Going underground
Going underground |
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Page 28 of 36  Cover, Konvention of Alternative Komix (KAK), London, (Arts Lab, 1977). Art: Hunt Emerson, perhaps the best loved of the British comix cartoonists. Crumb, Shelton and Griffith were the most prominent examples of the comix survivors. Robert Crumb had been through a lean patch since the early 1970s as a result of problems with the IRS (Tax Office) and personal depression over exploitation, but now bounced back with some outrageous contributions to Zap, Bizarre Sex and Snarf, plus his own Snoid Comics (Kitchen Sink, 1979), about the evil 'snoids' (manifestations of the id) that live in men's brains. Gilbert Shelton had never been out of the running, and by the late 1970s found that his Freak Brothers, which was always extremely popular, had ascended to cult status: his Fat Freddy's Cat (Rip Off) series collected stories about the obnoxious feline pet of one of the Brothers, and was a major seller from 1976. Finally, Bill Griffith became more successful than ever, with three new titles in particular, Zippy Stories (Rip Off, 1977), Yow (Last Gasp, 1978) and Griffith Observatory (Rip Off, 1979), cementing his reputation. His character, 'Zippy the Pinhead', a free-associating idiot savant who can see through America's consumerist obsessions, became almost as well known as Crumb's finest creations. Mention should also be made of an important late satirical anthology, Arcade (Print Mint, 1975). This was put together by Griffith and Art Spiegelman as a 'life-raft' for underground creators in the slump, the idea being to try to open up a market on the news-stands, to be achieved by putting it out in a slightly larger, magazine, size, and on better stock paper. Unfortunately, despite attracting the cream of artistic crop, including all the Zappers bar Griffin, it confused newsagents, who did not know where to shelve it, and found itself in competition with Marvel's Comix Book. The raft sank after only seven issues.  Panel from Oz (Oz Publications Ink, 1971), the infamous 'Schoolkids issue', (so called because it was put together by kids still at school), which was busted for obscenity. Panel shows a Crumb strip modified by the addition of the head of Rupert the Bear.  The three Oz editors in suitable attire. |