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Comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that 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 in the late 1960s and 1970s, and in the United Kingdom in the 1970s. Robert Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, Barbara "Willy" Mendes, Trina Robbins and numerous other cartoonists created underground titles that were popular with readers within the 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. History United States The United States underground comics scene emerged in the 1960s, focusing on subjects dear to the counte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wimmen's Comix
''Wimmen's Comix'', later titled ''Wimmin's Comix'', is an influential all-female underground comics anthology published from 1972 to 1992. Though it covered a wide range of genres and subject matters, ''Wimmen's Comix'' focused more than other anthologies of the time on feminist concerns, homosexuality, sex and politics in general, and autobiographical comics. ''Wimmen's Comix'' was a launching pad for many cartoonists' careers, and it inspired other small-press and self-published titles like '' Twisted Sisters'', ''Dyke Shorts'', and ''Dynamite Damsels''. Each issue of ''Wimmen's Comix'' was edited by a different editor or two editors who shared the job. Last Gasp published the first ten issues; later issues were put out by Renegade Press and then Rip Off Press. Publication history Antecedents ''Wimmen's Comix'' debuted a few years after the publication of the 1970 one-shot ''It Ain't Me, Babe'', the first American comic book entirely produced by women, which was put togethe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zap Comix
''Zap Comix'' is an underground comix series which was originally part of the youth counterculture of the late 1960s. While a few small-circulation self-published satirical comic books had been printed prior to this, ''Zap'' became the model for the "comix" movement that snowballed after its release. The title itself published 17 issues over a period of 46 years. Premiering in early 1968 as a showcase for the work of Robert Crumb, ''Zap'' was unlike any comic book sensibility that had been seen before. After the success of the first issue, Crumb opened the pages of ''Zap'' to several other artists, including S. Clay Wilson, Robert Williams, "Spain" Rodriguez, Gilbert Shelton, and two artists with reputations as psychedelic poster designers, Victor Moscoso and Rick Griffin. This group of artists, along with Crumb, remained mostly constant throughout the history of ''Zap.'' While the origin of the spelling "comix" is a subject of some dispute, it was popularized by its appearan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rip Off Press
Rip Off Press Corporation, Inc. is a comic book mail order retailer and Distribution (business), distributor, better known as the former publisher of adult-themed series like ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' and ''Rip Off Comix'', as well as many other seminal publications from the underground comix era. Founded in 1969 in San Francisco by four friends from Austin, Texas — cartoonists Gilbert Shelton and Jaxon (cartoonist), Jack Jackson, and Fred Todd and Dave Moriaty — Rip Off Press is now run in Auburn, California, by Todd. Rip Off Press is notable for being the first company to publish the fourth edition of the ''Principia Discordia'', a Discordian religious text written by Malaclypse the Younger, Gregory Hill and Kerry Wendell Thornley, Kerry Thornley. It was also an early publisher of a booklet on drug manufacturing, ''Psychedelic Chemistry''. History Origins In January 17, 1969, the company was founded in San Francisco by four Texans: Fred Todd, Dave Moriaty, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kitchen Sink Press
Kitchen Sink Press was a comic book publishing company founded by Denis Kitchen in 1970. Kitchen Sink Press was a pioneering publisher of underground comics, and was also responsible for numerous republications of classic comic strips in hardcover and softcover volumes. One of their best-known products was the first full reprint of Will Eisner's ''The Spirit''—first in magazine format, then in standard comic book format. The company closed in 1999. History Origins In 1969 Milwaukee artist Denis Kitchen decided to self-publish his comics and cartoons in the magazine ''Mom's Homemade Comics'', inspired in part by the seminal underground comix titles ''Bijou Funnies'' and ''Zap Comix''. The selling out of the 4,000 print-run inspired him further, and in 1970 he founded Kitchen Sink Press (initially as an artists' cooperative) and launched the Milwaukee-based underground newspaper ''The Bugle-American'', with Jim Mitchell and others. Under the name of the Krupp Syndicate, he syn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Crumb
Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American culture. Crumb is a prolific artist and contributed to many of the seminal works of the underground comix movement in the 1960s, including being a founder of the first successful underground comix publication, ''Zap Comix'', contributing to all 16 issues. He was additionally contributing to the ''East Village Other'' and many other publications, including a variety of one-off and anthology comics. During this time, inspired by psychedelics and cartoons from the 1920s and 1930s, he introduced a wide variety of characters that became extremely popular, including countercultural icons Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural, and the images from his '' Keep On Truckin''' strip. Sexual themes abounded in all these projects, often shading ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trina Robbins
Trina Robbins (born Trina Perlson; August 17, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first female artists in that movement. In the 1980s, Robbins became the first woman to draw ''Wonder Woman'' comics. She is a member of the Will Eisner Hall of Fame. Career Early work Robbins was an active member of science fiction fandom in the 1950s and 1960s. Her illustrations appeared in science fiction fanzines like the Hugo-nominated ''Habakkuk''. Comics Robbins' first comics were printed in the ''East Village Other''; she also contributed to the spin-off underground comic ''Gothic Blimp Works''. In 1969, Robbins designed the costume for the Warren Publishing character Vampirella for artist Frank Frazetta in ''Vampirella'' #1 (Sept. 1969). She left New York for San Francisco in 1970, where she worked at the feminist underground newspaper ''It Ain't Me, Babe''. The same year, she and fell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Last Gasp (publisher)
