Underground Comics

Comics can also be alternative instrument for readers to learn about our visual culture. Underground comics in general have opened up new ways of reflecting the popular culture. They can be used for many purposes and it can be as versatile as any other medium. They can educate people morally and can inspire empathy.

The former Underground Cartoonist Jay Kinney suggests that;

“Most comics just amuse but underground comics have helped to expand the scope of the comics. Underground Comics are genuine art form and have as much as a right to explore sex, politics, psychology and drugs as do other art forms.” (Estren M. J. 1993 p.109)

In the protest movements in the1960s, the most important cultural arrangements were the new wave of humorous and hippie-inspired comic books. The underground artists used the comic book as a practical medium of changing social issues and lifestyles. People said, “What are the underground comics! And I think the best way to define them is the absolute freedom involved. I think that‘s real important, people forget what it was all about. That was why we did it, we did not have anybody standing over us saying, No, you can’t do this or You can’t show that, we could do whatever we wanted” (Sabin 1993, p.95).

Figure 17. Zap Comic by Victor Moscoso.

The late 1960s, comic books dealt with social and political subjects like sex, drugs, rock music, human rights 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’. Moscoso was one of the most important artists of ‘Zap Comix’, the underground comic magazine started by Robert Crumb. He was present from the first issue of Zap in 1968, also using his graphic style with vibrating colors, illegible lettering and vintage graphics in his comics. Zap comics is the best known and one of the most popular of the underground comix The pioneers of comics were self- styled hipsters and iconoclasts who both rejected and built on prior traditions. They too harbored subversive tendencies, in some cases revolutionary, political ideas, and were to a degree associated with a radically democratic realignment of politics. (Hatfield 2005, p18)

Figure 18. Maus by Art Spiegelman

The book is about Art Spiegeman’s devastating account of his parent’s persecution at the hands of the Nazis and it famously depicted Jews as mice and their tormentor’s as cats. This well crafted work of art generated a sense of empathy, it is impossible for the readers not to feel some sense of empathy with the main character “Maus”.Spiegelman became a key figure in the underground comix movement of the 1970s, both as cartoonist and editor. The public perception of comic books was of adolescent power fantasies. It was credited with changing the public's perception of what comics could be at a time when they were considered to be for children, and strongly associated with superheroes, but Spiegelman allows the reader to step into the eyes of another to make independent judgments. A reader is required to make meaning and the meaning of the work will depend on the individual’s particular interpretation. (http://www.victormoscoso.com)

Figure 19. Palestine Comic Book by Joe Sacco

In late 1991 and early 1992, Joe Sacco spent two months with Palestinians in the Occupied territories, traveling and taking notes. Upon returning to the U. S in mid-1992, he started writing and drawing Palestine, which combined the techniques of eyewitness reportage with the medium of comic-book storytelling, to explore this complex and emotionally weighty situation. Thus the medium of comics has been used to tackle serious political subjects from the Holocaust to Palestine. The comics have connected with the Islamic Revolution, providing a unique and personal insight into historic events and the political situations, taking the reader to places where news, even cameras cannot access. The mainstream comic books industry were well known for various genres, including superhero, science fiction, western, war, horror, romance, and humor and the comics industry published a set of guidelines that was meant to reassure legislators that their content would not corrupt a younger audience in the US. The Comics Codes Authority (CCA) established in the mid-1950s prohibited excessive violence, sex and drugs, although Underground Comics did not participate in the code and did not abide by their strictures. After 1960s, comic book readers changed, getting more mature just was the content. The underground cartoonists had accurate political awareness for the subject matters therefore the visual impact of their works were always striking and they were seeking to make a sense of historical events.

Spiegelman once said;

“It's a done deal. There are museum shows that will include comics without blinking an eye. And bookstores all have their sections for comics or graphic novels or whatever they're calling them. Universities are teaching comics. It's now part of the culture without having to be something to apologize for”. (Fischer 2004 p.5)

The self-publishing technologies and absolute political freedom of underground comics is forming the ideological scope of the comics industry. The underground comics influenced mainstream comics and social messages by encouraging artists to retain ownership and copyright of their characters to form independent companies as an alternative to the traditional “work hire” system. (Sabin, 1993) Underground comics cultivated a more considered approach to the art form, less dependent on the taboos and more open to the possibility of extended and ambitious narratives (Hatfield 2005 p. x).

Resources:

Sabin, R. (1993), Adult Comics: An Introduction, (London; Routledge)

Sabin R. (1996) Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels: A history of Comic Art, (London: Phaidon)

Estern M. J. (1993) A History of Underground Comics [Internet], California: Straight Arrow

Available from <file:///Volumes/DECEMBER/TINTIN/History%20of%20Underground%20Comics%20-%20Mark%20James%20Estren%20-%20Google%20Books.webarchive> (Accessed 10th December 2012)