The Last Laugh

October, 2002

John Dempsey once said, "Half the men in the country, if they had a choice, would be cartoonists. It's gratifying work. People love cartoons." People, especially Playboy readers, loved Dempsey's cartoons. The magazine has included one in virtually every issue since December 1954. His characters—sleepy-eyed, amplitudinous girls, carrot-nosed, mustached men—were drawn with zestful wit and wry empathy.And then there were all the nudist camp cartoons. Hundreds of them. Even he didn't know...