Richard Edward "Grass" Green (May 7, 1939
[Social Security Death Index.] – August 5, 2002) was an
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
cartoonist
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
notable for being the first black participant in both the 1960s
fan art
Fan art or fanart is artwork created by fans of a work of fiction and derived from a series character or other aspect of that work. They are usually done by amateur artists, semi-professionals or professionals. As fan labor, fan art refers to ...
movement and the 1970s
underground comics
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, ...
movement.
Grass Green
at the Lambiek Comiclopedia
Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...
. Accessed Apr. 16, 2009. In the 1960s, Green's Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book '' Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ''Little Ann ...
-like["Grass Green Succumbs at 63", ''Comic Book Network Electronic Magazine''. Reprinted in Vance, Michael]
"Suspended Animation," SFReader.com (Aug. 15, 2002)
. Accessed Apr. 16, 2009. zany, action-packed, humorous comics parodies appeared in numerous fanzines
A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...
. His "outrageous" 1970s and 1980s underground work used searing humor to expose America's racism and bigotry.[Rifas, Leonard]
"Racial Imagery, Racism, Individualism, and Underground Comix," ImageTexT (2004).
Accessed Apr. 14, 2009.
Biography
Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
, Green was given the nickname "Grass" by his childhood friend Ronn Foss, with whom he later collaborated in editing two issues of the magazine ''Alter Ego
An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...
''. Beginning in 1964, Green's fan art appeared in such fanzines
A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...
as ''Alter Ego'', ''Star-Studded Comics
''Star Studded Comics'' is the name of three comics-related publications, including a comic from the Golden Age of Comics, a comics fanzine, and a modern comic homage to the previous.
Cambridge House Publishers title
The first publication to us ...
'', ''Fantasy Illustrated'', '' The Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom'', ''Rocket's Blast Comicollector
''Rocket's Blast Comicollector'' (''RBCC'') was a comics advertising fanzine published from 1964 to 1983. The result of a merger with a similar publication, ''RBCCs purpose was to bring fans together for the purpose of adding to their comic book c ...
'', ''Komix Illustrated'', ''Super-Hero'', and ''Masquerader''.
In 1967, Green broke into the professional comics world, collaborating with Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...
on "The Shape" in ''Charlton Premiere'' #1. In the late 1960s, Green drew several more humorous strips for Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...
, mostly in ''Go-Go Comics''. (He also had work published in Bill Pearson's ''witzend
''witzend'', published on an irregular schedule spanning decades, is an underground comic showcasing contributions by comic book professionals, leading illustrators and new artists. ''witzend'' was launched in 1966 by the writer-artist Wallace Wo ...
''.) He then became involved in the underground comix movement, where his work was published in '' Super Soul Comix'' (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 hardcov ...
) and a Wildman and Rubberroy series. ''Super Soul Comix'' #1 (1972) sold 200,000 copies. In the 1990s, Green produced work for, among other places, Eros Comics
Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint.
History
Founding
Fantagraphics was founde ...
.
Xal-Kor the Human Cat
Green's Xal-Kor the Human Cat is a classic Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...
-type superhero. Sent from the planet Felis by the Great White Cat, Xal-Kor fights the Rat People with his Dimension Belt, which enables him to change form from a common house cat to a hybrid man-cat form, and then into a fully human form. As a human, his alter ego
An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...
is photojournalist
Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
Colin Chambers.[Light, Leslie]
"Profiles in Black Cartooning: Richard Eugene “Grass” Green,"
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund website (February 19, 2016).
Xal-Kor (who first appeared in 1964) was often voted the most popular fan creation in the fanzine ''Star-Studded Comics
''Star Studded Comics'' is the name of three comics-related publications, including a comic from the Golden Age of Comics, a comics fanzine, and a modern comic homage to the previous.
Cambridge House Publishers title
The first publication to us ...
''. The character returned several times over the years, most recently in May 2002 in a collection from TwoMorrows Publishing
TwoMorrows Publishing is a publisher of magazines about comic books, founded in 1994 by John and Pam Morrow out of their small advertising agency in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Its products also include books and DVDs.
List of magaz ...
. Green was working on a new series of Xal-Kor adventures when he died in August 2002.
Holiday Out
Green collaborated for many years with writer Michael Vance
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...
, including for four years on the comic book strip ''Holiday Out
A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...
'', featuring the characters Plastic Mam and Rok. ''Holiday Out'' stories were collected in ''Holiday Out'' #1-3, from Renegade Press
Renegade Press was an American comic book company, founded by Canadian Deni Loubert, that operated from 1984 to 1988. Notable titles published by Renegade included ''Flaming Carrot'', '' Ms. Tree'', and ''normalman''.
History
Loubert was publis ...
, as well as books like ''Comico Primer'' ( Comico), and ''Mangazine'' (Antarctic Press
Antarctic Press is a San Antonio-based comic book publishing company which publishes "Amerimanga" style comic books. The company also produces "how-to" and "you can" comics, instructing on areas of comic book creation and craft.
Beginning in 1 ...
); much of it was re-released in June 2002 from Blue Moon Comics.
REGCo
In the 1960s, Green founded the company REGCo, an acronym for his name, Richard Edward Green, which offered comic book artists and newspaper cartoonists ready-to-use layout art boards with borders and panels pre-drafted, delineated with non-repro blue ink. Green promoted this as a major time-saver for fellow artists, recognizing the time and tedium required for repeatedly laying out pages by hand. Although this was a practical idea, his business was only modestly successful, as many comic artists tend(ed) to be very particular about which type of art board they penciled and inked on.
Personal life and death
Green was also a musician, who as a young man appeared on Ted Mack's ''The Original Amateur Hour
''The Original Amateur Hour'' is an American radio and television program. The show was a continuation of ''Major Bowes Amateur Hour'' which had been a radio staple from 1934 to 1945. Major Edward Bowes, the originator of the program and its mas ...
''. On the Ted Mack show, Green won the talent contests with his singing, guitar-playing, and comedy performances, and, for a short time, he became a local celebrity, which offered him an opportunity to perform professionally at various clubs around the Fort Wayne area.
Green died of lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...
in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
, on August 5, 2002. He was survived by his wife, Janice.
Awards
Green won a 1966 Alley Award
The Alley Award was an American annual series of comic book fan awards, first presented in 1962 for comics published in 1961. Officially organized under the aegis of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences, the award shared close ties with the ...
for Best Fan Comic Strip for "Xal-Kor."
Notes
References
* Obituary, ''The Comics Journal'' #247 (Oct. 2002)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Grass
African-American comics creators
American comics creators
Deaths from lung cancer
Underground cartoonists
2002 deaths
1939 births
20th-century African-American people
21st-century African-American people