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95-422: 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

190-515: A psychedelic drug that was then still legal. He had both good and bad trips . One bad trip left him in a muddled state for half a year, during which for a time he left Dana; the state ended when the two took a strong dose of the drug together in April 1966. Crumb created a number of his best-known characters during his years of LSD use, including Mr. Natural , Angelfood McSpade , and the Snoid . His work in

285-509: A 1970s British underground comic. The publishers were acquitted in a celebrated 1972 obscenity trial at the Old Bailey in London; the first such case involving a comic. Giving evidence at the trial, one of the defendants said of Crumb: "He is the most outstanding, certainly the most interesting, artist to appear from the underground, and this (Dirty Dog) is Rabelaisian satire of a very high order. He

380-510: A Marine Corps sergeant, was an instructor in the Naval R.O.T.C. program at Iowa State College . The family moved to Milford, Delaware , when Crumb was twelve and where he was an average student whose teachers discouraged him from cartooning. Inspired by Walt Kelly , Fleischer Brothers animation and others, Crumb and his brothers drew their own comics. His cartooning developed as his older brother Charles pushed him and provided feedback. In 1958

475-553: A cartooning career. Robert Crumb was born August 30, 1943, in Philadelphia to Catholic parents of English and Scottish descent, spending his early years in West Philadelphia and Upper Darby . His father, Charles Vincent Crumb, authored the book Training People Effectively . His mother, Beatrice Loretta Crumb ( née Hall), was a housewife who reportedly abused diet pills and amphetamines . Crumb's parents' marriage

570-622: A circulation of 65,000 copies. As 1971 drew to a close, publication of EVO became more and more sporadic. It faced mounting financial difficulties, along with increasing staff losses, and the paper ceased publication completely in March 1972. Early EVO issues featured the work of Bill Beckman, Shelton, and Rodriguez, soon adding other artists. The popularity of these strips led to the publication of separate comics tabloids, beginning with Zodiac Mindwarp by Rodriguez. Comics historian Patrick Rosenkranz recalled his reaction to EVO : I'd never seen

665-529: A collaboration between cartoonist Art Spiegelman , publisher Françoise Mouly , and people living at Quarry Hill Creative Center in Rochester, Vermont . R. Crumb's imagery proved to be some of the most popular designs produced by this avant-garde pictorial stamp company. In the 1980s and 1990s, Crumb illustrated a number of writer Charles Bukowski 's stories, including the collection The Captain Is Out to Lunch and

760-561: A major publisher of alternative and underground cartoonists' work. As of the 2010s, reprints of early underground comix continue to sell alongside modern underground publications. The 2010s Foreskin Man , a comic book published to protest against circumcision , has been referred to as "comix" by some reviewers. British cartoonists were introduced in the underground publications International Times ( IT ), founded in 1966, and Oz founded in 1967, which reprinted some American material. During

855-489: A market for underground comix. Crumb was a prolific cartoonist in the late 1960s and early 1970s; at his peak output he produced 320 pages over two years. He produced much of his best-known work then, including his Keep On Truckin' strip, and strips featuring characters such as the bohemian Fritz the Cat , spiritual guru Mr. Natural , and oversexed African-American stereotype Angelfood McSpade . During this period, he launched

950-406: A network that allowed member papers to freely reprint each other's contents. The paper's design, in its first years, was characterized by Dadaistic montages and absurdist, non-sequitur headlines, including regular invocations of the " Intergalactic World Brain ." Later, the paper evolved a more colorful psychedelic layout that became a distinguishing characteristic of the underground papers of

1045-446: A publication like this before. It was full of wild accusations and bawdy language and doctored photographs. It had President Johnson 's head in a toilet bowl. It had naked Slum Goddesses, truly bizarre personal ads, and a whole different slant on the anti-war movement than my hometown paper upstate. But best of all, it had the most outrageous comic strips. The continuing saga of Captain High ;

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1140-535: A reference to Muhammad , founder of Islam, and Ralph Bakshi , the film director who had once planned to adapt Fritz the Cat. A friend of comic book writer Harvey Pekar , Crumb illustrated over 30 stories of Pekar's in the comic book series American Splendor , primarily in the first eight issues (1976–1983). As The Complete Crumb Comics co-editor Robert Fiore wrote about their collaborations: ... in American Splendor , Crumb's work stood out for ...

