The ComicsPriceGuide.com Boards / Underground Comics / Comics Specialties

Underground eye-candy...

oldmilwaukee6er — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:23:23 GMT

someday i could see getting bigger into Tj bibles...
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/dillingertb.jpg[/IMG]

now w/ broken ROP logo (step right up)!
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/Copyofsubvert1.jpg[/IMG]

Help! Please!

delaory — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:17:55 GMT

I am a new member to this forum, and I have a collection of Old UG's that I personally purchaced back in the 60's and 70's. Some of the titles are not listed in the Value Guide and I would like any information you might be able to provide.

Thanking you in advance for the assistance.

List:

TASTY-Washington Free Press Community artist Co-op. Unknown Date of Publication

SPACED-First Issue- 1979 by James Pinkowski and the Comics and Comix Company

SWAMP FEVER- By Big Muddy Comics, New Oreleans-1972?

HONKYTONK #2 1970-Company and Sons-

FUNNYBOOK #1- Allmighty Publishing 1971

REAL PULP Comics #1 1971- The Print Mint

UP FROM THE DEEP #1-1971-Rip off Press

ROWLF by Richard Corben-1971- Rip Off Press

HYTONE COMICS 1971 R. Crumb Apex Novelities

R.Crumb..No title, no Print Info..this is a collection of Crumb Drawing about Pirates and Dykes and Bikes and ..well..Crumb Stuff;)..All are full Page creations in a comic format.

HORSESHIT MAGAZINE Issues 1(19650, 2 (1967 and 3( 1968)- by Thomas and Robert Dunker-Gauntlet Press.

Hope you can provide me any information you can, including Value?

I am of an age, that I need to get rid of "Stuff", and hate to throw anything away.

If these items have value, I will be adding them to my collection List, and will be offering the Entire Collection for sale

Thankyou .

Professionally Graded Underground Comix

EggsAckley — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:59:50 GMT

I thought it would be nice to have a thread to discuss graded books since myself & a few other members collect them. I would like to know who owns the other 2 Plymell Zap #1's 9.4 (ComicWiz has one). I own a 4.5 that was signed by Crumb & Plymell on the back cover and used to be owned by Plymell. Also if they would sell or trade it to me. (I can only hope). By the way, I have run an underground comix original art thread at the CGC forums since last May if you want to check it out.

Slightly OT- A little closer to my namesake...

oldmilwaukee6er — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:19:28 GMT

just a quick note to my fellow underground comix collectors...

as some of you may know, my grrl recently completed her PhD studies at LSU & accepted an asst. professor position with the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) teaching technical communication. that's right... we's leavin' Louisiana (in the broad daylight) after 6yrs & i am about to become the [i]REAL[/i] oldmilwaukee6er.

toward that end i have been posting a lot less on the boards this past month. i took off work last week to finalize de-cluttering/painting/fixing/staging our townhouse... and as of last week all comix are now in storage (yikes).

but, the townhouse was listed Sat morning, and we already had our first showing last night (and another likely Wed). so between moving, selling our place, & a long-planned 10th anniversary trip to Belize... i will soon drift off on a 1-2 month hiatus.

BTW, i had fun reorganizing and (finally) properly bagging comix i had purchased as far as May 2007! upon re-org, i noted 4 short boxes of UGs (3 alphabetized & 1 of magazines), two CGC boxes of graded stuff, & a misc box or two. it is an amazing process to go through all the items we as collectors accumulate... i found a great 1997 Moscoso poster from the Rock N Roll Museum, a "lost" GOVT MULE poster from 2005, and a few other items i had forgotten.

anyways... hope this finds you ALL in fine health and happiness. IIT/50c... thanks for emailing me your comix inventory, but for obvious reasons i am not buying much of anything right now. O40... be sure to email me when/if your Donahue File Zap #1s hit the market. the best email for me is justin.environmentalscientist@gmail.com. even if the timing is not right, i would be very appreciative of a heads-up. gooddr, jim1968, reverend, SirReal & others (DrBen u still around?)... have a freakin' blast in San Diego this year.

can't wait to settle into MKE by mid-late August, dig through the comix again, & (perhaps) finally be able to set up a nice opium-esque comix den! until then... cheers!

alright, :smooooth:m (justin)

