Wilson rose to fame in the 1960s as a founding artist for Zap Comix along with Robert Crumb, Robert Williams, Victor Moscoso, Spain Rodriguez and Rick Griffin. (Paul Mavrides was later added to this talented roster.) His infamous character the Checkered Demon first appeared in Zap. Wilson challenged censorship by depicting wild characters like the Checkered Demon, Captain Pissgums and Ruby the Dyke (to name a few) and made the world a more liberal environment for all artists and cartoonists.