1235-680: A renaissance in the genre in the United Kingdom , through titles like Brain Damage , Viz , and others. After the death of King Features Syndicate editor Jay Kennedy , his personal underground comix collection was acquired by the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum in Ohio. The University of California, Berkeley 's Bancroft Library has a large underground comix collection, especially related to Bay Area publications; much of it

1330-523: A series of solo titles, including Despair , Uneeda (published by Print Mint in 1969 and 1970 respectively), Big Ass Comics , R. Crumb's Comics and Stories , Motor City Comics (all published by Rip Off Press in 1969), Home Grown Funnies ( Kitchen Sink Press , 1971) and Hytone Comix ( Apex Novelties , 1971), in addition to founding the pornographic anthologies Jiz and Snatch (both Apex Novelties, 1969). Crumb's work also appeared in Nasty Tales ,

1425-478: A strip about a trio of "freaks" whose time is spent attempting to acquire drugs and avoid the police, both of which first appeared in the self-published Feds 'N' Heads in 1968. Wilson's work is permeated by shocking violence and ugly sex; he contributed to Zap and created the infamous The Checkered Demon , a portly, shirtless being who is frequently called upon to kill the various demented bikers, pirates, and rapists who populate Wilson's universe. Spain worked for

1520-510: A theatrical production based on his work and directed by Johnny Simons, was produced in Fort Worth, Texas , in 1986. It was revived at Duke University in 1990, and co-starred Avner Eisenberg . The development of the play was supervised by Crumb, who also served as set designer, drawing larger-than-life representations of some of his most famous characters all over the floors and walls of the set. Crumb's collaboration with David Zane Mairowitz ,

1615-471: A visit to London, American comics artist Larry Hama created original material for IT . The first UK comix mag was Cyclops , started in July 1970 by IT staff members. In a bid to alleviate its ongoing financial problems, IT brought out Nasty Tales (1971), which was soon prosecuted for obscenity. Despite appearing before the censorious Old Bailey Judge Alan King-Hamilton , the publishers were acquitted by

1710-443: Is an American cartoonist 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 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

1805-530: Is funny about rape and murder?" Because of his popularity, many underground cartoonists tried to imitate Crumb's work. While Zap was the best-known anthology of the scene, other anthologies appeared, including Bijou Funnies , a Chicago publication edited by Jay Lynch and heavily influenced by Mad . The San Francisco anthology Young Lust ( Company & Sons , 1970), which parodied the 1950s romance genre, featured works by Bill Griffith and Art Spiegelman . Another anthology, Bizarre Sex (Kitchen Sink, 1972),

1900-507: Is most obvious with alternative comics . The United States underground comics scene emerged in the 1960s, focusing on subjects dear to the counterculture : recreational drug use , politics, rock music , and free love . The underground comix scene had its strongest success in the United States between 1968 and 1975, with titles initially distributed primarily though head shops . Underground comix often featured covers intended to appeal to

1995-414: Is using coarseness quite deliberately in order to get across a view of social hypocrisy." While meditating in 1980, Crumb conceived of a magazine with a lowbrow aesthetic inspired by punk zines , Mad , and men's magazines of the 1940s and 1950s. From 1981 Crumb edited the first nine issues of the twenty-eight issue run of Weirdo , published by Last Gasp ; his contributions and tastes determined

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2090-583: The Bijou Funnies book highlighted comics by Lynch, Green, Crumb, Shelton, Spiegelman, Deitch, Skip Williamson , Jay Kinney , Evert Geradts , Rory Hayes , Dan Clyne, and Jim Osborne. Similarly, and around this time, the publishing cooperative And/Or Press published The Young Lust Reader (1974), a "best-of" collection from Griffith and Kinney's Young Lust anthology, and Dave Sheridan and Fred Schrier 's The Overland Vegetable Stagecoach presents Mindwarp: An Anthology (1975). And/Or Press later published

2185-517: The East Village Other before becoming known within underground comix for Trashman and his solo titles Zodiac Mindwarp and Subvert . Williamson created his character Snappy Sammy Smoot , appearing in several titles. Underground horror comics also became popular, with titles such as Skull (Rip Off Press, 1970), Bogeyman (San Francisco Comic Book Company, 1969), Fantagor (Richard Corben, 1970), Insect Fear (Print Mint, 1970), Up From

2280-578: The Star Wars movie Return of the Jedi (1983), the name (and aspects of the appearance) of the character Salacious B. Crumb are derived from, and are an homage to, Crumb. In the 2003 movie American Splendor , Crumb was portrayed by James Urbaniak . Crumb's wife Aline was quoted as saying she hated the interpretation and never would have married Robert if he was like that. East Village Other The East Village Other (often abbreviated as EVO )

2375-616: The Print Mint , Rip Off Press , Last Gasp , and Krupp Comic Works (Kitchen Sink Press). For much of the 1970s, Rip Off Press operated a syndication service , managed by cartoonist and co-owner Gilbert Shelton , that sold weekly comix content to alternative newspapers and student publications . Each Friday, the company sent out a distribution sheet with the strips it was selling, by such cartoonists as Shelton, Joel Beck , Dave Sheridan , Ted Richards , Bill Griffith , and Harry Driggs (as R. Diggs). The syndicate petered out by 1979; much of

2470-819: The U.S. Supreme Court , in Miller v. California , ruled that local communities could decide their own First Amendment standards with reference to obscenity. In the mid-1970s, sale of drug paraphernalia was outlawed in many places, and the distribution network for these comics (and the underground newspapers) dried up, leaving mail order as the only commercial outlet for underground titles. In 1974, Marvel launched Comix Book , requesting that underground artists submit significantly less explicit work appropriate for newsstands sales. A number of underground artists agreed to contribute work, including Spiegelman, Robbins and S. Clay Wilson , but Comix Book did not sell well and lasted only five issues. In 1976, Marvel achieved success with Howard

