Going underground
Going underground |
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Page 3 of 36  Pages from Zap (Print Mint, 1969), satirizing racist stereotypes and incest within the all-American family. This was strong stuff indeed and this particular issue (no 4) was prosecuted for obscenity in New York. It is this convergence of influences that caused the comix explosion to happen when it did. The boom lasted from about 1967 to 1975, when many thousands of comix were produced, mostly on a self-published basis. Unlike conventional comics, underground strips were not created in a production-line environment. Writers and artists, inkers and letterers were not teamed up to work under the control of one editor. Instead, the underground creator controlled every facet of his or her individual creation. This meant, among other things, that creators worked at their own speed, without regard for deadlines, which had the frustrating result that some comix only ran to one issue, while continuing titles often suffered huge gaps between instalments. Even so, in the words of one creator: 'We believe it's better for all concerned to spend a year producing one gem than it is to have to hump-up behind deadlines just to produce a lot of crap on a regular basis.' Also, in tune with the hippie ethos, creators kept copyright over their work, and received royalties. Thus, they benefited financially in proportion to the success of their labours, which could mean, of course, earning nothing at all. The idea of a flat fee per page was unknown, and in the early days at least, there was nothing so unseemly as a contract. Finally, in terms of marketing, the comix were ideally placed to take advantage of the existing network of hippie shops, or headshops, which were a feature of most big towns in the USA and Canada. These sold trendy clothing and jewellery, plus drugs paraphernalia, such as pipes and reefers, as well as a selection of psychedelic posters, which were a major influence on the look of the comix.5 The content of the comix meant they could not possibly be sold via the traditional newsagent route, so this was a perfect alternative.  Pages from Zap  Panel from Home Crown Funnies (Kitchen Sink, 1971), featuring Angelfood McBevilsfood' aka 'Angelfpod McSpade'. |