Mr. Natural in Zap Comix

Underground comics (or comix) are small press or self-published comic books that began to appear in the US in the late 1960s. The comix community was centered in San Francisco, but also included important artists and publishers in New York, Chicago and Austin, Texas. Prominent artists associated with this movement include Vaughn Bode, Robert Crumb, Kim Deitch, Jim Franklin, David Geiser, Justin Green, Roberta Gregory, Rick Griffin, Bill Griffith, Rory Hayes,Greg Irons, Jack Jackson, Jay Kinney, Denis Kitchen,Jay Lynch, Victor Moscoso,Dan O'Neill, Ted Richards, Trina Robbins, Spain Rodriguez, Gilbert Shelton, Art Spiegelman, Foolbert Sturgeon, Robert Williams, Skip Williamson and S. Clay Wilson. Cover image of Zap Comix #1 This work is copyrighted. ... Cover image of Zap Comix #1 This work is copyrighted. ... Mr Natural Mr. ... Zap Comix is among the best-known of the underground comics that emerged as part of the youth counterculture of the late 1960s. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... This article is about the state. ... For other uses, see Chicago (disambiguation). ... Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. ... Vaughn Bodé (July 22, 1941 - July 18, 1975), was an influential artist involved in and inspirational to underground comics, graphic design, and graffiti. ... Robert Dennis Crumb (born August 30, 1943), often credited simply as R. Crumb, is an American artist and illustrator recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream. ... An underground comic that Deitch contributed to. ... Jim Franklins art on Armadillo Comics Jim Franklin (born 1943) is an artist best known for his poster art created for the Armadillo World Headquarters, a former Austin, Texas music hall. ... DTs (1974) David Geiser (born on June 18, 1948) is an American painter and comics artist. ... Justin Considine Green (born 1945) is an American cartoonist who pioneered autobiographical comics. ... Roberta Gregory (born 1953, Los Angeles, California, United States) is an American comic book writer and artist best known for her character Bitchy Bitch from her series Naughty Bits. ... Richard Alden Griffin (June 18, 1944 - August 18, 1991) was an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. ... Bill Griffith (born William Henry Jackson Griffith in Brooklyn, NY 1944) is a popular cartoonist in the United States. ... Rory Hayes (August 8, 1949 - August 29, 1983) was an American underground cartoonist in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ... Greg Irons (September 29, 1947 – November 14, 1984) was a poster artist, underground cartoonist, animator and tattoo artist. ... Jaxon was the pen name of Jack Jackson (May 15, 1941–June 8, 2006), a US cartoonist. ... Jay Kinney (born 1950) is an American underground cartoonist. ... Denis Kitchen (born 27 August 1946) is an American comics creator, publisher, cartoonist, author, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund founder and agent. ... Jay Lynch, born January 7, 1945 in Orange, New Jersey, is an American cartoonist who played a key role in the underground comix movement with his Bijou Funnies and other titles. ... Victor Moscoso is an American illustrator and comic artist, especially noted for his work in the late 1960s as a designer of psychedelic concert posters and a contributor to underground comix (he is among the artists who regularly appear in Zap Comix). ... Dan ONeill (born April 21, 1942) is an American underground cartoonist, creator of the syndicated comic strip Odd Bodkins and founder of the underground comics collective the Air Pirates. ... Ted Richards (born January 11, 1983) is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. ... Trina Robbins (born 1938) is an American comics artist and writer. ... Manuel Spain Rodriguez (born 1940 in Buffalo, New York) is an underground cartoonist best known for his character Trashman. His experiences on the road with the biker gang the Road Vultures provided inspiration for his work as did his left-wing politics. ... Gilbert Shelton (born May 31, 1940, Houston, Texas) is an American cartoonist and underground comics artist. ... Art Spiegelman (born February 15, 1948) is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic memoir, Maus. ... For other persons of the same name, see Williams (surname). ... S. Clay Wilson is a comic artist, a central figure in the underground comix movement. ...

History and Themes

Underground comix reflect the concerns of the 1960s counterculture: experimentation in all things, drug-altered states of mind, rejection of sexual taboos, ridicule of "the establishment." The spelling 'comix' was established to differentiate these publications from mainstream 'comics'. The notion of comic books outside the mainstream was suggested by Harvey Kurtzman when he used the headline "Comics Go Underground" on the newspaper-format cover of Mad issue 16 (October, 1954). The term 'underground comics' was created by writer-editor Bhob Stewart during a panel discussion at the July 23, 1966, New York comics convention. On a panel with Ted White and Archie Goodwin, Stewart predicted the birth of a new type of comic book: "I want to say that just as mainstream movies prompted underground films, I think the same thing is going to happen with comics. You will have underground comics just as you have had underground films. This would be more like James Joyce in comic book form. You can see the beginning of this in some of the cartoon panels that have been appearing in the East Village Other." Counterculture (also counter-culture) is a sociological word used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day,[1] the cultural equivalent of political opposition. ... Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924 - February 21, 1993) was a U.S. cartoonist and magazine editor. ... Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. ... Bhob Stewart is an American writer, editor and artist who has written for a variety of publications over a span of five decades. ... is the 204th day of the year (205th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... Frank Frazettas cover illustration for Ted Whites Phoenix Prime Ted White (born February 4, 1938) is an American science fiction author and editor as well as a music critic. ... Archie Goodwin (September 8, 1937 – March 1, 1998) was an American comic book writer, editor, and artist. ... This article is about the writer and poet. ... The East Village Other (often abbreviated as EVO), was a leading underground newspaper in New York City during the late 1960s. ...

