HOWARD CRUSE's comic strips and humorous illustrations have appeared in Playboy, The Village Voice, Artforum International, Harpoon, Heavy Metal, The Advocate, Starlog, and numerous other national magazines.

Five books have been published compiling Cruse's own comic strips and stories from underground comic books and elsewhere: Wendel (1986); Dancin' Nekkid With The Angels (1987); Wendel on the Rebound (1989); Early Barefootz (1990); and Wendel All Together (2001). Cruse's critically acclaimed graphic novel Stuck Rubber Baby was published in 1995 by Paradox Press, a division of DC Comics. A German-language edition was issued by Carlsen Comics, a French version was published by Vertige-Graphic, an Italian one by Magic Press, and a Spanish one is now in production. A finalist for both an American Library Association Gay/Lesbian Fiction Award and a Lambda Literary Award, Stuck Rubber Baby was the winner of Eisner and Harvey Awards as well as a United Kingdom Comic Art Award and a British Comics Creators Guild Award. Andreas Knigge's translation won a Luchs literary award in Germany and Jean-Paul Jennequin's French translation won the 2002 Prix de la Critique at the Angouleme International Comics Festival.

Cruse's seventh book, The Swimmer With a Rope In His Teeth, a collaboration with Jeanne E. Shaffer, was published by Prometheus Books in April 2004.

For two years during the early seventies Cruse drew a daily newspaper comic strip, Tops & Button, for the Birmingham Post-Herald, while earning his living as art director (and improvisational puppeteer) for a Birmingham television station. In 1972, he began gaining a national readership with Barefootz stories drawn for underground comic books published by Kitchen Sink Comics.

Moving to New York in 1977, Cruse art directed Starlog magazine until a fulltime cartooning career became practical in 1978. In 1983 Cruse introduced his comic strip Wendel to the pages of The Advocate, the national gay newsmagazine, where it appeared regularly until 1989. In 2003 Cruse relocated to North Adams, Massachusetts.
Cruse's strips have been frequently anthologized, with translated versions seeing reprint in England, France, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, and Sweden. His cartoon artwork has been included in gallery exhibits in New York, San Francisco, Vancouver, London, and other cities.

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