Going underground
Going underground |
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Page 4 of 36  Sleeve to the album Cheap Thrills by Big Brother and the Holding Company - Janis Joplins band (Columbia Records, 1968). Chronologically speaking, the underground experienced a number of false starts. In the early and mid-1960s, sporadic comics appeared with very small print runs, usually produced with friends in mind and concerning personal subject matter. (Though it should be mentioned here that some more political titles also appeared at this time, such as Harry Chess, Trojan Books, 1966, the first gay comic.) Then there were compilations of hippie cartoons drawn from the alternative newspapers. These papers were an integral part of the scene, and were typically tied to specific towns. They included The Barb in Berkeley, Yarrowstalks in Philadelphia and The East Village Other in New York. They were very important in giving creators their first professional 'gigs' and were often a 'next step' after the college magazines. In spite of these publications, the story does not really begin until 1967. By this time, San Francisco had become the undisputed 'hippie capital'. It acted like a magnet for America's disenfranchised youth, and quickly certain districts, such as Haight-Ashbury, were completely colonized. The New York coffee-house circuit had become passe, and all of a sudden this was the place to be. 'Frisco' headshops thrived and there were a number of local alternative newspapers, all of which carried strips. If the comix revolution was going to happen anywhere, it would happen here.  Crumb himself, in one of his intense confessionals (the People's Comics, 1972).  Fritz the Cat, a 'hep cat', literally, here trying to impress a female ostrich (The People's Comics, Golden Gate. 1972). |