2565-488: The alternative comics era. As his career progressed, his comic work became more autobiographical. In 1991 Crumb was inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame , and in 1994 the Terry Zwigoff film Crumb explored his artistic career and personal life. He was married to cartoonist Aline Kominsky-Crumb , with whom he frequently collaborated. Their daughter Sophie Crumb has also followed

2660-519: The cover art for these albums. Crumb has released CDs anthologizing old original performances gleaned from collectible 78-rpm phonograph records . His That's What I Call Sweet Music was released in 1999 and Hot Women: Women Singers from the Torrid Regions in 2009. Chimpin' the Blues, a collaboration with fellow record collector Jerry Zolten that combines rare recordings with conversation about

2755-570: The environmental movement . Anarchy Comics focused on left-wing politics , while Barney Steel's Armageddon focused on anarcho-capitalism . British underground cartoonists also created political titles, but they did not sell as well as American political comics. Artists influenced by the underground comix scene, who were unable to get work published by better-known underground publications, began self-publishing their own small press, photocopied comic books, known as minicomics . The punk subculture began to influence underground comix. In 1982,

2850-536: The underground newspaper the Berkeley Barb and his full-length comic Lenny of Laredo was published in 1965. Another underground paper, the East Village Other , was an important precursor to the underground comix movement, featuring comic strips by artists including Crumb, Shelton, Kim Deitch , Trina Robbins , Spain Rodriguez , and Art Spiegelman before true underground comix emerged from San Francisco with

2945-765: The 1920s and 1930s, and they also heavily influenced the soundtrack choices for his bandmate Zwigoff's 1995 Crumb documentary. In 2006, he prepared, compiled and illustrated the book R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz & Country , with accompanying CD, which derived from three series of trading cards originally published in the 1980s. Crumb was the leader of the band R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders , for which he sang lead vocals, wrote several songs and played banjo and other instruments. Crumb often plays mandolin with Eden and John's East River String Band and has drawn four covers for them: 2009's Drunken Barrel House Blues , 2008's Some Cold Rainy Day , 2011's Be Kind To A Man When He's Down on which he plays mandolin ,

Underground comix - Misplaced Pages Continue

3040-481: The 1980s, sexual comics came into prominence, integrating sex into storylines rather than utilizing sexual explicitness for shock value. The first of these features was Omaha the Cat Dancer , which made its first appearance in an issue of the zine Vootie . Inspired by Fritz the Cat , Omaha the Cat Dancer focused on an anthropomorphic feline stripper. Other comix with a sexual focus included Melody , based on

3135-423: The 1980s; he could be considered part of a "second generation" of underground-type cartoonists, including such notables as Mike Diana , Johnny Ryan , Bob Fingerman , David Heatley , Danny Hellman , Julie Doucet , Jim Woodring , Ivan Brunetti , Gary Leib , Doug Allen , and Ed Piskor . Many of these artists were published by Fantagraphics Books , which was founded in 1977 and through the 1980s and '90s became

3230-453: The Cat , and Mr. Natural . Crumb also drew himself as a character, caricaturing himself as a self-loathing, sex-obsessed intellectual. While Crumb's work was often praised for its social commentary, he was also criticized for the misogyny that appeared within his comics. Trina Robbins said: "It's weird to me how willing people are to overlook the hideous darkness in Crumb's work... What the hell

3325-481: The Cheap Suit Serenaders. He also created the revised logo and record label designs of Blue Goose Records that were used from 1974 onward. In 1992 and 1993, Robert Crumb was involved in a project by Dutch formation The Beau Hunks and provided the cover art for both their albums The Beau Hunks play the original Laurel & Hardy music 1 and 2. He also illustrated the albums' booklets. In 2009, Crumb drew

3420-580: The Deep (Rip Off Press, 1971), Death Rattle (Kitchen Sink, 1972), Gory Stories (Shroud, 1972), Deviant Slice (Print Mint, 1972) and Two Fisted Zombies (Last Gasp, 1973). Many of these were strongly influenced by 1950s EC Comics like Tales from the Crypt . The male-dominated scene produced many blatantly misogynistic works, but female underground cartoonists made strong marks as well. Edited by Trina Robbins , It Ain't Me, Babe , published by Last Gasp in 1970,

3515-821: The Duck , a satirical comic aimed at adult audiences that was inspired by the underground comix scene. While it did not depict the explicit content that was often featured in underground comix, it was more socially relevant than anything Marvel had previously published. By the mid-1970s, independent publishers began to release book-length collections of underground comics. Quick Fox/Links Books released two important collections, The Apex Treasury of Underground Comics , published in 1974, and The Best of Bijou Funnies , released in 1975. The Apex Treasury featured work by Crumb, Deitch, Griffith, Spain, Shelton, Spiegelman, Lynch, Shary Flenniken , Justin Green , Bobby London , and Willy Murphy ; while

