Going underground
Going underground |
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Page 23 of 36  Dope Fiend Funnies (H Bunch, 1974) The consequences of this assault by the establishment were far-reaching. Court actions were expensive, and publishers who were already on tight budgets simply could not keep up. Those that did not close down often took the decision to soften the content of their comix to make them more acceptable. Similarly, for headshop owners, prosecutions were costly, and many shut down of their own accord. Those that stayed open often refused to stock the more dodgy comix due to the risk. This whittling down of the network was obviously of major significance for the future of the entire movement. In Britain, a similar backlash took hold. Articles in the press took an almost identical stance, with the added complaint that the underground was an import from America: evidently, anti-American prejudice was not quite dead. Customs re-doubled their efforts to keep the American titles out of the country, while at home there was a campaign in the courts against the alternative press as a whole. In time most of the alternative papers were busted, usually for sexual content. The most famous trial in this respect was that regarding Oz, which became something of a cause celebre within the counterculture, with protest marches and meetings being organized, and 'celebrity' witnesses agreeing to appear for the defence. (They included John Peel and Marty Feldman.) Much of the trial was involved with a discussion of the merits of the magazine's cartoons, specifically work by Crumb and Shelton. It ended with the editors being jailed (though they were soon released on appeal).  Dope Fiend Funnies (H Bunch, 1974)  Ogoth and Ugly Boot (1973), about futuristic Hell's Angels, by Chris Welch |