Underground comix
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books which are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality and violence. They were most popular in the United States between 1968 and 1975 and in 1973 and 1974 in the United Kingdom.
Produced by people like Robert Crumb or Gilbert Shelton, comix were popular with the hippie counterculture scene. Punk had its own comic artists like Gary Panter. Long after their heyday underground comix gained prominence with films and television shows influenced by the movement and with mainstream comic books, but their legacy is most obvious with alternative comics.
Produced by people like Robert Crumb or Gilbert Shelton, comix were popular with the hippie counterculture scene. Punk had its own comic artists like Gary Panter. Long after their heyday underground comix gained prominence with films and television shows influenced by the movement and with mainstream comic books, but their legacy is most obvious with alternative comics.
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History Early history (1967-1972)Between the late 1920s and late 1940s, anonymous artists produced counterfeit pornographic comic books featuring unauthorized depictions of popular comic strip characters engaging in sexual activities. Often referred to as Tijuana bibles, these books are often considered the predecessors of the underground comix scene.Early underground comix appeared sporadically in the early and mid-1960s, but did not begin to appear frequently until after 1967. The first underground comix were personal works produced for friends of the artists, in addition to compilations of comic strips which appeared in alternative newspapers.The United States underground comics scene emerged in the late 1960s as an antithesis to mainstream comic books. Early underground titles focused on subjects dear to the counterculture, recreational drug use, politics, rock music and sexual intercourse. These titles were termed "comix" in order to differentiate the comics from mainstream publications. The "X" also emphasized the X-rated contents of the publications. Many of the common aspects of the underground comix scene were in response to the strong restrictions forced upon mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, which refused publications featuring depictions of violence, sexuality, drug use, and socially relevant content, all of which appeared in greater levels in underground comix. American comix were strongly influenced by EC Comics and especially magazines edited by Harvey Kurtzman, including Mad.Kurtzman's Help! magazine featured the works of artists who would later become well known in the underground comix scene, including Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton. Other artists published work in college magazines before becoming known in the underground scene. In 1964, Frank Stack published a compilation of his comic strip The Adventures of Jesus under the name Foolbert Sturgeon. It has been credited as the first underground comic.The Kennedy Guide has 2 Underground Comix from 1963 even (Das Kampf and Robert Ronnie Branaman) and the first appearances for Wonder Wart-Hog (Bacchanal #1 and #2) showed even earlier in 1962 and ProJunior even earlier in a fanzine. In 1968, Robert Crumb self-published his first solo comic, Zap Comix, and sold its early issues, it is said out of a pram on street corners in Haight-Ashbury. The title was financially successful, and from issue # 3 was published by professional publishers The Print Mint. Zap developed a market for underground comix. Zap began to feature other cartoonists and Crumb started on a series of solo titles, including Despair, Uneeda (both published by Print Mint in 1969), Big Ass Comics, R. Crumb's Comics and Stories, Motor City Comics (all published by Rip Off Press in 1969), Home Grown Funnies (Kitchen Sink Press, 1971) and Hytone Comix (Apex Novelties, 1971), in addition to founding the pornographic anthologies Jiz and Snatch (both Apex Novelties, 1969). The underground comix scene had its strongest success in the United States between 1968 and 1975, with titles initially distributed primarily though head shops. Underground comix often featured covers intended to appeal to the drug culture, and imitated LSD-inspired posters to increase sales.Robert Crumb stated that the appeal of underground comix was their lack of censorship: "People forget that that was what it was all about. That was why we did it. We didn't have anybody standing over us saying 'No, you can't draw this' or 'You can't show that'. We could do whatever we wanted." Crumb's best known underground features included Whiteman, Angelfood McSpade, Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural. Crumb also drew himself as a character, portraying himself as he was often perceived — a self-loathing, sex-obsessed intellectual. While Crumb's work was often praised for its social commentary, he was also criticized for the misogyny that appeared within his comics. Trina Robbins stated "It's weird to me how willing people are to overlook the hideous darkness in Crumb's work [...] What the hell is funny about rape and murder?" Because of his popularity, many underground cartoonists tried to imitate Crumb's work. Gilbert Shelton became famous for his satire, such as the superhero parody Wonder Wart-Hog (Millar, 1967), Feds 'n' Heds (self-published in 1968) and The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers (Rip Off Press, 1971), a strip about a trio of "freaks" whose time is spent attempting to acquire drugs, and avoiding the police. S. Clay Wilson's work is permeated by shocking violence and ugly sex. Wilson contributed to Zap and published Bent (Print Mint, 1971), Pork (Co-Op Press, 1974) and The Checkered Demon (Last Gasp, 1977). Spain Rodriguez worked for the East Village Other before becoming known within the underground comix scene. His work is often political. Spain is known for Trashman, Zodiac Mindwarp (East Village Other, 1967) and Subvert (Rip Off Press, 1970). While Zap was the best known anthology of the scene, other anthologies appeared, including Bijou Funnies, a Chicago publication edited by Jay Lynch and heavily influenced by Mad. The San Francisco anthology Young Lust (Company & Sons, 1970), which parodied the 1950s romance genre, featured works by Bill Griffith and Art Spiegelman. Another successful anthology, Bizarre Sex (Kitchen Sink, 1972) was influenced by science fiction comics. Its artists were Denis Kitchen and Richard "Grass" Green, one of the few African American comix creators. Horror also became popular on the scene, with titles such as Skull (Rip Off Press, 1970), Bogeyman (San Francisco Comic Book Company, 1969), Fantagor (Richard Corben, 1970), Insect Fear (Print Mint, 1970), Up From The Deep (Rip Off Press, 1971), Death Rattle (Kitchen Sink, 1972), Gory Stories (Shroud, 1972), Deviant Slice (Print Mint, 1972) and Two Fisted Zombies (Last Gasp, 1973), which were strongly influenced by 1950s EC Comics like Tales from the Crypt. The male dominated scene produced tons of blatantly misogynistic works, but female cartoonists were emerging, Melinda Gebbie, Lynda Barry, Aline Kominsky and Shary Flenniken were featured in the anthologies Wimmen's Comix (Last Gasp, 1972), Tits 'n' Clits (Nanny Goat Productions, 1972) or It Aint Me Babe (Last Gasp, 1970). London In London the underground publications International Times (IT) and Oz reprinted some American material, but also introduced British cartoonists.The first UK comix mag was Cyclops, started by some of IT's staff. In a bid to alleviate its ongoing financial problems IT brought out Nasty Tales (1971), which was soon prosecuted for obscenity. Despite appearing before the censorious Old Bailey Judge Alan King-Hamilton, the publishers were acquitted by the jury.In the wake of its own high-profile obscenity trial Oz launched cOZmic Comics in 1972, printing a mixture of new British underground strips and old American work. When Oz closed down the following year the Cozmic title was continued by fledgling media tycoon Felix Dennis and his company H. Bunch Associates until 1975. The UK based cartoonists included Chris Welch, Edward Barker, Michael J. Weller, Malcolm Livingstone, William Rankin (aka Wyndham Raine), Dave Gibbons, Joe Petagno, Bryan Talbot, the team of Martin Sudden & Jay Jeff Jones and Brian Bolland. Reprints were popular with publishers because underground artists had no claims on their work. The basis for this was that material originally printed in publications that belonged to the Underground Press Syndicate was available to reprint for free by other UPS members. This permission was exploited by some underground comix publishers, bulking up or entirely filling their own magazines with work whose creators didn’t receive any payment even when those publishers made a profit. The last UK comix series of note was Brainstorm Comix (1975), which featured only original British strips. Recognition and controversy (1972-1982)Film and television began to reflect the influence of underground comix in the 1970s, starting with the release of a film adaptation of Robert Crumb's Fritz the Cat directed by Ralph Bakshi, which was the first animated film to receive an X rating from the MPAA.Further adult-oriented animated films influenced by underground comix followed, including The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat and Down and Dirty Duck.The influence of underground comix has also been attributed to films such as The Lord of the Rings (1978) and Forbidden Zone (1980).The popularity of Monty Python's Flying Circus, which featured the animation of Help! contributor Terry Gilliam, has also been attributed to the prominence of the underground comix scene. Mainstream publications such as Playboy and National Lampoon also began to publish comics and art similar to that of underground comix.Critics of the underground comix scene claimed that the publications were socially irresponsible, and glorified violence, sex and drug use. