In the crowded landscape of 1970s American film — a decade that mixed gritty realism, offbeat comedies, and countercultural experimentation — AWOL: A Real Mama’s Boy (1973) is the kind of title that raises eyebrows and invites curiosity. Not a mainstream classic, it lives in that fringier space where exploitation, regional filmmaking, and small-studio oddities intersect. Below is a concise, readable blog post that introduces the film, places it in context, and gives readers reasons to seek it out.
The comic’s plot reportedly followed the same deserter narrative, but the final panel has become legendary among collectors: a split image. On the left, the mother crochets a noose. On the right, the son fastens his uniform’s medal ribbons to a teddy bear. The final line: “You can’t go AWOL from the womb.” Only three copies are rumored to exist, with one selling at a Sotheby’s underground art auction in 2011 for $4,200. awol a real mamas boy 1973
