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Leonard Rifas
Leonard Rifas (born April 16, 1951) is an American cartoonist, critic, editor, and publisher associated with underground comix, comics journalism, left-wing politics, and the anti-nuclear movement. He is notable for his contributions to the form of minicomics as well as publishing Japanese manga in the United States. Rifas' publishing company, EduComics, operated most actively from 1976 to 1982.
Rifas has written a number of scholarly articles in various journals, on such topics as "the anti-comics movement of the 1950s, the underground comix movement, representations of race, and Korean War comic books."
Rifas' first published work was a self-published minicomic called Quoz, published in 1969. Printed by underground publisher Don Donahue, it is considered one of the first true minicomics. The contents are reprinted in Michael Dowers' Treasury of Mini Comics — Volume One (Fantagraphics Books, Oct. 2013) ISBN 978-1606996577.
In the early 1970s, Rifas contributed comics to the underground anthologies San Francisco Comic Book #1 (Gary Arlington, 1970) and Hee Hee Comics (Company & Sons, 1970), and then put together Gimme, an underground one-shot mostly scripted by Rifas with art by Rifas and a group of other contributors.
Rifas set up EduComics in 1976, ostensibly to publish All-Atomic Comics, an educational comic about "the many dangers of nuclear energy development and operations. The product of two years of work, All-Atomic Comics was scripted by Rifas, with art by himself and a number of other artists, including Melinda Gebbie and Larry Rippee. The comic found great success, with an initial print-run of 10,000 copies (and revised editions released in 1977, 1978, 1979, and 1980). All-Atomic Comics was translated and published in Germany (by a number of different publishers) in the late 1970s.
In 1976, Rifas struck up a relationship with Wisconsin-based publisher Kitchen Sink Press, which, in conjunction with the United States Bicentennial, released his An Army of Principles, about "The History and Philosophy of the American Revolution." The 36-page comic was mostly drawn and entirely inked by Rifas, with some penciling assists by others.
Next, Rifas spearheaded the anthology series Corporate Crime for Kitchen Sink Press, the first issue appearing in 1977 and the second in 1979. Corporate Crime is an early example of comics reportage, with a number of notable contributors, including Greg Irons, Trina Robbins, Harry Driggs, Guy Colwell, Kim Deitch, Justin Green, Jay Kinney, Denis Kitchen, and Larry Gonick.
Meanwhile, Rifas expanded EduComics into a true publisher. From 1978 to 1982, the company released a number of politically oriented educational anthologies (most edited by Rifas) on such topics as motherhood, energy policy, and food production. These anthologies included the work of such underground luminaries as Trina Robbins, Suzy Varty, Joyce Farmer, Robert Crumb, Harry Driggs, Denis Kitchen, Greg Irons, Sharon Rudahl, and Harry S. Robins. The company also published a number of works by Japanese cartoonist Keiji Nakazawa, making Rifas the first American publisher to publish translated manga.
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Leonard Rifas
Leonard Rifas (born April 16, 1951) is an American cartoonist, critic, editor, and publisher associated with underground comix, comics journalism, left-wing politics, and the anti-nuclear movement. He is notable for his contributions to the form of minicomics as well as publishing Japanese manga in the United States. Rifas' publishing company, EduComics, operated most actively from 1976 to 1982.
Rifas has written a number of scholarly articles in various journals, on such topics as "the anti-comics movement of the 1950s, the underground comix movement, representations of race, and Korean War comic books."
Rifas' first published work was a self-published minicomic called Quoz, published in 1969. Printed by underground publisher Don Donahue, it is considered one of the first true minicomics. The contents are reprinted in Michael Dowers' Treasury of Mini Comics — Volume One (Fantagraphics Books, Oct. 2013) ISBN 978-1606996577.
In the early 1970s, Rifas contributed comics to the underground anthologies San Francisco Comic Book #1 (Gary Arlington, 1970) and Hee Hee Comics (Company & Sons, 1970), and then put together Gimme, an underground one-shot mostly scripted by Rifas with art by Rifas and a group of other contributors.
Rifas set up EduComics in 1976, ostensibly to publish All-Atomic Comics, an educational comic about "the many dangers of nuclear energy development and operations. The product of two years of work, All-Atomic Comics was scripted by Rifas, with art by himself and a number of other artists, including Melinda Gebbie and Larry Rippee. The comic found great success, with an initial print-run of 10,000 copies (and revised editions released in 1977, 1978, 1979, and 1980). All-Atomic Comics was translated and published in Germany (by a number of different publishers) in the late 1970s.
In 1976, Rifas struck up a relationship with Wisconsin-based publisher Kitchen Sink Press, which, in conjunction with the United States Bicentennial, released his An Army of Principles, about "The History and Philosophy of the American Revolution." The 36-page comic was mostly drawn and entirely inked by Rifas, with some penciling assists by others.
Next, Rifas spearheaded the anthology series Corporate Crime for Kitchen Sink Press, the first issue appearing in 1977 and the second in 1979. Corporate Crime is an early example of comics reportage, with a number of notable contributors, including Greg Irons, Trina Robbins, Harry Driggs, Guy Colwell, Kim Deitch, Justin Green, Jay Kinney, Denis Kitchen, and Larry Gonick.
Meanwhile, Rifas expanded EduComics into a true publisher. From 1978 to 1982, the company released a number of politically oriented educational anthologies (most edited by Rifas) on such topics as motherhood, energy policy, and food production. These anthologies included the work of such underground luminaries as Trina Robbins, Suzy Varty, Joyce Farmer, Robert Crumb, Harry Driggs, Denis Kitchen, Greg Irons, Sharon Rudahl, and Harry S. Robins. The company also published a number of works by Japanese cartoonist Keiji Nakazawa, making Rifas the first American publisher to publish translated manga.