Last Gasp is a San Francisco-based book publisher with a lowbrow art and counterculture focus. Owned and operated by Ron Turner, for most of its existence Last Gasp was a publisher, distributor, and wholesaler of underground comix and books of all types. Last Gasp was established in 1970. Although the company came onto the scene a bit later than some of the other underground publishers, Last Gasp continued publishing comix far longer most of its competitors. In addition to publishing notable original titles like ''Slow Death'', ''Wimmen's Comix'', ''Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary'', and '' Weirdo'', it also picked up the publishing reins of important titles — such as ''Zap Comix'' and '' Young Lust'' — from rivals who had gone out of business. Last Gasp no longer publishes "floppy" comics; the company publishes art and photography books, graphic novels, fiction, and poetry, producing 10–15 new titles per year. History Last Gasp Eco Funnies was founded in Ber ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gilbert Shelton
Gilbert Shelton (born May 31, 1940) is an American cartoonist and a key member of the underground comix movement. He is the creator of the iconic underground characters ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'', '' Fat Freddy's Cat'', and ''Wonder Wart-Hog''. Biography Early life and education Shelton was born in Houston, Texas. He graduated from Lamar High School in Houston. He attended Washington and Lee University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Texas at Austin, where he received his bachelor's degree in the social sciences in 1961. His early cartoons were published in the University of Texas' humor magazine ''The Texas Ranger''. Early career Directly after graduation, Shelton moved to New York City and got a job editing automotive magazines, where he would sneak his drawings into print. Early work of his was published in Warren Publishing's ''Help!'' The idea for the character of ''Wonder Wart-Hog'', a porcine parody of Superman, came to him in 1961. The foll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Print Mint
The Print Mint, Inc. was a major publisher and distributor of underground comix based in the San Francisco Bay Area during the genre's late 1960s-early 1970s heyday. Starting as a retailer of psychedelic posters, the Print Mint soon evolved into a publisher, printer, and distributor. It was "ground zero" for the psychedelic poster. The Print Mint was originally owned by poet Don Schenker and his wife Alice, who later partnered in the business with Bob and Peggy Rita. History Don and Alice Schenker started The Print Mint as a picture-framing shop and retailer of posters and fine art reproductions on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, California, in December 1965, originally sharing a store with Moe's Books, but later on moving into a separate location down the block. (The Schenkers and Moe's Books owner Moe Moskowitz had been friends back in New York City during the 1950s Beat era, so this association was a continuation of that connection.) Schencker's first comic book release was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bijou Funnies
''Bijou Funnies'' was an American underground comix magazine which published eight issues between 1968 and 1973. Edited by Chicago-based cartoonist Jay Lynch, ''Bijou Funnies'' featured strong work by the core group of Lynch, Skip Williamson, Robert Crumb, and Jay Kinney, as well as Art Spiegelman, Gilbert Shelton, Justin Green, and Kim Deitch. ''Bijou Funnies'' was heavily influenced by '' Mad'' magazine, and, along with ''Zap Comix'', is considered one of the titles to launch the underground comix movement. Publication history ''Bijou Funnies'' evolved from ''The Chicago Mirror'', an underground newspaper co-produced by Jay Lynch and Skip Williamson, which published three issues in 1967–1968.Schwartz, Ben"Culture Jamming,"''Chicago Reader'' (June 25, 2004). After seeing Robert Crumb's ''Zap Comix'' #1 (published in February 1968), Lynch immediately converted the ''Mirror'' from a newspaper to a comic book and, under his own Bijou Publishing Empire produced the first issue of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbara "Willy" Mendes
Barbara "Willy" Mendes (; )(born January 30, 1948) is an American cartoonist, fine artist, and influential member of the underground comix movement. She is best known for her work alongside Trina Robbins on ''It Ain't Me Babe'' and ''All Girl Thrills''. Although Mendes first attained her fame as ''Willy'', she later transitioned into ''Barbara''. Education Mendes attended New York City's High School of Music and Art, followed by the University of California, Riverside. Career Mendes worked in underground comix while also producing other work for exhibitions in art galleries around the United States. Her art draws inspiration from Judaism and feminist themes. Early work Mendes began her career in underground comix in the late 1960s. She collaborated with Trina Robbins and Nancy Kalish on ''Gothic Blimp Works'', the comix supplement of the ''East Village Other'', an underground newspaper. Mendes and Robbins continued working together, publishing ''It Ain't Me Babe,'' an all- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spain Rodriguez
Manuel Rodriguez (March 2, 1940 – November 28, 2012), better known as Spain or Spain Rodriguez, was an American underground cartoonist who created the character Trashman. His experiences on the road with the motorcycle club, the Road Vultures M.C., provided inspiration for his work, as did his left-wing politics. Strongly influenced by 1950s EC Comics illustrator Wally Wood, Spain pushed Wood's sharp, crisp black shadows and hard-edged black outlines into a more simplified, stylized direction. His work also extended the eroticism of Wood's female characters. Biography Early life Manuel Rodriguez was born March 2, 1940, in Buffalo, New York. He picked up the nickname Spain as a child, when he heard some kids in the neighborhood bragging about their Irish ancestry, and he defiantly claimed Spain was just as good as Ireland. Rodriguez studied at the Silvermine Guild Art School in New Canaan, Connecticut alongside cartoonist M.K. Brown. Career In New York City, during the lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
