Going underground
Going underground |
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Page 34 of 36  Slow Death (Last Gasp, 1979) By contrast, many creators continued in the same vein as before, though inevitably some of their work began to look very dated. Crumb, Shelton, Spain, Emerson and others put out a range of new comix, which, ironically, sold in much greater quantities in the 1980s and 1990s than the pioneering titles they had produced in the 1960s and 1970s. Similarly, some publishers persevered, and managed to carve themselves a niche in the new comics market. Last Gasp, Rip Off and Kitchen Sink all did well, while in Britain, underground publishing was dominated by the relatively new Knockabout Comics. But even if the undergrounds now occupied a different position in the marketplace - at best, another variety of alternative comic, at worst, an awkward anachronism -then it is also true that the legacy of the original movement lived on. The underground had shown that a comic need not be restricted to any particular age group, art style or subject matter, and had established a completely new economic rationale for creators. Both these achievements revolutionized comics, alternative and, to an extent, mainstream, forever. Yet even if the comix's contribution to the history of the medium is indisputable, there still remains one nagging question. Namely, what was the underground's contribution to politics? After all, the comix were unique for the fact that they had pretentions to changing the world: the very word 'underground' suggested an oppositional stance, and their links with ideological causes were a defining influence.  Gay Comix  Slow Death  All-Atomic Comics (Edu-Comics, 1976), complete with facts and figures about the nuclear threat Art: Various. Script: Leonard Rifas.  All-Atomic Comics |