Mainstream comics are typically produced by a team (writer, penciler, inker, letterer, editor), while underground books were often done by a single person. As it can take very long for a single artist to produce a full-length work, many underground artists contributed shorter works to anthology comic titles. A well-known example is the comic Funny Aminals (1972), edited by Terry Zwigoff with short pieces by Crumb, Griffith, Lynch, Spiegelman and Shary Flenniken. Comics anthologies collect works in the medium of comics that are too short for stand-alone publication. ... Terry Zwigoff (born 1948 in Appleton, Wisconsin) is an American filmmaker based in San Francisco. ... Shary Flenniken is an American cartoonist who, after joining the burgeoning underground comics movement in the early 1970s, became a prominent contributor to National Lampoon and edited the magazine for two years. ...

Underground comix were largely distributed though a network of head shops which also sold underground newspapers, psychedelic posters, and drug paraphernalia. In the mid-1970s, sales of drug paraphernalia was outlawed in many places, and the distribution network for these comics (and the underground newspapers) dried up. Although many of the underground artists continued to produce work, the underground comix movement is considered by most historians to have ended by 1980, to be replaced by a rise in independent, non-Comics Code compliant publishing companies in the 1980s and the resulting increase in acceptance of adult-oriented comic books (see alternative comics). A head shop in Florence, Italy. ... Underground newspapers reached their hey-day in the late 1960s - mid 1970s in the US. Examples Berkeley Barb, Berkeley, California Black Panther The East Village Other, New York City LA Free Press The Last Whole Earth Catalog The Oracle San Francisco The Paper, East Lansing, Michigan Great Speckled... This does not cite its references or sources. ... The Comics Code Authority (CCA) is an organization founded in 1954 to act as a de facto censor for American comic books. ... For the publisher Alternative Comics, see Alternative Comics (publisher). ...

The most popular underground comics have been reprinted many times and can be obtained relatively easily. Many other comix were produced in a single, small print run, and are now rare. Records of comix produced are less complete than those for mainstream comics. A 1982 book, The Official Underground and Newave Comix Price Guide by Jay Kennedy, is one of only a few relatively complete and authoritative reference works on comix. A small but growing number of university libraries have comics collections, in which underground comics often play a key role. Jay Kennedy (1956 - March 15, 2007) joined King Features Syndicate in 1988 as deputy comics editor and became comics editor one year later. ...

The term "underground comics" is sometimes used more loosely to also include some contemporary alternative comics. For the publisher Alternative Comics, see Alternative Comics (publisher). ...