3610-449: The Rings (1978) and Forbidden Zone (1980). The animation sequences – created by Help! contributor Terry Gilliam – and surrealistic humor of Monty Python's Flying Circus have also been partly attributed to the influence of the underground comix scene. Despite the form's influence on the culture at large, however, by 1972, only four major underground publishers remained in operation:

3705-550: The Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship and the story " Bring Me Your Love ". In 1984–1985 Crumb produced a series of illustrations for the tenth anniversary edition of Edward Abbey 's environmental-themed novel The Monkey Wrench Gang , published in 1985 by Dream Garden Press of Salt Lake City. Many of these illustrations also appeared in a 1987 Monkey Wrench Gang calendar, and remain available on T-shirts. R. Crumb Comix ,

3800-608: The alternate press. Wally Wood published witzend in 1966, soon passing the title on to artist-editor Bill Pearson . In 1969, Wood created Heroes, Inc. Presents Cannon , intended for distribution to armed forces bases. Steve Ditko gave full vent to his Ayn Rand -inspired philosophy in Mr. A and Avenging World (1973). In 1975, Flo Steinberg , Stan Lee's former secretary at Marvel Comics , published Big Apple Comix , featuring underground work by ostensibly "mainstream" artists she knew from Marvel. Film and television began to reflect

3895-561: The appeal of underground comix was their lack of censorship: "People forget that that was what it was all about. That was why we did it. We didn't have anybody standing over us saying 'No, you can't draw this' or 'You can't show that'. We could do whatever we wanted". Between the late 1920s and late 1940s, anonymous underground artists produced counterfeit pornographic comic books featuring unauthorized depictions of popular comic strip characters engaging in sexual activities. Often referred to as Tijuana bibles , these books are often considered

Underground comix - Misplaced Pages Continue

3990-442: The artwork for a 10-CD anthology of French traditional music compiled by Guillaume Veillet for Frémeaux & Associés. The following year, he created three artworks for Christopher King's Aimer Et Perdre: To Love And To Lose: Songs, 1917–1934 . As told by Crumb in his biographical film , his artwork was very conventional and traditional in the beginning. His earlier work shows this more restrained style. In Crumb's own words, it

4085-408: The broader realms of artistic and literary culture. Arcade lasted seven issues, from 1975 to 1976. Autobiographical comics began to come into prominence in 1976, with the premiere of Harvey Pekar 's self-published comic American Splendor , which featured art by several cartoonists associated with the underground, including Crumb. Comics critic Jared Gardner asserts that, while underground comix

4180-444: The brothers self-published three issues of Foo in imitation of Harvey Kurtzman 's satirical Humbug and Mad which they sold door-to-door with little success, souring the young Crumb on the comic-book business. At fifteen, Crumb collected classical jazz and blues records from the 1920s to the 1940s. At age 16 he lost his Catholic faith. Crumb's father gave him $ 40 when he left home after high school. His first job, in 1962,

4275-642: The city's Mission District was "underground headquarters": living and operating out of The Mission in that period were Gary Arlington , Roger Brand , Kim Deitch , Don Donahue , Shary Flenniken , Justin Green , Bill Griffith & Diane Noomin , Rory Hayes , Jay Kinney , Bobby London , Ted Richards , Trina Robbins , Joe Schenkman , Larry Todd , Patricia Moodian and Art Spiegelman . Mainstream publications such as Playboy and National Lampoon began to publish comics and art similar to that of underground comix. The underground movement also prompted older professional comic book artists to try their hand in

4370-681: The city, with Ron Turner 's Last Gasp and the Print Mint based in Berkeley . Last Gasp later moved to San Francisco. By the end of the 1960s, there was recognition of the movement by a major American museum when the Corcoran Gallery of Art staged an exhibition, The Phonus Balonus Show (May 20-June 15, 1969). Curated by Bhob Stewart for famed museum director Walter Hopps , it included work by Crumb, Shelton, Vaughn Bodé , Kim Deitch , Jay Lynch and others. Crumb's best known underground features included Whiteman , Angelfood McSpade , Fritz

4465-717: The closet, along with bong pipes and love beads, as Things Started To Get Uglier". One of the last major underground titles was Arcade: The Comics Revue , co-edited by Spiegelman and Bill Griffith . With the underground movement encountering a slowdown, Spiegelman and Griffith conceived of Arcade as a "safe berth", featuring contributions from such major underground figures as Robert Armstrong , Robert Crumb , Justin Green , Aline Kominsky , Jay Lynch , Spain Rodriguez , Gilbert Shelton , and S. Clay Wilson (as well as Griffith and Spiegelman). Arcade stood out from similar publications by having an editorial plan, in which Spiegelman and Griffith attempted to show how comics connected to

4560-712: The contents of the later issues as well, edited by Peter Bagge until # 17, and Aline for the remainder of the run. The magazine featured cartoonists new and old, and had a mixed response. Crumb's fumetti was so unpopular that it has never appeared in Crumb collections. The Crumbs moved into a house in Sauve (Gard, southern France) in 1991, which is said to have been financed by the sale of six Crumb sketchbooks. The documentary Crumb , directed by Terry Zwigoff , appeared in 1994 —a project on which Zwigoff had been working since 1985. The film won several major critical accolades. From 1987 to 2005 Fantagraphics Books published

