Underground Comix set: Zap, Young Lust, Crumb

Tags

black and white, Indie Comics, Last Gasp, Robert Crumb, underground comix, Weirdo, young lust

Today we flip through pages from Zap, Young Lust, and miscellaneous works by Robert Crumb. These comics were so much fun to read, and we were glad that when we sold them we at least made back the cost of buying them. The lunacy and ribald humor of these adult-oriented magazines merges with artwork ranging from hilarious to adventurous. Not every story in an anthology title works for every reader, but if your sense of humor is warped even remotely as much as ours, you will find something to enjoy.

Normally we put links to buy comics here, but your choices for these underground comix are pretty much local shops, private owners such as eBayers, and a scavenger hunt for any printing still carried by Last Gasp.

A Look Inside Weirdo Magazine

Tags

black and white, Indie Comics, Last Gasp, Robert Crumb, Spain, Trashman, underground comix, Weirdo

Weirdo features the legendary underground artist Robert Crumb and a cavalcade of independent talent. Spain’s infamous TrashMan makes an appearance, as do Kim Deitch, Ed Roth, Peter ‘Hate’ Bagge, and too many to list here: some of the funniest, boldest, and most outrageous artists of an era!

Most of these copies in our photos came directly from Last Gasp publishing, and represent the best condition you can get new copies in. Overall, they have shipped us high-quality books that have been long out-of-print and are depleting rapidly from their original stock. We are willing to accept the occasional roll to a spine or minor ding in a corner to enjoy a classic.

These comic books are not intended for small children! They feature nudity, sexual content, cartoon violence, and frankly degenerate behavior! Using strong language, they talk about dead musicians, the hippie movement, intimate biographical material, bodily functions, subversive and revolutionary ideas, and ALL THE GOOD STUFF. Ok? Not for kids.

We recently sold our modest collection of Weirdo on eBay, but not before we snapped some pics of the interior art. If you haven’t seen Weirdo before, enjoy a look inside!

Jim Morrison on Zap Comix

Tags

Amazing Heroes, Fantagraphics, Indie Comics, Jim Korkis, Jim Morrison, Potpourri, Robert Crumb, underground comix, Zap Comix

Jim Morrison had a few things to say in a 1970 interview about Robert Crumb, Zap Comix, and how they warped his view of the world. Jim Korkis provided this excerpt on his ‘potpourri’ page of Amazing Heroes.

Collector’s Guide:
– from Amazing Heroes #44; Fantagraphics, 1984.

Below, the original page, as compiled and edited by Jim Korkis.

Paranoid Postcards 12

Tags

devil girl, Kitchen Sink Comics, postcards, Robert Crumb, underground comix

Robert Crumb’s City of the Future!

Tags

city of the future, comix, Indie Comics, Robert Crumb, underground comix, Zap, Zap Comix

Legend has it that Robert Crumb’s entire set of finished pages for the first issue of Zap somehow got lost. He created a whole new issue from scratch that became Zap #1. When the lost pages reappeared, they saw publication as Zap #0.

Crumb’s mix of absurdity, psychedelia, and satire produced two of our favorite underground comix classics in this issue. Meatball tells the tale of random Americans being struck by flying meatballs until a meatball sensation sweeps the nation.

City of the Future comically spoofs the pop culture tradition of envisioning what our daily lives will be like in some far-off time. But on second read, one might consider the prescience of these predictions from the vantage point of our modern day video games, sex dolls, recycling centers, twitter feeds, and ‘extreme’ sports.

Collector’s Guide:
From Zap Comix #0; 1967, Apex Oddities.

Robert Crumb’s Meatball!

Tags

Indie Comics, meatball, Robert Crumb, underground comix, Zap, Zap Comix

Legend has it that Robert Crumb’s entire set of finished pages for the first issue of Zap somehow got lost. He created a whole new issue from scratch that became Zap #1. When the lost pages reappeared, they saw publication as Zap #0.

Crumb’s mix of absurdity, psychedelia, and satire produced two of our favorite underground comix classics in this issue. Meatball tells the tale of random Americans being struck by flying meatballs until a meatball sensation sweeps the nation.

City of the Future comically spoofs the pop culture tradition of envisioning what our daily lives will be like in some far-off time. But on second read, one might consider the prescience of these predictions from the vantage point of our modern day video games, sex dolls, recycling centers, twitter feeds, and ‘extreme’ sports.

Collector’s Guide:
From Zap Comix #0; 1967, Apex Oddities.

1968 Psychedelic Ad for Ginsberg’s Thing!

Tags

Allen Ginsberg, East Village Other, Ginsberg's Thing, Gothic Blimp Works, Indie Comics, Robert Crumb, underground comix

This 1968 advertisement for Allen Ginsberg’s album Ginsberg’s Thing appeared in Gothic Blimp Works, a supplement to The East Village Other. Ginsberg had recently been accused of violating the Italian Penal code. Ginsberg showed up at the police station doing his poetry thing and recorded this album at the Festival of The Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy.

Collector’s Guide:
– From Gothic Blimp Works #2, 1968.
Edited by Vaughn Bodē.
Cover by Robert Crumb.
– Get Ginsberg’s Thing on vinyl LP

Abstract Expressionist Ultra Super Modernistic Comics!

Tags

first issue, Indie Comics, Robert Crumb, underground comix, Zap, Zap Comix

We have a special place in our Martian hearts for the indie and underground work of the 1960s and 1970s: comix as opposed to comics! In the world of undergound comix, few magazines hold such a revered place as the first issue of Robert Crumb’s Zap. We preserved our bank account by finding an eighth printing of this far-out book. In addition to many humorous vignettes, Crumb blew minds with more experimental, psychedelic pieces. Dig this three-page Abstract Expressionist Ultra Super Modernistic Comics!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Zap Comix #1, 8th printing.
– Find issues of Zap direct from Last Gasp. Much of Robert Crumb’s work has been collected by Fantagraphics in The Complete Crumb Comics.