Notable underground comics

• Air Pirates Funnies (Dan O'Neill, others. Sparked a famous copyright lawsuit from Disney)
• All Stars (Rick Griffin)
• Anarchy Comics (political comic edited by Jay Kinney)
• Arcade (anthology edited by Bill Griffith and Art Spiegelman)
• Big Ass Comics (R. Crumb)
• Bijou Funnies (Chicago-based anthology, Jay Lynch and others)
• Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary (Justin Green)
• Bogeyman (Rory Hayes and others)
• Captain Guts (Larry Welz)
• Cheech Wizard (Vaughn Bode)
• Color (Victor Moscoso)
• Comix Book - Marvel Comics attempt at mainstream underground comics
• Coochie Cootie's Men's Comics (Robert Williams)
• Corn Fed Comix (Kim Deitch)
• Cunt Comics (inspired by the Tijuana Bible 8-pagers)
• Dopin' Dan (Ted Richards)
• El Perfecto (R. Crumb and others)
• Felch Cumics (inspired by the Tijuana Bible 8-pagers)
• Feds 'n' Heads (Gilbert Shelton)
• The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers (Gilbert Shelton)
• Facts o' Life Sex Education Funnies (benefit comic for a free clinic)
• Funny Aminals (includes first MAUS story by Art Spiegelman)
• Ghost Mother Comics (Mad Peck)
• God Nose (Jaxon) considered by many to be the first underground comic
• Gothic Blimp Works - anthology produced by the East Village Other newspaper
• Heavy Tragi-comics (Greg Irons)
• Hungry Chuck Biscuits (Daniel Clyne and others)
• Hydrogen Bomb and Biological Warfare Funnies (Gilbert Shelton and others)
• Insect Fear (Horror anthology edited by Spain)
• It Ain't Me Babe (anthology edited by Trina Robbins)The first all-woman comic book
• Jiz Comics (inspired by the Tijuana Bible 8-pagers)
• Light (Greg Irons)
• Mad Peck Catalog of Good Stuff (Mad Peck)
• Man from Utopia (Rick Griffin)
• Mr. Natural (R. Crumb)
• The People's Comics (R. Crumb)
• Projunior
• Radical America Komiks (Gilbert Shelton and others)
• Rip Off Review of Western Culture
• Short Order Comix (first issue has Art Spiegelman's autobiographical "Prisoner on the Hell Planet")
• Skull Comix (EC style horror comix edited by Greg Irons)
• Slow Death (ecological comic and EC style sci-fi comix)
• Snarf (humor anthology)
• Snatch (inspired by the Tijuana Bible 8-pagers)
• Snoid (R. Crumb)
• Tales from the Tube (Rick Griffin and others)
• Tales of the Ozone
• Teenage Horizons of Shangrila
• Thrilling Murder
• Tuff Shit (Robert Williams and others - methadone clinic benefit comix)
• Turned-on Cuties (inspired by the Tijuana Bible 8-pagers)
• Wimmen's Comix (anthology edited by the Wimmen's Comix Collective)
• Witzend (edited by Wallace Wood and Bill Pearson)
• Young Lust (romance comic satire edited by Bill Griffith and Jay Kinney)
• XYZ Comics (R. Crumb)
• Zap Comix (Robert Crumb, Spain Rodriguez, S. Clay Wilson, Rick Griffin, Robert Williams, Victor Moscoso)

The Air Pirates were a group of cartoonists who created two issues of an underground comic called Air Pirates Funnies in 1971. ... Dan ONeill (born April 21, 1942) is an American underground cartoonist, creator of the syndicated comic strip Odd Bodkins and founder of the underground comics collective the Air Pirates. ... Disney redirects here. ... All-star (also, Allstar or All Star) is a term with meanings in both the worlds of sports and entertainment. ... Richard Alden Griffin (June 18, 1944 - August 18, 1991) was an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. ... Cover to Anarchy Comics #1. ... Jay Kinney (born 1950) is an American underground cartoonist. ... Bold textBold textItalic textLink titlelink title Headline text Headline text --24. ... Bill Griffith (born William Henry Jackson Griffith in Brooklyn, NY 1944) is a popular cartoonist in the United States. ... Art Spiegelman (born February 15, 1948) is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic memoir, Maus. ... Robert Crumb (born August 30, 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an artist and illustrator who signs his work R. Crumb. Crumb was a founder of the underground comics movement, and is often regarded as the most prominant figure in that movement. ... Jay Lynch, born January 7, 1945 in Orange, New Jersey, is an American cartoonist who played a key role in the underground comix movement with his Bijou Funnies and other titles. ... Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary is a 1972 comic book by Justin Green. ... Justin Considine Green (born 1945) is an American cartoonist who pioneered autobiographical comics. ... Rory Hayes (August 8, 1949 - August 29, 1983) was an American underground cartoonist in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ... Cheech Wizard was a cartoon character created by artist Vaughn Bode and appearing in various works, including the National Lampoon, from 1967 until Bodes death in 1975. ... Vaughn Bodé (July 22, 1941 - July 18, 1975), was an influential artist involved in and inspirational to underground comics, graphic design, and graffiti. ... Color is an important part of the visual arts. ... Victor Moscoso is an American illustrator and comic artist, especially noted for his work in the late 1960s as a designer of psychedelic concert posters and a contributor to underground comix (he is among the artists who regularly appear in Zap Comix). ... This article is about the comic book company. ... For other persons of the same name, see Williams (surname). ... An underground comic that Deitch contributed to. ... The cover of a typical Tijuana bible. ... Gilbert Shelton (born May 31, 1940, Houston, Texas) is an American cartoonist and underground comics artist. ... The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers is a series of underground comics originally created in 1968 by the U.S. artist Gilbert Shelton. ... Jaxon was the pen name of Jack Jackson (May 15, 1941–June 8, 2006), a US cartoonist. ... The East Village Other (often abbreviated as EVO), was a leading underground newspaper in New York City during the late 1960s. ... The East Village Other (often abbreviated as EVO), was a leading underground newspaper in New York City during the late 1960s. ... Greg Irons (September 29, 1947 – November 14, 1984) was a poster artist, underground cartoonist, animator and tattoo artist. ... It Aint Me Babe was an underground comix anthology, edited by Trina Robbins in 1970 and published by Last Gasp. ... Trina Robbins (born 1938) is an American comics artist and writer. ... For other uses, see Light (disambiguation). ... Richard Alden Griffin (June 18, 1944 - August 18, 1991) was an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. ... Mr. ... Robert Crumb (born August 30, 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an artist and illustrator who signs his work R. Crumb. Crumb was a founder of the underground comics movement, and is often regarded as the most prominant figure in that movement. ... Entertaining Comics was headed by William Gaines but is better known by its publishing name of EC Comics. ... Greg Irons (September 29, 1947 – November 14, 1984) was a poster artist, underground cartoonist, animator and tattoo artist. ... Snarf or SNARF can refer to: A character in the cartoon ThunderCats. ... Snatch may mean: Snatch (weightlifting), a type of weightlifting Snatch (film), a movie by director Guy Ritchie a slang term for the vagina; see sexual slang an older CIA term for the practice of rendition This is a disambiguation page — a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Wimmens Comix, later titled Wimmins Comix, was an influential all-female underground comics anthology published from 1970 to 1992. ... Edited and published by Bill Pearson on an irregular schedule spanning decades, the alternative comic book witzend featured contributions by both newcomers to comics, leading comic book artists and professional illustrators. ... Wallace Wally Wood (June 17, 1927–November 2, 1981), best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad magazine, was an imaginative and prolific writer-illustrator. ... Bill Pearson (born 1938 in Belle Fourche, South Dakota) is an American comic book writer, artist, editor and letterer. ... Bill Griffith (born William Henry Jackson Griffith in Brooklyn, NY 1944) is a popular cartoonist in the United States. ... Jay Kinney (born 1950) is an American underground cartoonist. ... Zap Comix is among the best-known of the underground comics that emerged as part of the youth counterculture of the late 1960s. ... Robert Dennis Crumb (born August 30, 1943), often credited simply as R. Crumb, is an American artist and illustrator recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream. ... Manuel Spain Rodriguez (born 1940 in Buffalo, New York) is an underground cartoonist best known for his character Trashman. His experiences on the road with the biker gang the Road Vultures provided inspiration for his work as did his left-wing politics. ... S. Clay Wilson is a comic artist, a central figure in the underground comix movement. ... Richard Alden Griffin (June 18, 1944 - August 18, 1991) was an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. ... For other persons of the same name, see Williams (surname). ... Victor Moscoso is an American illustrator and comic artist, especially noted for his work in the late 1960s as a designer of psychedelic concert posters and a contributor to underground comix (he is among the artists who regularly appear in Zap Comix). ...