STEALS 'n' DEALS 2 Electric boogaloo

oldmilwaukee6er — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:01:26 GMT

a little post to kick off an old favorite :hehe:

won this today "best offer" from "artcomic" (bebe)...
[URL=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/griffin_familydog.jpg][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/th_griffin_familydog.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
i hemmed & hawed & wasn't at all sure of printing determination or pricing... but pulled the trigger :unsure:
then i found this site...
[url]http://www.sixtiesposters.com/fd89.htm[/url]

[b]jim1968[/b]... any thoughts on value if a 1st as described?

my thoughts on this were two-fold (if it is a true 1st)... (1) flip it, or (2) as a project... perhaps have some moderate restoration performed (pressing; perhaps solvent cleaning, something to curb the foxing; perhaps the tear sealed) & make it a killer display piece. any thoughts?

Big *** #1

50centII — Fri, 23 May 2008 17:40:52 GMT

Thought I would post my findings of BA #1 here too.

BA #1 (1st or 2nd print?) White R. Crumb Box with glossy thick stock cover and pages out of order (All Meat Comics last), pants green/brown shoes.
BA #1 (2nd or 1st print?) Red R. Crumb Box with glossy thin stock cover and pages out of order (All Meat Comics last), pants green/brown shoes.
BA #1 (3rd print) Red R. Crumb Box with glossy thin stock cover and pages now in order (All Meat Comics last), pants green/brown shoes.
BA #1 (4th print) Red R. Crumb Box with glossy thin stock cover and pages still in order (All Meat Comics last), pants green/green shoes.
BA #1 (5th or 6th print?) Red R. Crumb Box continues on all later printings, glossy think stock cover and pages order changed (Mrs. Quiver last) and continues through all later printings, pants greenish brown/brown shoes (Probable JK brown/brown). Staple placement variant "A" & "B".
BA #1 (6th or 5th print?) glossy thin stock cover, pants green/green shoes. Staple placement variant "A" & "B".
BA #1 (7th print?) matte cover stock, pants green/green shoes.
BA #1 (8th print?) matte cover stock, pants greenish brown/brown shoes.
BA #1 (9th print) .75 cent cover, pants greenish brown/brown shoes.
BA #1 (10th print) .75 cent cover by Industrial Reality / Keith Green, pants greenish brown/brown shoes.
BA #1 (11th print) $1.00
BA #1 (12th print) $2.50 pants green/green shoes
BA #1 (13th print) $3.95

Hey Jay, Great Wacky Packages Book

wpbooks — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:52:33 GMT

Just received the new Wacky Packages book published by Abrams with an introduction by art spiegelman and an afterword by forum member Jay Lynch. It is a truly beautiful book with each sticker from the first seven series getting it's own glossy full color page. Guess that since it only goes up to the end of series 7 we can expect another volume to take us to series 16, perhaps? And hey Jay, maybe you can answer this....how come it begins with the 1973 series and doesn't go back to the original 1969(?) set or include the great Wacky Ads series. As a collector and fan of all things "Wacky" I feel like the whole story is not being told here...beautiful, though the book may be...and why no examples of the checklists or puzzles? True the reverses would have been a tad redundant but the checklist/puzzles are essential to the WP experience!

And now I must digress...in 2000 I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. spiegelman at a signing he was doing, and I had compiled my own color-xeroxed book of the complete Wacky Ads/Packages because it seemed that it would never happen otherwise. I presented Mr. s my copy, which included the puzzles and the Ads,for his signature, and it appeared that he had never seen all the components arranged all together like that before and he happily signed it and thumbed through it for a good 5 minutes, shaking his head as if he thought I must be the craziest fanboy collector ever ....having spent the large sum to copy the whole series like that...it now seems like I should have approached someone long ago with my stupid idea...oh well, at least my book is complete and in one volume! And, Wackoid that I am, I plan on buying each and every subsequent volume that hopefully Abrams is planning!

So, at the risk of sounding like a shill for Abrams, all you UG forum members should consider this book seriously as an adjunct to the UG collecting experience....those UG guys were working their mojo on us unsuspecting pre-teens right under the noses of "The Establishment". This is the proof! A fine tome, indeed!

