GARY ARLINGTON'S NICKEL LIBRARY

Here's another few sheets of miscellaneous art from Gary Arlington's Nickel Library including a couple animation model sheets and work by Frazetta.

GARY ARLINGTON'S 'THE NICKEL LIBRARY'

Besides being one of the leading figures in the Bay Area underground comics scene, Gary Arlington (aka Eric Fromm) of the San Francisco Comic Book Company was a big fan of EC Comics. In 1973, one of the ways that he shared the love with his customers was to create this unique collection of one-page, multi-color comics that he called "The Nickel Library", a projected series of 500 single, 8 1/2" x 11" page images from EC Comics, Golden Age comics and newspaper comic strips.

Bill Gaines caught on to his comics being appropriated for this project and threatened Arlington with a $50,000 lawsuit. Arlington obliged and kept the letter, showing it proudly to customers when they asked him about it. As a result, The Nickel Library lasted for 64 "issues".

Gary Arlington used the name "Eric Fromm" when distributing
his catalogs.

Since they were only 5-cents apiece, I grabbed some of these along with my orders from Bud Plan for a while. Today, a single sheet is going for $30-$50 or more.

THRILLING MURDER COMICS (PART 2) + BONUS!

Well, here it is, kids -- the one and only THRILLING MURDER COMICS introduced by Gary Arlington and featuring one of the most depraved, debauched and decadent underground comics that you'll ever come across.

Gore, violence and sex are just a few of the sadistic superlatives that describe this unholy mix of murder, mayhem and misogyny.

Likely spawned from the Tate/LaBianca murders perpetrated from wanna-be rock star, Charlie Manson, the underground comics folks pulled out all the stops for their own over-the top inspirations on a theme.

Brimming with the usual thinly-veiled irony and sarcasm that these creators are known for, the stories range from the rude to the wretched.

Jim Osborne's "Kid Kill" is probably the grossessed story of the lot, but Robert Crumb's parody on "mystical" cult leaders had me laughing out loud (yes, I am possessed of a rather sick sense of humor at times). As always, S. Clay Wilson's pair of two-pagers aren't far behind.

GARY ARLINGTON'S THRILLING MURDER COMICS

No. 1 (One-shot)

January 1971

San Francisco Comic Book Company

Editor: ?

Cover: Simon Deitch

Pages: 36

Cover price: 50 cents

CONTENTS

"Kid Kill!"

Script: Jim Osborne

Art: Jim Osborne

"A Fine Way to Die" (Mr. Toad)

Script: Bill Griffith

Art: Bill Griffith

"The Psychopathic South Side Blade-Freaks Confront Razor Annie and Her Cocaine Chorus of Cutters"

Script: S. Clay Wilson

Art: S. Clay Wilson

"The Loser: A Short Tale of a Small Man"

Script: Jim Osborne

Art: Jim Osborne

"Jumpin' Jack Flash!"

Script: Robert Crumb

Art: Robert Crumb

"At Any Given Moment, A Chicken Bites the Dust"

Script: Kim Deitch

Art: Kim Deitch

"In the Gloom of Night"

Script: Spain Rodriguez

Art: Spain Rodriguez

"It's a thrill to kill..."

Script: S. Clay Wilson

Art: S. Clay Wilson

BONUS! Here's the cover page of the "Entertainment" section of the L.A. FREE PRESS from July 16, 1971 just a few months after the comic was published. I came across this in a box of stuff tucked away here at the Mysterious Mansion.