Everything about Underground Comix totally explained
Underground comics (or
comix) are small press or self-published
comic books that began to appear in the US in the late 1960s. The comix community was centered in
San Francisco, but also included important artists and publishers in
New York,
Chicago and
Austin, Texas. Prominent artists associated with this movement include
Vaughn Bode,
Robert Crumb,
Kim Deitch,
Jim Franklin,
David Geiser,
Justin Green,
Roberta Gregory,
Rick Griffin,
Bill Griffith,
Rory Hayes,
Greg Irons,
Jack Jackson,
Jay Kinney,
Denis Kitchen,
Jay Lynch,
Victor Moscoso,
Dan O'Neill,
Ted Richards,
Trina Robbins,
Spain Rodriguez,
Gilbert Shelton,
Art Spiegelman,
Foolbert Sturgeon,
Robert Williams,
Skip Williamson and
S. Clay Wilson.
History and Themes
Underground comix reflect the concerns of the 1960s
counterculture: experimentation in all things, drug-altered states of mind, rejection of sexual taboos, and ridicule of the establishment. The spelling 'comix' was established to differentiate these publications from mainstream 'comics'. The notion of comic books outside the mainstream was suggested by
Harvey Kurtzman when he used the headline "Comics Go Underground" on the newspaper-format cover of
Mad issue 16 (October, 1954). The term 'underground comics' was created by writer-editor
Bhob Stewart during a panel discussion at the
July 23,
1966, New York comics convention. On a panel with
Ted White and
Archie Goodwin, Stewart predicted the birth of a new type of comic book: "I want to say that just as mainstream movies prompted underground films, I think the same thing is going to happen with comics. You will have underground comics just as you've had underground films. This would be more like
James Joyce in comic book form. You can see the beginning of this in some of the cartoon panels that have been appearing in the
East Village Other."
Mainstream comics are typically produced by a team (including a writer, a penciler, an inker, a letterer, and an editor), while underground books were often done by a single person. As it can take very long for a single artist to produce a full-length work, many underground artists contributed shorter works to
anthology comic titles. A well-known example is the comic
Funny Aminals (1972), edited by
Terry Zwigoff with short pieces by Crumb, Griffith, Lynch, Spiegelman and
Shary Flenniken.
Underground comix were largely distributed though a network of
head shops which also sold
underground newspapers,
psychedelic posters, and
drug paraphernalia. In the mid-1970s, sales of drug paraphernalia was outlawed in many places, and the distribution network for these comics (and the underground newspapers) dried up. Although many of the underground artists continued to produce work, the underground comix movement is considered by most historians to have ended by 1980, to be replaced by a rise in independent, non-
Comics Code compliant publishing companies in the 1980s and the resulting increase in acceptance of adult-oriented comic books (see
alternative comics).
The most popular underground comics have been reprinted many times and can be obtained relatively easily. Many other comix were produced in a single, small print run, and are now rare. Records of comix produced are less complete than those for mainstream comics. A 1982 book,
The Official Underground and Newave Comix Price Guide by
Jay Kennedy, is one of only a few relatively complete and authoritative reference works on comix. A small but growing number of university libraries have comics collections, in which underground comics often play a key role.
The term "underground comics" is sometimes used more loosely to also include some contemporary
alternative comics.
Notable underground comics
Publishers
Apex Novelties
Co. and Sons
Print Mint
Rip Off Press
Last Gasp
Kitchen SinkFurther Information
Get more info on 'Underground Comix'.
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