Rock poster love...

oldmilwaukee6er — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:01:48 GMT

hung out w/ my favorite local poster artist today ([url=http://www.flyrightstudios.com/]Jay Michael[/url])...
[URL=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/benefitconcert1.jpg][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/th_benefitconcert1.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/buddha1.jpg][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/th_buddha1.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/ddbbchels07-1.jpg][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/th_ddbbchels07-1.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/elsah07-1.jpg][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/th_elsah07-1.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/ivanhoe1.jpg][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/th_ivanhoe1.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/ivanhoe2003-1-1.jpg][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/th_ivanhoe2003-1-1.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/johnmayer07-1.jpg][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/th_johnmayer07-1.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/morning40-1.jpg][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/th_morning40-1.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/nmassogo06-1.jpg][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/th_nmassogo06-1.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/panic08-1-1.jpg][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/th_panic08-1-1.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/spanishtown1.jpg][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/th_spanishtown1.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/stockholmsyndrome1.jpg][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/oldmilwaukee6er/th_stockholmsyndrome1.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

i collect his posters from shows that i've seen, so we meet for coffee this morning so i could buy the Widespread Panic Jazz Fest poster and another poster. usually i see him at the shows, but a few times we have had to meet up. once we got to chatting & i found out he liked old underground comix (and knew what they were), we went back to my place and looked at comix, posters, & chillax'd on the j'zoint for 2+ hours. a total fanboy bonus this morning as i was home from work trying to coordinate some drywall repairs.
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

let's have a little love for the psychedelic art rock!

Rosenkranz radio interview

jaylynch — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:01:52 GMT

This has been up for a while...but I just ran across it today. Great Stuff!
[url]http://www.fantagraphics.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=909&Itemid=137[/url]

[color="999900"]Made link linky! - O40[/color]

Digital copies of comix's comics for sale on the internet

awillis — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:19:46 GMT

Has anyone ever heard of this site?

http://megatrafficnow.info/

It appears they are selling digital copies of comix, how complete they are is unknown to me.

Partial or complete, I cannot tell.

They claim it's legal.

I wonder about it.

They list two of the comix that I own the copyrights to.

A board member needs some help.

awillis — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:00:24 GMT

Can anyone point this member in the right direction?

http://www.comicspriceguide.com/boards/Topic1725-12-1.aspx

Anybody Have Info On These UG Related Tomes?

wpbooks — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:11:08 GMT

I recently came across these books and can't seem to find much information on them. The Underground USA book was published in 1986 in France and has chapters on Greg Irons, Jaxon And Texas, The Cards of R. Crumb, The Art of Spiegelman, Trina and The Women and other chapters, with a nice bibliography and index. Illos. are in English and text is in French. A book that makes me wish I spoke French. The Horrific Romances is a nicely produced DIY book from a guy named Mike Matthews,who I believe is deceased, is dated 1984, and is a first edition of 971 stated copies, hand-cut and assembled by Matthews. Covers are full color heavy stock and guts are glossy black and white. Anyone know these books? I'm attaching some scans for the first time on this message board so please bear with me if snafus occur.

[img][/img][img][/img][img][/img]

General Discussion Topic

awillis — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:40:28 GMT

Some of you in the UG section may want to weigh into this one-

http://www.comicspriceguide.com/boards/Topic8674-20-1.aspx

The "New" San Diego Thread!

jim1968 — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:28:18 GMT

OK so here's the new thread, for the new board. Who's coming to San Diego this year? I'll post my booth number when I've got it. (But it should be the 900 asile) :D

Zap #0 0n the bay

McDope — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:31:14 GMT

Hey now,

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=370043591624&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=024

This won't be up forever but this Zap #0 (1st) sold for $359.00.

There is another presently at $103.50 w/ 2 days left.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130215332009&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=003

Ken J Kreuger "File Copies"

jim1968 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:09:12 GMT

Just got the "Last 100 or so" of Ken Kreugers copies of Gory Stories #2 1/2.
Most are "file copy" condition for the "grading collectors"!
Welcome to the new boards everyone! :cool:

Odd Comics That Defy Classification

wpbooks — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:58:24 GMT

Recently I purchased a collection of magazines/comics that included the following: Playboy's Little Annie Fanny (both the large white covered edition from 1966 and the smaller green covered edition from 1972), Penthouse's Oh Wicked Wanda collection (1975), Hustler's Honey Hooker collection from 1977, and a collection of The Best Of Hustler's Dwaine Tinsley (1979). Now technically these obviously aren't UG but since Wally Wood's Gang Bang has been discussed on this board in the past, and these titles and their ilk are probably closer in format and content to it, would this be the proper forum to discuss these kinds of titles and their scarcity, or lack of scarcity; their importance to alternative types of comic literature; the beauty of the artwork or lack of taste in the content; etc. I think these types of comics are mostly overlooked, and I would add various titles from National Lampoon to this mix as well. Any thoughts from the UG gang on this type of material??

