The Book of Vaughn

LOGLINE

Artist. Visionary. Joker. Genius. Star. Vaughn Bode was many things to many people. A legendary figure in underground comics, he blazed a trail both on and off the page. At the height of his fame a tragic, untimely death cut everything short, but true to his name, the self-proclaimed Cartoon Messiah would be resurrected in the worlds of comics, animation, and graffiti.

STORY CONCEPT SUMMARY / SYNOPSIS

Vaughn Bode was the rockstar of underground comics, an innovative world-builder with an endless well of ideas. In the 1960s his development of playful, irreverent characters immersed in adult worlds of war, sex, politics, and religion was a wildly unique concept and hugely popular among the counterculture of the day.

By the early 1970s, he would fully immerse himself into a lifestyle with themes typical of his work, experimenting with mysticism, religion, drugs, hyper-sexuality, and bdsm. With his long curled locks, flowing robes and androgynous, flamboyant image, Vaughn became the embodiment of comic-rock stardom. However, the wild ride ended abruptly in 1975 when he accidentally hung himself while conducting a ‘religious experiment,’ with his son Mark in the room just next door.

In the years following his death, Vaughn’s bright, subversive characters and unique style of bubble lettering began appearing on the rusted trains and burned-out buildings of 1970s New York. It was here that a group of marginalized youth found a kindred spirit in Vaughn. As their newly created art-form grew into one of the most influential movements of the last 50 years, Vaughn’s posthumous designation as the patron saint of graffiti was born.

In today’s present climate, when years of progress toward equality and acceptance are under attack, we can look back nearly 50 years and explore topical issues of sexuality and gender through a unique lens. Few artists have had the ability or interest to expose themselves in their work quite like Vaughn did. All of his characters — from bumbling humanoid lizards, to bodacious Amazonian women, to maniacal wizards — speak directly to some part of his psyche. He was a multifaceted, complicated person who was as much a red-blooded American male obsessed with sex and violence, as he was a delicate empath who took in everything around him and turned it into art.

The dramatic arc of Vaughn’s life and death will be the primary driver of our story. It is told by way of interviews with friends, family and those who knew him best. Through in-depth conversations with all three of Vaughn’s siblings — Victor, Vincent and Valerie — we hear firsthand of the early days in the Bode household and the experiences that shaped the artist and his work. We also speak with many of Vaughn’s remaining friends and contemporaries who share stories, anecdotes, and remembrances, all shedding valuable insight into the artist and his legacy. 

Some of the key questions we hope our film to address are: Why Vaughn? How did a long-haried, androgynous, rockstar lookalike go on to influence graffiti and hip hop culture? And why do some of todays most revered artists and entertainers still consider him a major influence? As we dig deep into his work and personal life, notable themes of passion, truth, fearlessness, growth and sacrifice rise to the surface. In the end our hope is to share the remarkable story of an incredible artist who has remained a mystery by the passing of time, perhaps because he was so well ahead of it.