Angelfood McSpade is a comic book character created and drawn by the 1960s counter culture figure and

underground 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 ...

artist

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 contem ...

. The character first appeared in the Philadelphia-based underground newspaper ''

Yarrowstalks ''Yarrowstalks'' was an underground newspaper (and later a magazine), primarily based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that published 12 issues from 1967 to 1975. It is notable for being the first publication to publish the comix of underground car ...

'' #2 in July 1967, making her comics debut in the second issue of '' Zap Comix'' (June 1968).

Characterization

Angelfood McSpade is a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or ...

portrayal of a stereotypical black woman.Dowd; Hignite 2006.Crumb; Holm 2004. She is depicted as a large, bare-breasted tribeswoman, dressed in nothing but a skirt made out of

palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm tr ...

leaves.Crowley 1995. She is drawn with big lips, golden rings around her neck and in her ears, huge breasts, large round buttocks and speaks jive. Her name references angelfood cake and the racial slur "spade". According to the second issue of '' Zap Comix'', she has been confined to "the wilds of darkest

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

", because "

civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). ...

would be threatened if she were allowed to do whatever she pleased!"Crumb, R. "Angelfood McSpade: She's Sock-a-Delic — She's All Heart," ''Zap Comix'' #2 (July 1968). It is not clear whether she was born in Africa or born in the United States and then sent to Africa. Her type of clothing suggests she is African, but her jive talk suggests she is from the United States.Estren 1993. Angelfood is depicted as a

nymphomaniac Hypersexuality is extremely frequent or suddenly increased libido. It is controversial whether it should be included as a clinical diagnosis used by mental healthcare professionals. Nymphomania and satyriasis were terms previously used for the c ...

and open to

sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (or coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion and thrusting of the penis into the vagina for sexual pleasure or reproduction.Sexual intercourse most commonly means penile–vaginal pene ...

.Harvey 1996. In many of her stories she is accompanied by

Snoid The Snoid, occasionally referred to as Mr. Snoid, is an American underground comix character created by Robert Crumb in the mid-1960s. A diminutive sex fiend and irritating presence, the Snoid often appears with other Crumb characters, particularl ...

, another of Crumb's characters who is portrayed as "a short-statured asshole" known for "his fetishes, sex cravings, and disdain for materialism." Policemen prevent other sexually aroused men from meeting Angelfood. In a later story three men bring her to the United States and promise to "civilize" her. There she is told to lick toilets clean in order to gain success. While she does this, the men push her head inside the toilet and violate her.Jahraus; Neuhaus 2003. She is very naïve and easily abused or even

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

d by the horny men who surround her, though, being a nymphomaniac, she is not bothered by this. Often, she is vulnerable to assault while being asleep or unconscious. Angelfood has a tendency to walk bare-breasted, even in cities. However, no one seems to stop her from walking around half-naked. In another story she saves two boys, Chuck and Bob, from being eaten by members of her own

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...

.Heller 2004. They flee from the tribe to the U.S., where she spends a night with the boys and afterward goes to the hairdresser. When she returns, she has bleached her skin, changed her hair and clothing, and learned fluent English, much to the disappointment of the two boys. In another story she asks

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obsc ...

if she can become a

Playboy Bunny A Playboy Bunny is a waitress who works at a Playboy Club and selected through standardized training. Their costumes were made up of lingerie, inspired by the tuxedo-wearing Playboy rabbit mascot. This costume consisted of a strapless corset te ...

, but when Hefner sees her in the outfit he can not resist laughing. This makes her so angry that she attacks him. In the last panel she and Mr. Natural (who accompanied her) are kicked out of Hefner's office. The character was featured regularly during Crumb's late 1960s and early 1970s output. In later comics her appearances became less frequent, and finally after 1971 Crumb stopped using the character in his comics altogether.

Controversy

Angelfood McSpade is one of Crumb's most notorious targets for accusations of

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers pri ...

and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagoni ...

.Sorensen 2005. Crumb has responded that he did not invent racist caricatures like Angelfood, but that they used to be part of the American culture in which he was raised.Huxley 2001. He saw the character as a criticism of the racist stereotype itself and assumed that the young liberal

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

/intellectual audience who read his work were not racists and would understand his intentions for the character.Lopes 2009.

List of appearances (selected)

* "Hey Boparee Bop," ''

'' #2 (July 1967)"R. Crumb's Head Comix,"
Grand Comics Database. Accessed May 25, 2018: "from Yarrowstalks (David Auten and Brian Zahn, 1967 series) #2" — with Mr. Natural and the

* "The Old Pooperoo Pauses to Ponder," ''

East Village Other ''The East Village Other'' (often abbreviated as ''EVO'') was an American underground newspaper in New York City, issued biweekly during the 1960s. It was described by '' The New York Times'' as "a New York newspaper so countercultural that it ...