4655-476: The distribution of underground comix changed through the emergence of specialty stores. In response to attempts by mainstream publishers to appeal to adult audiences, alternative comics emerged, focusing on many of the same themes as underground comix, as well as publishing experimental work. Artists formally in the underground comix scene began to associate themselves with alternative comics, including Crumb, Deitch, Griffith, Lynda Barry , and Justin Green . In

4750-720: The drug culture, and imitated LSD -inspired posters to increase sales. These titles were termed "comix" in order to differentiate them from mainstream publications. The "X" also emphasized the X-rated contents of the publications. Many of the common aspects of the underground comix scene were in response to the strong restrictions forced upon mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority , which refused publications featuring depictions of violence, sexuality, drug use, and socially relevant content, all of which appeared in greater levels in underground comix. Robert Crumb stated that

4845-847: The fall of 2008, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia hosted a major exhibition of his work, which was favorably reviewed in The New York Times and in The Philadelphia Inquirer . Crumb has received several accolades for his work, including the Inkpot Award in 1989, a nomination for the Harvey Special Award for Humor in 1990 and the Angoulême Grand Prix in 1999. With Jack Kirby , Will Eisner , Harvey Kurtzman , Gary Panter , and Chris Ware , Crumb

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4940-616: The first issue of Zap Comix . Zap and many of the first true underground comix publications began with reprints of comic strip pages which first appeared in underground papers like the East Village Other , the Berkeley Barb , and Yarrowstalks . In February 1968, in San Francisco, Robert Crumb published (with the help of poet Charles Plymell and Don Donahue of Apex Novelties ) his first solo comic, Zap Comix . The title

5035-481: The first paperback collections of Griffith's Zippy the Pinhead comics. By this time, some artists, including Art Spiegelman , felt that the underground comix scene had become less creative than it had been in the past. According to Spiegelman: "What had seemed like a revolution simply deflated into a lifestyle. Underground comics were stereotyped as dealing only with Sex, Dope and Cheap Thrills. They got stuffed back into

5130-426: The first run herself out of a baby carriage. Crumb met cartoonist S. Clay Wilson , an art school graduate who saw himself as a rebel against middle-class American values and whose comics were violent and grotesque. Wilson's attitude inspired Crumb to give up the idea of the cartoonist-as-entertainer and to focus on comics as open, uncensored self-expression; in particular, his work soon became sexually explicit, as in

5225-466: The first underground comic. Shelton's own Wonder Wart-Hog appeared in the college humor magazine Bacchanal #1-2 in 1962. Jack Jackson 's God Nose , published in Texas in 1964, has also been given that title. One guide lists two other underground comix from that year, Vaughn Bodē 's Das Kampf and Charles Plymell 's Robert Ronnie Branaman . Joel Beck began contributing a full-page comic each week to

5320-464: The first was S. Clay Wilson . Crumb said, about when he first saw Wilson's work "The content was something like I'd never seen before, ... a nightmare vision of hell-on-earth ..." And "Suddenly my own work seemed insipid ..." Crumb remains a prominent figure, as both artist and influence, within the alternative comics milieu. He is hailed as a genius by such comic book talents as Jaime Hernandez , Daniel Clowes , and Chris Ware . In

5415-511: The humor magazine he edited, Help! Crumb moved to New York, intending to work with Kurtzman, but Help! ceased publication shortly after. Crumb briefly illustrated bubblegum cards for Topps before returning to Cleveland and American Greetings. Crumb married Dana Morgan in 1964. Nearly destitute, the couple traveled in Europe, during which Crumb continued to produce work for Kurtzman and American Greetings, and Dana stole food. The relationship

5510-468: The illustrated, part-comic biography and bibliography Introducing Kafka (1993), a.k.a. Kafka for Beginners , is one of his less sexual- and satire-oriented, comparably highbrow works. It is well-known and favorably received, and due to its popularity was republished as R. Crumb's Kafka . Crumb has frequently drawn comics about his musical interests in blues , country , bluegrass , cajun , French Bal-musette , jazz , big band and swing music from

5605-503: The influence of underground comix in the 1970s, starting with the release of Ralph Bakshi 's Crumb adaptation, Fritz the Cat , the first animated film to receive an X rating from the MPAA . Further adult-oriented animated films based on or influenced by underground comix followed, including The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat and Down and Dirty Duck . The influence of underground comix has also been attributed to films such as The Lord of

5700-474: The jury. In the wake of its own high-profile obscenity trial, Oz launched cOZmic Comics in 1972, printing a mixture of new British underground strips and old American work. When Oz closed down the following year cOZmic Comics was continued by fledgling media tycoon Felix Dennis and his company, Cozmic Comics/H. Bunch Associates, which published from 1972 to 1975. While the American underground comix scene

