Underground Comix Part 2

If it seems like the underground comix scene was a raucous and raunchy boys club, that’s fairly accurate. However, there were plenty of women artists who reacted against the sexist depictions of women in comix, of which there was plenty. Their complaints about how women were being portrayed was seen to be just more censorship heaped on the male comix artists. Rather than just be quiet and go away, women like Trina Robbins, Willy Mendes, Linda Barry, Mary Fleener, and many others started drawing, bringing their own voices into the underground comix scene. Their experience in comix wasn’t all smooth sailing either. The women creating comix also insisted on absolute artistic freedom and the space to explore difficult topics, but it came at a price just like it did for the male comix artists. Undercover police, raids, and lawsuits while not necessarily the norm, seemed to be always looming. While some comix titles managed to run longer than others, the heyday of comix was all but over by the mid 1970s. However, the influence of underground comix is evident in the comics and graphic novels being published today that are willing to have serious discussions about equally serious topics.

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 psychiatrist Frederick Werthan published  
1954   – Comics Code Authority established 
1954  – Victor Moscoso starts at Cooper Union Art