'' vol. 3, #2 (1-15 December 1967) — with Mr. Natural and Flakey Foont * "Angelfood McSpade: She's Sock-a-Delic — She's All Heart," ''Zap Comix'' #2 (July 1968) * "All Asshole Comics," ''

Chicago Seed ''The Chicago Seed'' was an underground newspaper published biweekly in Chicago, Illinois from May 1967 to 1974; there were 121 issues published in all. It was notable for its colorful psychedelic graphics and its eclectic, non-doctrinaire radic ...

'' vol. 3, #1 (Seed Publishing, July 1968) — with Snoid * Untitled ("There she is, fellows! Ah! She'll be so grateful to us!"), ''East Village Other'' (18 October 1968) * "Hey Boparee Bop," ''R. Crumb's Head Comix'' (Viking Press, November 1968) — with Mr. Natural and Snoid * "Freak Out Funnies" (or "I'm getting tired of running around this ol' city!"), ''Zap Comix'' #0 (Apex Novelties, 1968) — with Snoid * "Ups and Downs," '' Yellow Dog'' vol. 2, #2 ssue #13/14(Print Mint, July 1969) — with Chuck and Bob * "Angelfood McSpade," ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

'' vol. 17, #7 (July 1970) — with Mr. Natural and

* "Angelfood McDevilsfood in Backwater Blues," ''Home Grown Funnies'' #1 (Kitchen Sink Press, January 1971) — with Snoid

Notes

References

* Crowley, Walt (1995).
Rites Of Passage: A Memoir Of The Sixties In Seattle
'. Univ. of Washington Press, p. 109. . * Crumb, R.; Holm, D. K. (2004).
R. Crumb: Conversations
'. Conversations With Comic Artists series. Jackson: Univ. Press of Mississippi., pp. vi-viii, xvi, 31–33, 120–121, 164, 166. . * Dowd, Douglas B.; Hignite, Todd (2006).
Strips, Toons, And Bluesies: Essays In Comics And Culture
'. New York:

Princeton Architectural Press Princeton Architectural Press is a small press publisher, specializing in books on architecture, design, photography, landscape, and visual culture, with over 1,000 titles on its backlist. In 2013, it added a line of stationery products, includin ...

, pp. 76–79. . * Estren, Mark James (1993).
A History of Underground Comics
'. 3rd. ed. Berkeley, CA:

Ronin Publishing Ronin Publishing, Inc. is a small press in Berkeley, California, founded in 1983 and incorporated in 1985, which publishes books as tools for personal development, visionary alternatives, and expanded consciousness. The company's tagline is "Life ...

, pp. 62, 117. . * Harvey, Robert C. (1996).
The Art of the Comic Book – An Aesthetic History
'. Jackson: Univ. Press of Mississippi, p. 205. . * Heller, Steven (2004).
Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design
'. 2nd ed. New York: Allworth Press, p. 119. . * Heller, Steven (1999).
Design Literacy (continued): Understanding Graphic Design
'. New York: Allworth Press, p. 74 (as other). . * Hodgetts, Vicki.
America's Best Loved
. ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

''. Vol. 3, No. 25. 22 June 1970. New York Media, LLC, pp. 40–43. . * Huxley, David (2001).
Nasty Tales: Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll and Violence in the British Underground
'. Vol. 2, Primal – Spinal Comix History Series. London: Critical Vision, p. 135. . * Jahraus, Oliver; Neuhaus, Stefan (2003).
Der erotische Film: zur medialen Codierung von Ästhetik, Sexualität und Gewalt
'. Vol. 1 Film – Medium – Diskurs.

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

Königshausen & Neumann Königshausen & Neumann is a publisher based in Würzburg, Germany. The publishing house was founded in 1979 by Johannes Königshausen and Thomas Neumann. It focuses on the humanities and publishes book titles in the field of philosophy, literature ...

, p. 40 . . * Lopes, Paul (2009).
Demanding Respect: The Evolution of the American Comic Book
'. Philadelphia, PA:

Temple University Press Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach ...

, pp. 80–82. . * Sorensen, Lita (2005).
Bryan Talbot
'. The Library of Graphic Novelists series. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, pp. 26–27. .

Characterization

Controversy

List of appearances (selected)

See also

Notes

References

References

Further reading