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that local communities could decide their own First Amendment standards with reference to obscenity. In the mid-1970s, sale of drug paraphernalia was outlawed in many places, and the distribution network for these comics (and the underground newspapers) dried up, leaving mail order as the only commercial outlet for underground titles.While the American underground comix scene was beginning to decline, British underground comix came into prominence between 1973 and 1974, but soon faced the same kind of criticism that American underground comix received. In 1974, Marvel Comics offered to publish a regular comic featuring the work of underground artists, titled Comix Book, requesting that artists submit work that was significantly less explicit in order for the material to be sold at newsstands. A number of underground artists agreed to contribute work, including Art Spiegelman, Trina Robbins, and S. Clay Wilson. However, the comic did not sell well, and lasted only five issues. In 1976, Marvel achieved success with Howard the Duck, a satirical comic aimed at adult audiences that was inspired by the underground comix scene. While it did not depict the explicit content that was often featured in underground comix, it was more socially relevant than anything Marvel had previously published. By this time, some artists, including Spiegelman, felt that the underground comix scene had become less creative than it had been in the past. According to Spiegelman, "What had seemed like a revolution simply deflated into a lifestyle. Underground comics were stereotyped as dealing only with Sex, Dope and Cheap Thrills. They got stuffed back into the closet, along with bong pipes and love beads, as Things Started To Get Uglier." Autobiographical comics began to come into prominence in 1976, with the premiere of Harvey Pekar's self-published comic American Splendor, which featured art by underground cartoonists, including Robert Crumb. In the late 1970s, major publishers Marvel and D.C. agreed to sell their comics on a no return basis at large discounts to comic book retailers, which led to later deals that helped underground publishers. During these period, underground titles focusing on feminist and Gay Liberation themes began to appear, as well as comics associated with the environmental movement. British underground cartoonists also created political titles, but they did not sell as well as American political comics. During this period, artists influenced by the underground comix scene who were unable to get work published by better known underground publications, began self-publishing their own small press, photocopied comic books, known as minicomics.The punk subculture began to influence underground comix. Recent history (1982-present)In 1982, the distribution of underground comix changed through the emergence of specialty stores.In response to attempts by mainstream publishers to appeal to adult audiences, the alternative comics emerged, focusing on many of the same themes as underground comix, as well as publishing work that was experimental in nature. Artists formally associated with the underground comix scene began to associate themselves with alternative comics, including Robert Crumb, Bill Griffith, Kim Deitch, Justin Green and Lynda Barry. In the 1980s, sexual comix came into prominence, which integrated sex into their story lines rather utilizing sexual explicitness for shock value. The first of these features was Omaha the Cat Dancer, which made its first appearance in an issue of the underground publication Bizarre Sex. Inspired by Fritz the Cat, Omaha the Cat Dancer focused on an anthropomorphic feline stripper.Other comix with a sexual focus included Melody, based on the life story of Sylvie Rancourt, and Cherry Poptart, a comedic sex comic featuring art similar in style to that of Archie Comics. In 1985, Bill Griffith's comic strip Zippy the Pinhead was syndicated as a daily feature. It originally appeared in underground titles before being syndicated. In 1986 and 1991, Art Spiegelman's graphic novel Maus was published in two volumes. The novel originated from a strip published in a 1973 underground comic. Alternative cartoonist Peter Bagge was strongly influenced by underground comics. Today, reprints of early underground comix continue to sell alongside modern underground publications. Bibliography
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