The Turd

(September 4, 1951 –)

At the L.A.Con I masquerade in 1972, one of the contestants, 21-year-old artist Scott Shaw, came on stage wearing only a bathing suit, with his body completely covered with crunchy peanut butter. The name of his costume was "The Turd", from an underground comic story Shaw wrote and illustrated.

Under the hot lights, the peanut butter liquified and began to drip off of him, making the floor sticky for other contestants.

By the end of the masquerade, the peanut butter had begun to go rancid. Shaw became was one of the most recognizable members for the rest of the con: After spending many hours covered with lots of rancid peanut butter, the oils had soaked into his skin. Bathing and scouring apparently do little to remove the aroma and residue of rotten peanut oil.

Bill Rotsler made one of his "Rotsler's Rules," "No peanut butter."

However, that didn’t stop Shaw — or a mimic — from repeating the costume at other cons, including Detroit Triple Fan Fair (nobody got close enough to find out who it was).

Scott Joseph Shaw, who also styles himself Scott Shaw! and Scott Shaw?, co-founded Comic-Con International San Diego in 1970.

He went on to become a fairly well respected cartoonist and animator, including a mundane career as Senior Art Director of Ogilvy & Mather in Los Angeles.

• Video of Shaw telling the Turd story in 2013, with embroidered conclusion about hotel plumbing.
• “Scott Shaw! Deuce of Deuces” with Turd photo at File 770.

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Fanhistory

1972

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Person

1951—

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