B. Wilson
Heritage Auctions listing ended June 25, 2025

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/pin-up-and-glamour-art/rowland-b-wilson-american-1930-2005-women-s-rights-playboy-cartoon-february-1972watercolor-and-pencil-on-paper/a/15251-18047.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116

Rowland B. Wilson
Heritage Auctions item description

"Don't count on me for the revolution, girls—I've decided
to work for change within the system."
Rowland B. Wilson
Playboy, February 1972

https://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/?p=2119

"Don't count on me for the revolution, girls—I've decided
to work for change within the system."
Rowland B. Wilson
Original art
Playboy, February 1972

04985

Rowland B. Wilson: Going Electric

Bob Dylan went electric in July of 1965. Rowland B. Wilson's Spanish serenader took a few more years to reach that milestone, but he arrived there in October of 1969 when a certain cartoon appeared in Playboy. The original magazine art demonstrates Wilson's customary mastery of local costume and architectural detail. It was sold on July 17 at Heritage Auctions.

Rowland B. Wilson
Original art
Playboy, October 1969

Rowland B. Wilson
Heritage Auctions listing accessed July 13, 2024

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/illustrations/rowland-b-wilson-playboy-single-panel-gag-cartoon-illustration-original-art-hmh-1969-/a/322429-48266.s?ic16=ViewItem-Auction-Open-JumpLot-PreviousLot-050318

Rowland B. Wilson
Heritage Auctions item description

Sold!

Note:  I'm quite happy to use this blog to celebrate the artistry of the talented Rowland B. Wilson. If you send me scans or photos, I'll plug them right in.

04728

Rowland B. Wilson: An Acute Infringement

This past July 10, Heritage Auctions sold an original Playboy cartoon by Rowland B. Wilson. The stamps and printer's markings indicate it was published in the magazine. The full page cartoon demonstrates Wilson's skill as a draftsman and watercolorist, as well as his penchant for dramatic, low angles. But the humor comes from the contrast of the unsophisticated, dying, older man summing up the political situation with contemporary academic jargon. My only quibble is the use of the word aborigines in the setting of the American Old West. It feels wrong, even by the standards of 1975.

"The way I figure it, captain, the aborigines sense an acute infringement of their territorial imperative
and are retaliating with aggressive anti-establishment behavior!"
Rowland B. Wilson
Original art
Playboy, c. 1975

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/illustrations/rowland-b-wilson-playboy-single-panel-gag-cartoon-illustration-original-art-hmh-c-1975-total-2/a/322428-47249.s?ic16=ViewItem-Auction-Archive-JumpLot-PreviousLot-050318

". . . retailing with aggressive anti-establishment behavior?"
Rowland B. Wilson
Heritage Auctions item description

Note:  Was this cartoon art actually published? It was. I can't find it anywhere, but that doesn't mean much. Heritage couldn't locate it either, designating it only "HMH"—for Hugh M. Hefner—"c. 1975." So I'll put it to the readership: When did this cartoon by Rowland B. Wilson appear in Playboy magazine? Kindly site chapter and verse. Please send a scan or photo of the spread as well, and I don't mean the centerfold.

04727

Rowland B. Wilson: Meet The Executioner

On July 24, Heritage Auctions sold a full-page original Playboy cartoon by Rowland B. Wilson that appeared in the August 1985 issue. Say what you will, the artwork is well-executed.

"Hi! My name is Rick—I'll be your executioner today!"
Rowland B. Wilson
Original art
Playboy, August 1985, p. 105

Rowland B. Wilson
Heritage Auctions listing accessed July 13, 2024

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/illustrations/rowland-b-wilson-playboy-august-1985-single-panel-gag-cartoon-illustration-original-art-hm/p/322430-41001.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Open-MyTrackedLots-101116#

"Created in mixed medial [sic] on textured art paper."
Rowland B. Wilson
Heritage Auctions item description

Here it is in situ in the magazine:

Playboy, August 1985, pp. 104-105

https://www.ricardo.ch/de/a/playboy-usa-original-august-1985-1104545038/

Sold!

04726

Sidney Harris: The Secret Ingredient

An original Playboy cartoon by Sidney Harris came up for sale at Heritage on August 8.

". . . But our secret ingredient is large quantities of Hilberg Beer."
Sidney Harris
Original art
Playboy, May 1976

". . . But our secret ingredient is large quantities of Hilberg Beer."
Sidney Harris
Original art
Playboy, May 1976

Illustration board

Bidding was at only $1 when I first came upon the auction on July 13. The estimate was $700 to $1,000. It was to prove accurate.

Sidney Harris
Heritage Auctions listing accessed July 13, 2024

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/mainstream-illustration/sidney-harris-american-b-1933-but-our-secret-ingredient-playboy-interior-may-1976ink-and-w/a/8174-71227.s?ic16=ViewItem-Auction-Open-JumpLot-PreviousLot-050318

Sidney Harris
Heritage Auctions item description

Sold!

The Playboy gag cartoon is listed on CartoonStock, but its publishing history is not acknowledged there.

https://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoon?searchID=CS109668

04718

Claude Smith: An Immersive Competition

A six-panel color cartoon by Claude Smith appeared in the February 1958 issue of Playboy. The original art was sold at auction in Brooklyn over the weekend by Antique Arena, Inc. The panels are numbered top to bottom, left to right, and the wordless cartoon must have been printed across two facing magazine pages:

This multi-panel cartoon shows a wealthy, middle-aged man sitting at his swimming pool while hosting a couple of attractive female companions. Over the wall, he observes his neighbor's well-attended pool party and feels compelled to outdo him. It's an example of keeping up with the Joneses while following the supposed Playboy lifestyle. The young women in bathing suits, then, are commodities the men use to compete against each other. 
There's an assumption in a great many cartoons of this type that money buys sexual success. It's a belief of which many a young and impoverished man is easily convinced. It might even be true.

Claude Smith
Antique Arena, Inc., listing of June 15, 2024

https://antiquearena.com/lot/70281

Note:  Sure I'd love to see your original cartoon art by Claude Smith, who signs his art Claude. Thanks for asking. And thanks for the invitation to your pool.

04671