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Zap Comix
Zap Comix is an underground comix series which was originally part of the counterculture of the late 1960s. While a few small-circulation self-published satirical comic books had been printed prior to this, Zap became the model for the "comix" movement that snowballed after its release. The title itself published 17 issues over a period of 46 years.
Premiering in early 1968 as a showcase for the work of Robert Crumb, Zap was unlike any comic book that had been seen before. While working on Zap #1, Crumb saw a Family Dog poster drawn by Rick Griffin which resembled a psychedelic version of a Sunday funnies page. Its surreal, other-worldly imagery inspired him to think about comics in a new way, as seen in the art style of Zap #1's Abstract Expressionist Ultra Super Modernistic Comics. When Crumb started planning the next issue, he got in touch with Griffin, asking him to contribute to Zap #2. Griffin agreed and suggested bringing fellow poster artist Victor Moscoso on board. S. Clay Wilson, Gilbert Shelton, Robert Williams, and "Spain" Rodriguez were also contributors to Zap.
While the origin of the spelling "comix" is a subject of some dispute, it was popularized by its appearance in the title of the first issues of Zap. Design critic Steven Heller claims that the term "comix" ("co-mix") refers to the traditional comic book style of Zap, and its mixture of dirty jokes and storylines.
Labeled "Fair Warning: For Adult Intellectuals Only", Zap #1 featured the publishing debut of Robert Crumb's much-bootlegged Keep on Truckin' imagery, an early appearance of unreliable holy man Mr. Natural and his neurotic disciple Flakey Foont, and the first of innumerable self-caricatures (in which Crumb calls himself "a raving lunatic", and "one of the world's last great medieval thinkers"). The debut issue included the story "Whiteman", which detailed the inner torment seething within the lusty, fearful heart of an outwardly upright American.
Crumb asked Griffin to collaborate on issue #2. Griffin suggested bringing fellow poster artist Victor Moscoso on board. Crumb added S. Clay Wilson and the four of them formed the Zap collective. Gilbert Shelton joined the crew with issue #3, and Robert Williams and "Spain" Rodriguez joined with issue #4. This group of artists remained mostly constant throughout the history of Zap.
Zap's new publisher the Print Mint weathered a lawsuit filed over the Zap #4, released in 1969, which featured among other things, Crumb's depiction of incest in a middle-class family. The publishers, Don and Alice Schenker, were arrested and charged with publishing pornography by the Berkeley Police Department. Previous to that, Simon Lowinsky, who had a gallery on College Avenue in Berkeley and had put up an exhibition of Crumb's original drawings, had been arrested on the same charge. His case came to trial first. He was acquitted after supportive testimony from Peter Selz, a prominent figure in the art world. At that point the city dropped the charges against the Print Mint.[citation needed] In a related case, however — also brought on by Zap #4 — the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that local communities could decide their own First Amendment standards with reference to obscenity. In the mid-1970s, sale of drug paraphernalia was outlawed in many places, and the distribution network for these comics (and the underground newspapers) dried up, leaving mail order as the only commercial outlet for underground titles.
Contributor Rick Griffin died in 1991; Paul Mavrides made his debut as a Zap contributor in issue #14 (1998). Mavrides was invited to contribute when Crumb announced that he no longer wanted to work on Zap, although Crumb never did actually quit the title.
Zap #1 was published in San Francisco in early 1968. Some 3,500 copies were printed by Beat writer Charles Plymell, who arranged with publisher Don Donahue for Zap to be the first title put out under Donahue's Apex Novelties imprint.
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Zap Comix
Zap Comix is an underground comix series which was originally part of the counterculture of the late 1960s. While a few small-circulation self-published satirical comic books had been printed prior to this, Zap became the model for the "comix" movement that snowballed after its release. The title itself published 17 issues over a period of 46 years.
Premiering in early 1968 as a showcase for the work of Robert Crumb, Zap was unlike any comic book that had been seen before. While working on Zap #1, Crumb saw a Family Dog poster drawn by Rick Griffin which resembled a psychedelic version of a Sunday funnies page. Its surreal, other-worldly imagery inspired him to think about comics in a new way, as seen in the art style of Zap #1's Abstract Expressionist Ultra Super Modernistic Comics. When Crumb started planning the next issue, he got in touch with Griffin, asking him to contribute to Zap #2. Griffin agreed and suggested bringing fellow poster artist Victor Moscoso on board. S. Clay Wilson, Gilbert Shelton, Robert Williams, and "Spain" Rodriguez were also contributors to Zap.
While the origin of the spelling "comix" is a subject of some dispute, it was popularized by its appearance in the title of the first issues of Zap. Design critic Steven Heller claims that the term "comix" ("co-mix") refers to the traditional comic book style of Zap, and its mixture of dirty jokes and storylines.
Labeled "Fair Warning: For Adult Intellectuals Only", Zap #1 featured the publishing debut of Robert Crumb's much-bootlegged Keep on Truckin' imagery, an early appearance of unreliable holy man Mr. Natural and his neurotic disciple Flakey Foont, and the first of innumerable self-caricatures (in which Crumb calls himself "a raving lunatic", and "one of the world's last great medieval thinkers"). The debut issue included the story "Whiteman", which detailed the inner torment seething within the lusty, fearful heart of an outwardly upright American.
Crumb asked Griffin to collaborate on issue #2. Griffin suggested bringing fellow poster artist Victor Moscoso on board. Crumb added S. Clay Wilson and the four of them formed the Zap collective. Gilbert Shelton joined the crew with issue #3, and Robert Williams and "Spain" Rodriguez joined with issue #4. This group of artists remained mostly constant throughout the history of Zap.
Zap's new publisher the Print Mint weathered a lawsuit filed over the Zap #4, released in 1969, which featured among other things, Crumb's depiction of incest in a middle-class family. The publishers, Don and Alice Schenker, were arrested and charged with publishing pornography by the Berkeley Police Department. Previous to that, Simon Lowinsky, who had a gallery on College Avenue in Berkeley and had put up an exhibition of Crumb's original drawings, had been arrested on the same charge. His case came to trial first. He was acquitted after supportive testimony from Peter Selz, a prominent figure in the art world. At that point the city dropped the charges against the Print Mint.[citation needed] In a related case, however — also brought on by Zap #4 — the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that local communities could decide their own First Amendment standards with reference to obscenity. In the mid-1970s, sale of drug paraphernalia was outlawed in many places, and the distribution network for these comics (and the underground newspapers) dried up, leaving mail order as the only commercial outlet for underground titles.
Contributor Rick Griffin died in 1991; Paul Mavrides made his debut as a Zap contributor in issue #14 (1998). Mavrides was invited to contribute when Crumb announced that he no longer wanted to work on Zap, although Crumb never did actually quit the title.
Zap #1 was published in San Francisco in early 1968. Some 3,500 copies were printed by Beat writer Charles Plymell, who arranged with publisher Don Donahue for Zap to be the first title put out under Donahue's Apex Novelties imprint.