Going underground
Going underground |
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Page 6 of 36  Pages from Zap Zap itself developed into a continuing anthology, with other cartoonists contributing, while Crumb himself upped his workload to include other solo comix. These tended to last for only one or two issues, but were nevertheless incredibly numerous: they included Despair (Print Mint, 1969), Big Ass Comics (Rip Off, 1969), R Crumb's Comics and Stories (Rip Off, 1969), Motor City Comics (Rip Off, 1969), Uneeda (Print Mint, 1970), Home Grown Funnies (Kitchen Sink, 1971) and Hytone Comix (Apex Novelties, 1971). He also found time to initiate two infamous porn anthologies: Jiz and Snatch (both Apex Novelties, 1969). He later justified their typically controversial content thus: 'People say "what are underground comix?" and I think the best way to define them is to [talk in terms of] the absolute freedom involved. I think that's real important. People forget that that was what it was all about. That was why we did it. We didn't have anybody standing over us saying "No, you can't draw this" or "You can't show that". We could do whatever we wanted.' In them, his most famous strips sent up the establishment ('Whiteman', about an office 'suit' who secretly dreams of rampant sex), racist stereotypes ('Angelfood McSpade', about a totally sexual, pidgin-English speaking black amazon), and, most frequently, the more idiotic aspects of the hippie counterculture ('Fritz the Cat', about a hip feline who becomes a political revolutionary out of ennui, and 'Mr Natural', about a capitalistic guru). Crumb would also feature himself as a character, usually portrayed as a self-loathing, sex-obsessed intellectual - which was, in fact, just how others saw him at the time.  Cover, Zap (Print Mint, 1973) by Gilbert Shelton, the hippie king of comedy. The cover is in fact a homage to Mad artist, Basil Wolverton. ![page from Zap (Print Mint, 1969], featuring 'Wonder Wart-hog', one of Shelton's most popular creations.](http://blastotoys.com/images/stories/five/five-18.jpg "page from Zap (Print Mint, 1969], featuring 'Wonder Wart-hog', one of Shelton's most popular creations.") page from Zap (Print Mint, 1969], featuring 'Wonder Wart-hog', one of Shelton's most popular creations. |