Favorite underground comix?!
Question: what's your favorite underground comic books?
(looking to check some good ones out that i havent heard of or read yet)
Answers: what's your favorite underground comic books?
(looking to check some good ones out that i havent heard of or read yet)
When you talk about underground comix some of us immediately flash back to the sixties (sometimes literally). I've heard the word "comix" used to describe anything which treats adult material I've also heard it for anything not published by one of the conglomerates under their main label. Wrong. Underground Comix were created both to have fun and to critique the mainstream in a way most recent "examples" don't. I'll give you some favorite critiques.
George Metzger's Moondog. An early '70s new age saga of a blind man in a post-apocalyptic west with awesome visual storytelling and wild stories. The artist/writer also did work for a few fanzines around the same period.
Vaughan Bode's SunPot. My introduction to this stuff. Crude and dirty, it actually appeared in Galaxy Magazine, a science fiction magazine first.
Spain Rodriguez's Trashman of the Sixth International. Equally influenced by mainstream cartoonists like Jack Kirby and Joe Kubert's war stories, by biker graphics and by socialist realism (which wasn't) this story prefigured Metzger's crisp graphics while taking it in the opposite, political direction. Spain has recently drawn stories for Harvey Pekar and is currently doing work for Slate magazine which is far less Wagnerian but characterized by equally crisp and amazing storytelling.
Crumb and Shelton, of course.
Zap comics featured a variety of great artists strutting their stuff in ways they couldn't elsewhere. S. Clay Wilson's Checkered Demon was as gross and appalling as it was brilliant. Victor Moscoso and Robert Williams were completely surreal (the former spent a few pages transforming Mr. Peanut into something I'm not sure I can say here), and certainly never bothered with conventional "stories".
Richard Corben did some work for Last Gasp EcoFunnies before moving on to Heavy Metal.
Dan O'Neill was the most eccentric of them all. His Odd Bodkins strip can possibly be found in two books: Hear the sound of my feet walking drown the sound of my voice talking, and the collective unconscious of Odd Bodkins. It began as a "conventional" newspaper strip syndicated by the Universal Press Syndicate, but the adventures of Fred Bird (the only comic strip character ever declared persona non grata by Britain) and his pointy-headed intellectual friend Hugh were very strange from the beginning. They took part in the infamous Mickey Mouse Vs. the Air Pirates Funnies which was the subject of a successful lawsuit by Disney corporation. United Press dropped the strip in favor of the tamer Doonesbury.
Finally, there was Mexican Communist Rius. He did some strips about peasants called Los Campaneros and Los SuperMachos but he is chiefly remembered for two books of agitprop: Cuba for Beginners and Marx for Beginners. He was and is a serious Marxist. He is also a very smart man and highly recommended. If anyone has any newer stuff they like I'm sure they will let you know.
this comic book isnt underground i think i dont know much about comic books but i really like this one its called THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY by GERARD WAY enjoy its a dark horse comic
Mr. Natural
The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers of the 1960's !
The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way isn't an underground comic book (Yes I know that girl above also said it wasn't, I'm just re-stating this for emphasis) but I find it to be very good, even if I do not like My Chemical Romance.
It may be hard to find, but one of my favorite comics is Lone by Stuart Moore. It's a short lived post-apocalyptic western (Think Mad Max meets Clint Eastwood) published by Rocket Comics.
Another good one that is almost ruined by all the "Hot-Topic" kids is Johnny The Homicidal Maniac by Johnen Vasquez. It's a pretty mature book and has some graphic violence, but the book is very well written and very funny at times. It's published by Slave Labor Graphics.
Since I'm guessing you're a girl though you might want to try Strangers In Paradise by Terry Moore. It is the best romance comic ever written in my opinion and I think you'll enjoy it.
If you're looking for more of a superhero comic you might want to try Invincible by Robert Kirkman. It's a perfect mix of drama, action, comedy and romance. It's published by Image Comics.
None of these comics are truly "Underground" but they're not exactly main stream so it's a good start for someone looking to get into underground comics.
Comics by lh art Check out: lhart.com fromtvman707@gmail.com