Rory Hayes article in latest VQR

wpbooks — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:19:32 GMT

There is an interesting article about Rory Hayes in the current issue of a magazine titled Virginia Quarterly Review by his brother. It's an interesting look at his fomative years growing up as well as why his brother feels he created C%%T Comix. Nice illos too. Cover is by Spiegelman and there is also 6 or 7 pages of a new Chris Ware strip. Not sure if it's worth the $14 it costs, but definitely worth perusing in your local Borders, etc.

Mini or Ug Comix list/guide?

50centII — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:39:17 GMT

I seem to remember someone mentioning in the CPG forums a old list or guide put out by someone of mini comix or underground comix that was very limited 10 copies or 100 copies? that was sold on eBay a year or so ago. Anyone recall what it was called or by who?

Old Forum Archive...

Shadow — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:23:02 GMT

[url]http://www.comicspriceguide.com/forum2/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=44[/url]

Ready to add a few UGs to your collection?

bneely — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 10:15:58 GMT

Originally Posted by oldmilwaukee6er

Over the next few weeks, I will attempt to highlight a few tiers-based on pricing, importance, etc.- of Key Underground (UG) comix for any collecting budget. These posts largely represent my opinions, research, and experiences in actively collecting UG comix for the past 2+ years—a small amount of time to be sure.

So why collect UGs?
They’re dangerous.
Anti-censorship reaction to the Comics Code Authority proved a big influence to UG pioneers. As youngsters, future UG artists were deeply affected, with some watching their parents tear up their comics collections (see back cover to Zap Comix #1). UG Comix are their payback.
They’re forbidden.
They are counterculture-inspired stories dealing with social issues like sex, drugs, rock music and anti-war protest. For this reason, these new comics became known as "comix" to set them apart from mainstream comics and to emphasize the "x" for x-rated.
They’re important…
Comix dealt with burgeoning social issues such as racism, sexism, and anti-war protest. The UG movement contained some of the earliest feminist work in comics.
…and they’re gaining credibility.
Jerry Weist, in his book titled The 100 Greatest Comic Books, rated Zap Comix #1 higher than many ‘straight’ powerhouses such as Detective 27, Showcase 4, X-Men 1, Fantastic Four 1, and ASM 1. Art Spiegelman won a Pulitzer Prize for his work on MAUS, which first appeared in Funny Aminals[sic] a UG published by Apex Novelties. The UG comix phenomenon is now largely recognized as an important avant garde Art movement.

Getting started…
“I want to add some underground (UG) comix to my collection, but don’t know enough about them to buy confidently.”
For UG comix collectors, this sentiment is often heard and easily understood. I started this thread in an attempt to quicken the learning curve for those of you who might like to add a few key titles to your collection.

When I first began collecting I was amazed at the paucity of publicly held knowledge on UGs. After being gifted a few UG reprints, I watched Ebay auctions on Zap Comix and Freak Brothers for the better part of two years and learned one thing… there are so many different printings of these books! Did you know that as of 1982, Zap Comix #1 had gone through an estimated 17 printings, totaling around 300,000 comics? Determining first (or early) printings from later ones remains important to value-minded collectors.

So, I embarked on the old cliché… Educate oneself:

The Official Underground & Newave Comix Price Guide (Kennedy 1982)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/offer-listing/0960665439/ref=dp_primary-product-display_1//104-9920118-2981502?condition=all
Eventually, I gained knowledge of this source. Kennedy’s guide is widely held as the seminal source on UG Comix, and I will not dispute that here. But, d@mn… did you see the price of this book ($147.35 - $251.99)?! Having said that, this book has proven nearly invaluable for determining UG printings or artists contributing to a particular book, and as a buying guide. Trust me, its fun to pick up a nice copy of a UG still priced at around Kennedy Guide!