5795-547: The latest (2022) "Goodbye Cruel World", on which he sings vocals, plays ukulele, mandolin & tiple. In 2013 he played on their album Take A Look at That Baby and also took part in the accompanying music video . With Dominique Cravic, in 1986 he founded "Les Primitifs du Futur"—a French band whose eclectic music has incorporated Bal-musette, folk, jazz, blues and world music—playing on their albums "Cocktail d'Amour" (1986), "Trop de Routes, Trop de Trains" (1995), "World Musette" (1999) and "Tribal Musette" (2008). He also provided

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5890-473: The life story of Sylvie Rancourt and Cherry , a comedic sex comic featuring art similar in style to that of Archie Comics . In 1985, Griffith's comic strip Zippy the Pinhead — which originally appeared in underground titles — was syndicated as a daily feature by King Features . Between 1980 and 1991 Spiegelman's graphic novel Maus was serialized in Raw , and published in two volumes in 1986 and 1991. It

5985-470: The material produced for it was eventually published in the company's long-running anthology Rip Off Comix , which had debuted in 1977. Griffith's strip, Zippy , which had debuted in 1976 as a weekly strip with the syndicate, was eventually picked up for daily syndication by King Features Syndicate in 1986. Critics of the underground comix scene claimed that the publications were socially irresponsible, and glorified violence, sex and drug use. In 1973,

6080-470: The mid-1970s, he contributed to the Arcade anthology; following the decline of the underground, he moved towards biographical and autobiographical subjects while refining his drawing style, a heavily crosshatched pen-and-ink style inspired by late 19th- and early 20th-century cartooning. Much of his work appeared in a magazine he founded, Weirdo (1981–1993), which was one of the most prominent publications of

6175-538: The music and the musicians, was released in 2013. Crumb drew the cover art for these CDs as well. Crumb has illustrated many album covers, most prominently Cheap Thrills by Big Brother and the Holding Company and the compilation album The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead . Between 1974 and 1984, Crumb drew at least 17 album covers for Yazoo Records / Blue Goose Records , including those of

6270-402: The newspaper), Allen Katzman, Dan Rattiner , Sherry Needham, and John Wilcock . It began as a monthly and then went biweekly. Starting in 1969, Coca Crystal would write about politics, women's issues, and personal events for the East Village Other , many of which earned her the title "slumgoddess". The paper published another short-lived spin-off title, Kiss, a sex-oriented paper that

6365-462: The original drawings for The Book of Genesis as part of an exhibit entitled "Graphic Masters: Dürer, Rembrandt, Hogarth, Goya, Picasso, R. Crumb." In January 2015, Crumb was asked to submit a cartoon to the left-wing magazine Libération as a tribute for the Charlie Hebdo shooting . He sent a drawing titled "A Cowardly Cartoonist", depicting an illustration of the backside of "Mohamid Bakhsh",

6460-484: The pornographic Snatch he and Wilson produced late in 1968. The second issue of Zap appeared in June with contributions from Wilson and poster artists Victor Moscoso and Rick Griffin . Artist H.Fish also contributed to Zap . In December, Donahue published the still-unreleased issue as # 0 and a new third issue with Gilbert Shelton joining the roster of regulars. Zap was financially successful, and developed

6555-559: The pornographic anthologies Jiz and Snatch (both Apex Novelties, 1969). The San Francisco Bay Area was an epicenter of the underground comix movement; Crumb and many other underground cartoonists lived in San Francisco 's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in the mid-to-late 1960s. Just as importantly, the major underground publishers were all based in the area: Don Donahue 's Apex Novelties , Gary Arlington 's San Francisco Comic Book Company , and Rip Off Press were all headquartered in

6650-490: The predecessors of the underground comix scene. American comix were strongly influenced by 1950s EC Comics and especially magazines edited by Harvey Kurtzman , including Mad (which first appeared in 1952). Kurtzman's Help! magazine, published from 1960 to 1965, featured the works of artists who would later become well known in the underground comix scene, including R. Crumb and Gilbert Shelton . Other artists published work in college magazines before becoming known in

6745-691: The premise. Beckman contacted his buddy Gilbert Shelton from back at the University of Texas at Austin, who mailed in an occasional strip called Clang Honk Tweet! ; Hurricane Nancy Kalish contributed a spacey, Aubrey Beardsley-style comic called Gentle's Tripout . Others came and went without much notice until Walter Bowart commissioned Manuel "Spain" Rodriguez to draw a 24-page all-comic tabloid, which he published as Zodiac Mindwarp in 1966. During 1969, EVO published eight issues of Gothic Blimp Works , an all-comics tabloid with some color printing, billed as "the first Sunday underground comic paper". Vaughn Bodé

6840-470: The psychedelic adventures of Sunshine Girl and Zoroaster the Mad Mouse; Trashman offing the pigs and scoring babes left and right. While I enjoyed many aspects of EVO , I liked the comics the most. Bill Beckman was one of the first cartoonists with his counterculture crusader Captain High, whose main mission was to get high and stay high. Beckman didn't draw very well, but EVO ' s readership could relate to

