Underground Comix Part 1

Comix, spelled with an x at the end instead of c, is a uniquely American movement and brings to mind eccentric, explicit, and subversive comics aimed at an adult audience. Having roots in the explicit Tijuana Bibles of the 1920, the lurid horror comics produced by EC, and the later wackiness of MAD Magazine, Comix creators defied censorship laws and American moral standards to create their unique artistic visions and thrived as a part of the Counterculture movement of the 1960s. In some respects, comix were a reaction against what the artists saw as the over-sanitized mainstream comics that did nothing innovative or interesting. While comix creators came from all over the US, the hotbed for comix innovation happened in San Francisco. Many cite the first issue of Robert Crumb’s anthology “Zap” as the birth of underground comix as a movement and the number of comix grew rapidly after that. The complete artistic freedom comix artists insisted on came at a price as they pushed up against censorship with their themes of sexism, racism, violence, and questionable morality. Comix artists, publishers and the shops selling comix titles faced police raids and lawsuits, some of which lasted for years. Pushing up against censorship (and good taste) comix proved that comics could be more than just superheroes saving the day.

TIMELINE

1880s  – Comics began publication in American newspapers 
1895   – The Yellow Kid by Richard Outcault first published
1914   – Krazy Kat by Geroge Herriman first published 
1920s   – Tijuana Bibles began to be published 
1930s   – Comic book began in America 
1931   – Alice Schenker (born Alice Olsen) born in Racine, WI 
1933   – Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman
1936-1939   – The comic magazine format became popular
1936  – Victor Moscoso born in Spain 
1937  – Frank Stack born in Houston, TX
1938  – Gary Arlington born in San Jose, CA 
1938  – Trina Robbins born in Brooklyn, NY 
1939   – “She Saw The World’s Fair” published by Wesley Morse 
1939   – Harvey Pekar born in Cleveland, OH 
1939  – Richard “Grass” Green born in Fort Wayne, IN
1940-1950s   – Comic burnings became common in America 
1940  – Gilbert Shelton born in Houston, TX 
1940  – Manuel “Spain” Reodriguez born in Buffalo, NY 
1941  – Vaughn Bodé born in Utica, NY 
1941  – S. Clay Wilson (Steven Clay Wilson) born in Lincoln, Nebraska 
1941  – Jack “Jaxon” Jackson born in Texas 
1942   – Rand Holmes born in Nova Scotia 
1942  – Dan O’Neil born 
1943   – Joel Beck born in Ross, CA 
1943  – Robert Williaams born in Los Angeles, CA 
1944   – George Herriman dies 
1944  – Howard Cruse is born in Birmingham, AL 
1943  – Robert Crumb born in Philadelphia, PA 
1944  – Rick Griffin born in California 
1944   – Bill Griffith born 
1944   – Kim Deitch born in Los Angeles, CA 
1944   – Max Gaines establishes Educational Comics
1944   – Mervyn “Skip” Williamson born in San Antonio, TX 
1945  – Lee Mars born 
1947   – Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster sued in NY Supreme Court to regain their rights to Superman; they lose the case and their jobs at DC Comics
1947   – Jay Lynch born in Orange, NJ 
1947   – Max Gaines dies in a boat crash; son William Gaines takes over EC Comics
1948   – Art Spiegelman born in Stockholm, Sweden 
1948  – Barbara “Willy” Mendes born 
1948  – Aline Kominsky-Crumb born in Long Beach, NY
1949  – Marry Wings born Mary Geller in Chicago, IL 
1950s   – Student Press Movement starts 
1950   – Educational Comics becomes Entertaining Comics under William Gaines 
1950  – Gary Panter born in Durant, OK 
1951  – Mary Fleener born
1952-1956   – Harvey Kurtzman is the editor of MAD Magazine 
1953  – Roberta Gregory born in Los Angeles, CA 
1954   – “Seduction of the Innocent” by psychiatris