Famed artist Joe Phillips’s latest book is a shrine to the golden boys of California. Barry Lowe investigates his obsession.

Joe Phillips, rightly famed for his House of Morecock animated series and the even more outrageously horny Stonewall and Riot, now has his art book, Cali Boys, re-released by Bruno Gmünder in their smaller and less expensive paperback Greats series.

It’s a superb evocation of the men of California, almost photo-realistic, based on friends who modelled for Joe. He’s come a long way since he began drawing in the dirt until his mum bought him a pen and paper. His high school years were spent learning theatrecraft until his brother turned him onto comics, especially The Green Lantern and The Flash, around the same time he was exploring his gay sexuality. He went on to work as an artist with various comic studios, including the famed DC Comics for 15 years, which eventually led to what he calls an “artistic breakdown” leaving him unable to draw.

He was crossing the Nevada Desert after leaving his home town of Atlanta to join his Cali boyfriend in San Francisco, when he was dumped. So he detoured to San Diego. As he reveals in the book, he “set about picking up the pieces of my life”, which began “a chain of events leading to an even more rewarding relationship with California.”

And if the gorgeous hunks in his tribute to his adopted state are anything to go by, he’s discovered a bevy of beautiful, well-hung, and provocatively sexual buddies. “I guess it’s something in the air here. Maybe it’s the perfect combination of sun, surf and sand. Maybe it’s a place where you can be anything from a cowboy to a movie star. Or, perhaps it’s just the sun-kissed skin and casual attitudes that make you feel like you’re in a world all its own. From the ocean and beaches, to the deserts or snow-capped mountains, California is a golden oasis where the boys seem to shine.”

And shine they do in Phillips’s art as well – whether it’s the contemplative blonde surfer sitting on his board in the sparkling blue water with his cock lying easily between his legs; Jason pulling his pants over his bubble butt; Garth the San Joaquin Valley cowboy riding naked in the saddle; Jerrod making out with a big pink dragon; or the beautifully evocative reclining portrait of Addison, lead singer with Retroactive Birth Control.

His glossy, highly-coloured art work is erotic, certainly, but it’s also perceptive and captures the personalities behind the models. You get drawn into Phillips’s world and almost become part of the family. These guys are fun, comfortable with their sexuality, and welcoming both to Phillips and the viewer.

As Phillips confides, the secret of the Cali Boy is attitude. “Is it the slim hips or muscular frame that catches your eye? The bubble butt or the gleam in the eye of a passing stranger that gets your heart pumping?” It’s all that and more. But whatever it is Joe Phillips captures it in spades.

www.joephillips.com