6935-468: The seventeen-volume Complete Crumb Comics and ten volumes of sketches. Crumb (as "R. Crumb") contributes regularly to Mineshaft magazine, which, since 2009, has been serializing "Excerpts From R. Crumb's Dream Diary". In 2009 Crumb produced The Book of Genesis , an unabridged illustrated graphic novel version of the biblical Book of Genesis . In 2016, the Seattle Museum of Art displayed

7030-487: The time. EVO was an important publication for the underground comix movement, featuring comic strips by artists including Robert Crumb , Kim Deitch , Trina Robbins , Spain Rodriguez , Gilbert Shelton and Art Spiegelman , before underground comic books emerged from San Francisco with the first issue of Zap Comix . The East Village Other was co-founded in October 1965 by Walter Bowart , Ishmael Reed (who named

7125-513: The underground comics scene coincided with the rise of Timothy Leary 's acid tests and psychedelics generally which led to deals with psychedelic artists such as the Grateful Dead. In January 1967 Crumb came across two friends in a bar who were about to leave for San Francisco; Crumb was interested in the work of San Francisco-based psychedelic poster artists, and on a whim asked if he could join them. There, he contributed upbeat LSD-inspired countercultural work to underground newspapers . The work

7220-491: The underground scene. Early underground comix appeared sporadically in the early- and mid-1960s, but did not begin to appear frequently until after 1967. The first underground comix were personal works produced for friends of the artists. Perhaps the earliest of the underground comic strips was Frank Stack 's (under the pseudonym Foolbert Sturgeon ) The Adventures of Jesus , begun in 1962 and compiled in photocopied zine form by Gilbert Shelton in 1964. It has been credited as

7315-938: The way he really made Pekar's voice SING. His style embodied Pekar's voice ... He turned Pekar's scripts into pure comics, into something that would have been inferior in any other medium ... But I think what makes all of their collaborations work so well is the fact that Crumb is as sympathetic a collaborator as Pekar ever had. It's not just the fact that Crumb draws better than everybody else, he knew what to draw. Just as Pekar knew what to write ... Their mutual understanding of each other helped me appreciate each as artists and voices ... Crumb collaborated with his wife, Aline Kominsky-Crumb , on many strips and comics, including Dirty Laundry Comics , Self-Loathing Comics , and work published in The New Yorker . In 1978, Crumb allowed his artwork to be used as pictorial rubber stamp designs by Top Drawer Rubber Stamp Company ,

7410-794: The work of cartoon artists from earlier generations, including Billy DeBeck ( Barney Google ), C. E. Brock (an old story book illustrator), Gene Ahern 's comic strips, Basil Wolverton ( Powerhouse Pepper ), George Baker ( Sad Sack ), Ub Iwerks 's characters for animation, Isadore Freleng 's drawings for the early Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes of the 1930s, Sidney Smith ( The Gumps ), Rube Goldberg , E. C. Segar ( Popeye ) and Bud Fisher ( Mutt and Jeff ). Crumb has cited Carl Barks , who illustrated Disney's "Donald Duck" comic books, and John Stanley ( Little Lulu ) as formative influences on his narrative approach, as well as Harvey Kurtzman of Mad Magazine fame. After issues 0 and 1 of Zap , Crumb began working with others, of whom

7505-654: Was Brainstorm Comix (1975–1978), which featured only original British strips (mostly by Bryan Talbot ). Hassle Free Press was founded in London in 1975 by Tony and Carol Bennett as a publisher and distributor of underground books and comics. Now known as Knockabout Comics , the company has a long-standing relationship with underground comix pioneers Gilbert Shelton and Robert Crumb , as well as British creators like Hunt Emerson and Bryan Talbot . Knockabout has frequently suffered from prosecutions from UK customs, who have seized work by creators such as Crumb and Melinda Gebbie , claiming it to be obscene. The 1990s witnessed

7600-455: Was a lengthy drug trip on LSD that "left him fuzzy for two months" and led to him adopting the surrealistic, psychedelic style for which he has become known. A peer in the underground comics field, Victor Moscoso , commented about his first impression of Crumb's work, in the mid-1960s, before meeting Crumb in person: "I couldn't tell if it was an old man drawing young, or a young man drawing old." Robert Crumb's cartooning style has drawn on

7695-526: 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 into scatological and pornographic comics. In

7790-764: Was among the artists honored in the exhibition "Masters of American Comics" at the Jewish Museum in New York City, from September 16, 2006, to January 28, 2007. In 2017, Crumb's original cover art for the 1969 Fritz the Cat collection published by Ballantine sold at auction for $ 717,000, the highest sale price to that point for any piece of American cartoon art. In addition to numerous brief television reports, there are at least three television or theatrical documentaries dedicated to Crumb. Crumb and his work are featured in Ron Mann 's Comic Book Confidential (1988). In

7885-544: 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 made The Village Voice look like a church circular". Published by Walter Bowart , EVO was among the first countercultural newspapers to emerge. EVO was one of the founding members of the Underground Press Syndicate ,

