Cheech Wizard

Cheech Wizard was a cartoon character created by artist Vaughn Bodé and appearing in various works, including the National Lampoon, from 1967 until Bodé's death in 1975. Though the character was, according to Bodé, created in 1957, Cheech didn't see print until 1967 when he appeared in various publications being produced by the counterculture developing around the Syracuse University campus.

The Wizard wears a very large yellow wizard's hat, with his legs, clad in what appear to be red tights, visible underneath. His appearance and species have never been revealed. He speaks in an ungrammatical sort of urban dialect. He was generally accompanied by his lizard apprentice Razzberry, until that character was killed off. Cheech was depicted as foul mouthed, often drunk or high, and constantly on the make. His attitude towards his fellow residents of the magic forest in which he lived (generally talking male animals and human females, the latter invariably under-dressed) was usually one of contempt. Curiously, he was referred to (often by himself) as the Cartoon Messiah, which suggested Bodé's long-standing interest in mysticism. But his general reaction to anyone who annoyed him (and the list there is quite long) was to deliver a swift kick to the groin.

In an early comic, Captured by Morton Frog, 1967, Cheech takes off his hat for a police officer, a priest and a political leader. You can clearly see him holding his hat in his hands, away from the rest of his body. The face is hidden by the speech balloon, but you can see glimpses of hair on top. All three persons witnessing his face fall into cataleptic states forever. Cheech walks away from their fortress claiming that "Their primitive minds couldn't accept da truth". In a later comic, Who is C.W.? (1974), one of Cheech's lovers insists on seeing his true face. Cheech claims that she will die instantly, or go insane. After having her sign a waiver freeing him of legal responsibilities, he agrees to take off his hat. The comic ends abruptly at mid-page with Cheech saying "Okay! Here goes, but I bet you go blind!", followed by a blank (white-out) panel.

The Cheech Wizard comics were collected and reprinted in two volumes by Fantagraphics Books.