Bottomline:
Hold out for a better price. Copies of this rarity are available and affordable, but it may take some time, research skills, and luck (e.g. check your local library). For example, my wife—akin to the online book merchants—found me a usable copy for about $12. Also, there have been long-held rumors on the publishing of a new guide book (see also http://www.comicspriceguide.com/forum2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17163 ), potentially as early as 2005. It is foreseeable that a new UG Guide would drive down demand/prices for Kennedy (1982) or, less likely, render it quaint.

Sources for the rest of us:
The Comic Art Price Guide (Weist 2000)http://www.budplant.com/prod.itml/icOid/5697
Nestled within this guide on comic art is a small section on Underground comix (<1/6th of the book, really), which was probably intended be a market check and supplement to Kennedy (1982).

Bottomline: Neither as extensive nor as informative as “The Guide” (not intended to be), Weist (2000) still represents the minimum one should arm themselves with when hunting for UGs. As it brings UG values out of the Bronze-age, this Guide will also give you a better sense for UG values than Kennedy.

UG Comix Info http://www.ugcomix.info/hub.html
However you hunt, DO supplement your searches with the information contained in “A Visual Guide to Underground Comix Reprints” located at the web address above. This site is very useful, both an excellent supplement to Kennedy (1982) and a great tool for bidding on Ebay — this is a labor of love for many friends and collectors of UGs. For newbies such as myself, I can only say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

Tier One KEYS: The GA of UG Comix.

Generally pre-1969
Generally >$1000/book
The pioneers of the UG movement

CGC 9.4 Zap Comix #1, 1st print (Plymell printing). This is the highest graded copy in CGC’s census—Hot d@mn!
http://www.mindscapemedia.com/store2/view_product.php?product=ZAP5SUEB7&searchlink=yes&search=ZAP%20COMIX&page=1
Zap Comix #1, 1st
http://www.artcomic.com/cat/underground/books/zap1p.html
Zap Comix #1, 2nd (Donahue printing)
http://www.mindscapemedia.com/store2/view_product.php?product=ZAPIEMLK7
Snatch Comics #1
http://www.mindscapemedia.com/store2/view_product.php?product=SNA50UMF7&searchlink=yes&search=ZAP%20COMIX&page=1
CGC 6.5 Zap Comix #0, 1st print
http://www.mindscapemedia.com/store2/view_product.php?product=ZAP1C76I7

Others might include 1st prints of the following:
Gothic Blimp Works #1
http://www.heritagecomics.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=811&Lot_No=8523&src=pr
Feds N Heads
http://www.mindscapemedia.com/store2/view_product.php?product=FED7NU197
Lenny of Laredo
http://www.deniskitchen.com/thestore/prods/X_JB_lenny1.html
God Nose
http://www.heritagecomics.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=814&Lot_No=5565&src=pr
or Adventures of Jesus
http://www.heritagecomics.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=808&Lot_No=4837&src=pr
http://www.heritagecomics.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=812&Lot_No=2552&src=pr

Bottomline: These are important books and rarities that were often distributed only to friends. As most were hand-assembled and stapled, folded into jeans pockets, etc., high grade copies are sought after and very expensive. It is downright amazing issues remain in this condition. Perhaps, like me, you’re saddened to learn that you are already priced out of many of THE most influential and seminal comix. But fear not, I believe there are other key books in the UG fold that would compliment any collection.

Well here we are...

over40artist — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 02:29:11 GMT

The new Underground Comics forum for the the new CPG forum. Welcome to the new boards, ladies and gentlemen!

Thorn - Not Quite UG, But What???

wpbooks — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:04:50 GMT

I found this at a garage sale recently when I was in Columbus, OH. My Overstreet's not quite up to date, but the edition I have lists Smith's Bone but not this. It came out right after the Kennedy Guide was published as it is copyright 1982, 1983 and stated "First Printing 1983". It's in perfect condition with a drawing by Jeff Smith on the first page. I can't seem to find much info on it, and while it's technically not UG, it comes pretty close as perhaps what Kennedy referred to in the second half of his guide as "groundlevel". Anybody?

[img][/img]

Underground FAQ

bneely — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 10:21:47 GMT

Originally Posted by ComicWiz

This topic is meant for people to freely ask questions relating to Underground comics (UG's in hopes of stimulating conversation/interest, get people to talk about cool UG's, and maybe collect 'em.

