''Yellow Dog'' was an

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, ...

newspaper and later comic book published by the

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 ...

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

. It published 22 issues from 1968 to 1973, featuring many of the period's most notable underground cartoonists, including

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 ...

Joel Beck Joel Beck (May 7, 1943 – September 14, 1999) was a San Francisco Bay Area artist and cartoonist. His comic book, ''Lenny of Laredo'', one of the earliest underground comic books of the 1960s, was the first underground comic book published o ...

, Robert Williams,

Rick Griffin Richard Alden "Rick" Griffin (June 18, 1944 – August 18, 1991) was an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. As a contributor to the underground comix movement, his work appeared regularly in ...

Greg Irons Greg Irons (September 29, 1947 – November 14, 1984) was an American poster artist, underground cartoonist, animator and tattoo artist. Profile Irons was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He moved to San Francisco, California, in 1967, whe ...

, and

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 beca ...

. Other frequent contributors included Andy Martin, Franz Cilensek, John Thompson, Buckwheat Florida, Jr., Jim Osborne, Ronald Lipking, and Hak Vogrin. The founding editor was Print Mint co-publisher

Don Schencker 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 ...

. ''Yellow Dog'' has the distinction of having published more issues than any other true underground comix publication.

Origins

There is some disagreement about the impetus for ''Yellow Dog.''

publisher/editor Don Schencker claims he came up with the idea, wanting to create an underground comix version of the old comics section of the Sunday newspaper. Cartoonist John Thompson claims that he and

came up with the idea of a comix newspaper with the title "''Puck the Yellow Kid''" (a reference to

Richard F. Outcault Richard Felton Outcault (; January 14, 1863 – September 25, 1928) was an American cartoonist. He was the creator of the series ''The Yellow Kid'' and ''Buster Brown'' and is considered a key pioneer of the modern comic strip. Life and career ...

's' pioneering comics strip character

The Yellow Kid The Yellow Kid (Mickey Dugan) is an American comic strip character that appeared from 1895 to 1898 in Joseph Pulitzer's ''New York World'', and later William Randolph Hearst's ''New York Journal''. Created and drawn by Richard F. Outcault in t ...

). Thompson states that after some coaxing by the artists, Schencker agreed to publish the newspaper, but changed the name to ''Yellow Dog.''

Publication history

''Yellow Dog'' started out as a tabloid-size fold-out newsprint

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...

with black-and-white interiors featuring some yellow

spot color In offset printing, a spot color or solid color is any color generated by an ink (pure or mixed) that is printed using a ''single run'', whereas a process color is produced by printing a series of dots of different colors. The widespread offset ...

. The first issue, published in May 1968,Fox, M. Steven
"Zap Comix,"
''ComixJoint''. Accessed Sept. 30, 2016. had eight pages, while issues #2–8 had 16 pages each. From issue #9–10 onward, ''Yellow Dog'' had at least 32 pages, most commonly running 44 pages long. With issue #13/#14 (July 1969), ''Yellow Dog'' switched format from a newspaper broadsheet to standard comic book size and format, with color covers and black-and-white interiors. The first volume of ''Yellow Dog'' included seven issues, all published "as weekly as possible" in 1968. Vol. 2 began with issue #8 in 1969; eight issues were published that year. However, three of those issues (#9/#10, #11/#12, and #13/#14) were double issues. ''Yellow Dog'' published two issues in 1970, two issues in 1971, three issues in 1972, and two issues in 1973. ''Yellow Dog'' ceased publishing after 22 issues, numbered 1-25 because of the three double issues. The first twelve issues of ''Yellow Dog'' were reprinted in 1973 as a fifth anniversary edition, and sold together in a manila envelope.

Overview

The "mascot" of the yellow dog — featured on almost all the covers — was intended to be a sort of underground analogue to '' Mad'' magazine's

Alfred E. Neuman Alfred E. Neuman is the fictitious mascot and cover boy of the American humor magazine '' Mad''. The character's distinct smiling face, parted red hair, gap-tooth smile, freckles, protruding nose, and scrawny body, first emerged in U.S. iconog ...

. The dog appeared on the cover of the first few 11 issues, portrayed as urinating on the leg of

Captain Ahab Captain Ahab is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in Herman Melville's ''Moby-Dick'' (1851). He is the monomaniacal captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod''. On a previous voyage, the white whale Moby Dick bit off Ahab's leg, ...

from ''

Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler, whaling ship ''Pequod (Moby- ...

''. From issue #11 onward, the dog appeared in various places, sometimes part of the actual cover art, although it did not appear at all on issues #15, 18, and 19. The first few issues of ''Yellow Dog'' offered little beyond drug-influenced vignettes, scatological humor, and some work by

. Crumb illustrated many covers for issues #1–13/14 (July 1969), which was the last issue to which he contributed. Highlights from issues #7–12 included

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 W ...

Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' is an Underground comix, underground comic about a fictional trio of Cannabis culture, stoner characters, created by the American artist Gilbert Shelton. The Freak Brothers first appeared in ''The Rag'', an u ...

, Crumb's Mr. Natural, and strong contributions from

Kim Deitch Kim Deitch (born May 21, 1944 in Los Angeles, California)Donahue, Don and Susan Goodrick, editors. Deitch bio, ''The Apex Treasuet of Underground Comics'' (Apex Novelties, 1974), p. 127. is an American cartoonist who was an important figure in t ...

, and

Skip Williamson Mervyn "Skip" Williamson (August 19, 1944 – March 16, 2017) was an American underground cartoonist and central figure in the underground comix movement. Williamson's art was published in the '' National Lampoon'', ''High Times'', ''the Reali ...

. Issue #7 featured the first underground published work from Robert Williams. The first comic-sized issue (#13/14, published in July 1969) featured contributions from Crumb,

, Jim Osborne,

Larry Welz Lawrence Welz (born November 21, 1948) better known as Larry Welz, is an American cartoonist, who created Cherry Poptart (now known simply as Cherry (comics), Cherry). He was an early contributor to the underground comix movement in the San Franc ...

Jay Lynch Jay Patrick Lynch (January 7, 1945 – March 5, 2017) was an American cartoonist who played a key role in the underground comix movement with his ''Bijou Funnies'' and other titles. He is best known for his comic strip ''Nard n' Pat'' and the r ...

, Hak Vogrin, Kay Rudin, and S. Clay Wilson. As time passed, ''Yellow Dog'' became a showcase of sorts for new talent in the underground field, giving a forum to voices like

, Justin Green,

Bill Griffith William Henry Jackson Griffith (born January 20, 1944) is an American cartoonist who signs his work Bill Griffith and Griffy. He is best known for his surreal daily comic strip '' Zippy''. The catchphrase "Are we having fun yet?" is credited to ...

, Robert Armstrong, and

Howard Cruse Howard Cruse (May 2, 1944 – November 26, 2019) was an American alternative cartoonist known for the exploration of gay themes in his comics. First coming to attention in the 1970s during the underground comix movement with ''Barefootz'', he wa ...

Issues guide

Volume 1

Volume 2

Notes

References

* * {{Underground comix works 1968 comics debuts 1973 comics endings Comics anthologies Underground comix San Francisco Bay Area literature Culture of Berkeley, California Comics magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1968 Magazines disestablished in 1973