7980-448: Was associated with countercultural iconoclasm, the movement's most enduring legacy was to be autobiography. In the late 1970s, Marvel and DC Comics agreed to sell their comics on a no-return basis with large discounts to comic book retailers; this led to later deals that helped underground publishers. During this period, underground titles focusing on feminist and Gay Liberation themes began to appear, as well as comics associated with

8075-581: Was beginning to decline, the British scene came into prominence between 1973 and 1974, but soon faced the same kind of criticism that American underground comix received. UK-based underground cartoonists included Chris Welch, Edward Barker , Michael J. Weller , Malcolm Livingstone, William Rankin (aka Wyndham Raine), Dave Gibbons , Joe Petagno, Bryan Talbot , and the team of Martin Sudden, Jay Jeff Jones and Brian Bolland . The last UK underground comix series of note

8170-413: Was built by a deposit account at Gary Arlington 's San Francisco Comic Book Store. The collection also includes titles from New York, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. The Rhode Island School of Design 's Fleet Library acquired a thousand-item collection of underground comix through a donation by Bill Adler in 2021. Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb ( / k r ʌ m / ; born August 30, 1943)

8265-411: Was designed to compete with Al Goldstein 's tabloid Screw . There were several other spin-off titles published at the same time, including Gay Power (a New York–centric gay liberation paper which survived for about a year), and a brief-lived astrology paper. In 1968, Bowart departed, moving to Tucson, Arizona , where he founded Omen Press , publishing metaphysical books. In 1970, EVO had

8360-659: Was drawing novelty greeting cards for American Greetings in Cleveland, Ohio . He stayed with the company for four years, producing hundreds of cards for the company's Hi-Brow line; his superiors had him draw in a cuter style that was to leave a footprint on his work throughout his career. In Cleveland, he met a group of young bohemians such as Buzzy Linhart , Liz Johnston, and Harvey Pekar . Dissatisfied with greeting card work, he tried to sell cartoons to comic book companies, who showed little interest in his work. In 1965, cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman printed some of Crumb's work in

8455-601: Was financially successful and almost single-handedly developed a market for underground comix. Within a few issues, Zap began to feature other cartoonists — including S. Clay Wilson , Robert Williams , Spain Rodriguez , and Gilbert Shelton — and Crumb launched a series of solo titles, including Despair , Uneeda (both published by Print Mint in 1969), Big Ass Comics , R. Crumb's Comics and Stories , Motor City Comics (all published by Rip Off Press in 1969), Home Grown Funnies ( Kitchen Sink Press , 1971) and Hytone Comix ( Apex Novelties , 1971), in addition to founding

8550-465: Was followed by an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art and a Pulitzer Prize for Spiegelman in 1992. The novel originated from a three-page story first published in an underground comic, Funny Aminals [ sic ], (Apex Novelties, 1972). Alternative cartoonist Peter Bagge was strongly influenced by underground comics, and was reciprocally admired by Crumb, for whom Bagge edited Weirdo magazine in

8645-451: Was influenced by science fiction comics and included art by Denis Kitchen and Richard "Grass" Green , one of the few African-American comix creators. Other important underground cartoonists of the era included Shelton, Wilson, Deitch, Rodriguez, Skip Williamson , Rick Griffin , George Metzger , and Victor Moscoso . Shelton became famous for his characters Wonder Wart-Hog , a superhero parody, and The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers ,

8740-492: Was popular, and Crumb was flooded with requests, including to illustrate a full issue of Philadelphia 's Yarrowstalks . Independent publisher Don Donahue invited Crumb to make a comic book; Crumb drew up two issues of Zap Comix , and Donahue published the first in February 1968 under the publisher name Apex Novelties . Crumb had difficulty at first finding retailers who would stock it, and at first his wife took to selling

8835-404: Was the first all-female underground comic; followed in 1972 by Wimmen's Comix (Last Gasp), an anthology series founded by cartoonist Patricia Moodian  [ fr ] that featured (among others) Melinda Gebbie , Lynda Barry , Aline Kominsky , and Shary Flenniken . Joyce Farmer and Lyn Chevli 's Tits & Clits Comix all-female anthology debuted in 1972 as well. By 1972–1973,

8930-467: Was unhappy and the children were frequent witnesses to their parents' arguments. The couple had four other children: sons Charles Vincent Crumb Jr. and Maxon Crumb , both of whom suffered from mental illness, and daughters Carol and Sandra. The family often moved between Philadelphia and Charles's hometown, Albert Lea, Minnesota . In August 1950, the Crumbs moved to Ames, Iowa . For two years, Charles,

9025-494: Was unstable as Crumb frequently went his own way, and he was not close to his son, Jesse (born in 1968). In 1965 and 1966 Crumb had a number of Fritz the Cat strips published in the men's magazine Cavalier . Fritz had appeared in Crumb's work as early as the late 1950s; he was to become a hipster, scam artist, and bohemian until Crumb abandoned the character in 1969. Crumb was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with his job and marriage when in June 1965 he began taking LSD ,

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