"Zap Comix are squinky comics!"
- Robert Crumb
The long feature below is from CULTURAL CORRESPONDENCE #5 (Summer-Fall 1977) and the article by Daniel Czitrom begins with a well-written short history of comic books and how underground comics were formed in rejection to mainstream comics and the restrictions imposed on the creators. The article then turns into a beefy Q&A with a number of underground comics artists who were active from their beginnings in the 1960's. One thing you can say: those artists always had plenty to say! A fascinating read behind the scenes of a pop culture phenomena.
This last February 25 marked the 56th anniversary of another pop culture landmark, the publication of ZAP COMIX #1, published by Apex Novelties in San Francisco in 1968. The brainchild of Robert Crumb, the most well-known of the underground cartoonists of that era, when it first rolled off the press it was hawked on Haight Street by the printer himself along with Crumb and his wife, Dana, who hauled around a batch of them in a baby carriage! Even though there were similar comics privately published or distributed on college campuses, ZAP #1 is generally considered to be the first "official" underground comic book. You can get a look at it after the following article. For those of you who know there was a ZAP #0, the art that is in this was originally lost and the comic wasn't printed until a year or two later.
WARNING! As noted on the cover, ZAP COMIX is intended for "adult intellectuals only", but contains material that could be considered rude and offensive by today's social standards (just like it was in 1968!). As for me, I'm still laughing my ass off!
Another of my regrets (minor though it is) is that I didn't sop up more of the underground work. To be fair, the heyday had passed by the time I was able to really afford to pursue, but even then, I didn't do much. I have a few. The Indy market developed, and I was drawn off by that. Still the in-your-face brashness of the underground comics is refreshing in a time when making me people upset seems to be worse than lying to them.
ReplyDeleteI was fortunate to have a few places where I could buy them. They reminded me of Mad magazine on acid -- which they were!
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