The father of underground comics is 80 years-old today!
Showing posts with label ROBERT CRUMB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ROBERT CRUMB. Show all posts
Saturday, February 10, 2024
Friday, January 19, 2024
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.
Thursday, January 18, 2024
THRILLING MURDER COMICS (PART 1)
One of the most notorious of the underground comics produced in the late 1960's and early 1970's was GARY ARLINGTON'S THRILLING MURDER COMICS. Arlington (October 7, 1938 – January 16, 2014) was the owner of one of the country's first comic book retail stores, the San Francisco Comic Book Company, located in S.F.'s famed Mission District. The SFCBC was established in April, 1968 and soon became the genius loci for local cartoonists who soon found that Arlington would be publishing his own comics, but not of the mainstream type. He called his company the same as his store and the rest is underground comics history. In 2012, comic artist Robert Crumb stated: ""Gary made a cultural contribution in San Francisco in the late 1960's, through the '70's, '80's & '90's that was more significant than he realizes."
Arlington published a number of seminal of the new genre's books including Robert Crumb's MR. NATURAL, Rory Hayes' BOGEYMAN COMICS, Rick Griffin's MAN FROM UTOPIA, Nicola Cuti's MOONCHILD, and his own anthology title named none other than SAN FRANCISCO COMIC BOOK.
Before he went into the business of publishing magazines and mini-comics, he published THRILLING MURDER COMICS in January 1971. Introduced by himself on the cover and the title pages (accompanied by a gruesomely bloody -- the blood was printed in red ink -- Greg Irons). It quickly become infamous for its unapologetic (what underground comic ever was?) depictions of shooting, stabbings, raw sex including fellatio, misogyny (that crazy Crumb again!), including a scene of evisceration and ripping out a baby from a woman's womb.
Shown here today are three stories from the issue as they were originally drawn by the artist. While the comic book itself can be fetched for around $50, the original art is a different story.
"Kid Kill" by Jim Osborne (ink over pencil on lightweight Bristol board; image area of 8" x 12") Sold at auction on November, 2023 for $52,800.
"The Loser" by Jim Osborne (ink over pencil on lightweight Bristol board; image area 10" x 15"). Sold at auction on May, 2017 for $43,460.
Read the entire issue of THRILLING MURDER COMICS right here, tomorrow!
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