Comix : The Underground Revolution

by Dez Skinn

While mainstream comics have graced newsstands since the 1930s, there has long been an underground comics scene brewing deep beneath the surface. Underground comic books (which took the name "comix," using the "x" to signify their adult nature) erupted in the 1960s as a reaction to ultraconservative and patriotic comics produced by the large corporations that featured characters like Captain America and Superman. Bored with moralistic tales, artists such as Robert Crumb, creator of Zap Comix and Fritz the Cat; and Gilbert Shelton, creator of The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, produced a new and revolutionary style, freely attacking politicians, the war in Vietnam, and corporate America. Comix is an homage to both the motivation and the talent of the artists working then and now in the genre. Beautifully illustrated throughout with original artworks from the likes of R. Crumb, Denis Kitchen, and Gilbert Shelton, the book graphically expresses a range of attitudes on topics ranging from sex, drugs, and rock n' roll to politics, big business, and women's liberation. This is the first book to explore the artwork and countercultural legacy of comix, key events in the history of this medium, and biographies of its most influential artists and writers.

Genres: Comics, Nonfiction, Reference, History, Art

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Immigration Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good overview of the Underground Comix industry of the 1960s and 70s. It is a bit disjointed, but it offers relevant background for newcomers unfamiliar with Underground Comix, and it provides connections backwards from the Comix era to the work of Harvey Kurtzman at Mad Comics and Mad Magazine (in the 1950s). And, finally, it also provides a look at how the Comix reflected (and encouraged) the Cultural revolution of the time -- when Timothy Leary urged students to "Turn on, tune in, [and] drop out" -- and how the cultural revolution changed the trajectory of the Comix.

Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll . . . Vote Eugene McCarthy, not Tricky Dick Nixon.

[Rich Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would highly recommend this overview of the underground comix/alternative press phenomena of the sixties, seventies and eighties. It covers all the major topics, creators and comix of the era, with loads of reprinted artwork. Mind you, this is probably not one for the kids unless you are VERY open-minded, as there are some rather graphic photos and discussions.

[Matthew J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chunks of this were interesting and informative, however, it started to get convoluted and repetitive as the same people, same publications, same events, etc. all started to come back again and again, getting referenced and revisited ad nauseum.
This no doubt comes from some of my own personal biases, but I find a lot of the folks involved in so called comix, alternative and "adults only" comics, to be tiresome and often boring. Folks who work so hard ("Try-hard." Isn't that what the kids call them?) to be shocking, but ultimately they're just annoying. I'm not shocked. I was 13 once, too. There was a song in the second season of Schmigadoon! called "Do We Shock You?" that seemed appropriate.
Anyway, I think the combination of the subject matter and the repetitiveness that grew as the book progressed started to bore and aggravate me as it went on.
If you're interested in the history of alternative comics, I'm sure you'll find stuff on interest in here. And again, there were definitely parts that I found interesting. I just didn't especially enjoy the book, and was reminded of how obnoxious so many Boomer & Boomer-adjacent subcultural, would-be rebels were (still are).

[Ketan Shah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know much about the world of independent comics so this was an interesting journey through what some would call the 'underbelly'of the medium. I recommend reading this with a magnifying glass nearby as the book itself is roughly digest sized and some of the pages reprinted from the comix have detail that's hard to make out any other way.