Publishers

• Apex Novelties
• Co. and Sons
• Print Mint
• Rip Off Press
• Last Gasp
• Kitchen Sink

The Print Mint was a major publisher of underground comics. ... Rip Off Press, Inc. ... Last Gasp is a comics publisher and book distributor based in San Francisco, California. ... Look up everything but the kitchen sink in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Further reading

• Rosenkranz, Patrick. Rebel Visions: the Underground Comix Revolution,1963-1975 Fantagraphics Books, 2002. ISBN 1-56097-464-8
• Tucker, Brian. X-Tra: "The Legacy of Underground Comix," review of Rebel Visions
• Skinn, Dez Comix: The Underground Revolution, (Collins & Brown, 2004)
• Sabin, Roger Comix, Comics and Graphic Novels, (Phaidon, 2001)
• Estren, Mark James A History of Underground Comics, (Straight Arrow Books/Simon and Schuster, 1974)

Fantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, underground comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, and graphic novels located in the Maple Leaf neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. ...

References

• Fogel, Dan. Fogel's Underground Comix Price Guide Hippy Comix, 2006.
• Kennedy, Jay. The Underground and New Wave Comix Price Guide. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Boatner Norton Press, 1982.

Jay Kennedy (1956 - March 15, 2007) joined King Features Syndicate in 1988 as deputy comics editor and became comics editor one year later. ...

See also

• Help! (magazine)
• Tijuana bible
• Dōjinshi

Help! Harvey Kurtzmans longest-running magazine project after leaving Mad Magazine and EC Publications, Help! (1960-1965) was a chronically underfunded but innovative magazine published by James Warren, who was also publishing successful monster-movie and horror comics magazines simultaneously. ... The cover of a typical Tijuana bible. ... Dōjinshi ) are self-published Japanese or English works, usually manga or novels. ...

Listen to

• 1991 audio interview with Art Spiegelman by Don Swaim

External links

• Mini-Komix
• Quarter Bin: Underground comics
• "A Visual Guide to Underground Comix Reprints" - A guide to distinguish reprints.
• Robert Crumb official site
• Comic Strip Search
• David Geiser Comics