I thought I'd start it off with a question posed by Sid (a fellow collector and member of a message board I frequent, and someone I actually got a chance to meet at the Chicago Wizard World comicon):

quote:
Comicwiz, you'd be the guy to know this. Are undergrounds still being published today? I mean, a book like the one I showed above will not have made it to many comic stores. Due to the subject matter and extreme low print run of these books, maybe 2,000 - 5,000 each they did not get any widespread distribution. However, I imagine that they probably did get listed in a Diamond catalog when they were first published as High Impact had released some general audiences material before. Perhaps that would mean it could not be considered an underground?

But I am seeing this and that adult book in Ebay's mature comics section (many people don't even know this section on Ebay exists) that I KNOW never saw the light of day in any comic store as a newly published book. Most collectors don't even know these Huerta books exist. Interesting stuff. -----Sid

Hey Sid

If you ever have a chance, you should pick up a copy of "UG! 3K" from Fogel Comix. UG! 3K is an Underground Comix Anthology covering 160 pages of the best in Underground Comix (I'm not 100% sure about the acutal distribution of this book, but you can contact Dan Fogel at fogelcomix@aol.com to find out more on how to obtain a copy). One of the hidden gems of this publication is a special thanks piece at the end of the book. The article is really fascinating, and if anything, you should take some time to source the book to read through the life and times of one of the Underground Comix mediums pioneers Don Donahue. The article entitled "A Beatnik Presses On" is an especially interesting read because it briefly discusses the history of the distribution of underground comix in the SF area.

Back in the heyday of undergrounds, most of the comix were being printed manually, hand-assembled and distributed to friends, on college campuses. It was only when they where starting to be mass-produced (when quantities began exceeding the 5K-10K mark) that they began distributing them through "head-shops" and/or in the back of "hip" record shops. Because of the legal ban on undergrounds from the get-go, you would be hard-pressed to find ANY unless you had friends that were into music, drugs, or were somehow connected to the artists themselves. And even then, you weren't really assured that you could get a copy of a certain book because you either had to be friends with the owners of these head-shops, or be referred to them to get your hands on some of the counter-culture themed material that pops-up so freely on eBay these days.

Make no mistake about it. The reason why they were coined "undergrounds" is because you had to obtain them through the underground network. Some underground comix were banned and literally being confiscated by the feds. Most of them destroyed before any historical record of their existence.

New underground-themed comic books are still being printed today, along with numerous reprints of the classic titles. Although many would disagree on this issue, one can say that the new stuff may be somewhat inspired by the same level of free-thinking as their underground predecessors. Remember, the comix medium was the only vehicle for free-expression prior to the comics code getting tossed by the mainstream (ever notice how the stuff being printed by DC and Marvel in the last few years no longer bears a little comic code seal of approval).

When you take away the appeal for unsanitized stories and subject matter with the deregulation of the comics code on the medium as a whole, the only line of demarcation is that the new adult-oriented stuff being produced today is using more modern and commercialized approaches to production and distribution. It is in my opinion, that because of the calculating aspect of production vis-a-vis distribution strategies, that it becomes really difficult to call anything being published today an "underground", regardless of content, artwork or subject matter.

It's also debatable whether one could attribute the difficulty in locating "new" adult-oriented material to low production numbers. It may well have more to do with marketing and retailing approaches. I firmly believe that adult-oriented material ought to be marketed strictly to adults over 18 years of age, and retailed by carding each of their customers. The mistake many dealers continue to make is to market comics with adult content as "undergrounds-themed" material and confusing their approach to marketing and retailing them with a spirit and bravado found in people enthusing their views on freedon of expression.

And finally, there is also a considerable level of mystique attached to books that relatively "uknown" artists like Huerta create. Perhaps not so much in the present day, but lets use the example of and artist like Richard Corben. Corben started in the underground comix medium (see Fantagor and Up from the Deep) and went on to become a prolific artist in the area of fantasy art. It goes without saying that the collectiblity factor of Corbens first works become far more interesting to an audience that has never heard of him, but really dig his work. In some ways, this is good for the collector who considers themselves a purist, and for the hobby as a whole, but not so good for the artist who would prefer to break through, and transcend the hourly grind for a paycheque and perhaps too, their meager quality of enjoyable living standard.

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