Zap Comix was an underground comix series which was originally part of the youth counterculture of the late 1960s.
History
Zap #1 was published in San Francisco in late 1968. It featured the work of satirical cartoonist Robert Crumb. Some 3,500 copies were printed by Beat writer Charles Plymell. It was the first title put out by publisher Don Donahue under the Apex Novelties imprint. Philadelphia publisher Brian Zahn (who had published earlier works of R. Crumb in his tabloid called Yarrowstalks ) had intended to publish an earlier version of the comix, but reportedly he left the country with the artwork. Shortly before Zap #3 was to be published, Crumb found photocopies of that earlier issue, drew new covers, and published it as Zap #0. Thus Zap #0 became the third in the series (even though it was drawn before #1 in 1967), and Zap #3 the fourth. The first issue was sold on the streets of Haight-Ashbury out of a baby stroller pushed by Crumb's wife, Dana on the first day. In years to come, the comic's sales would be most closely linked with alternative venues such as head shops.
The heading of Zap no. 1, "Zap Comics are Squinky Comics!!" has an interesting origin. Art Spiegelman called his girlfriend of the time, Isabella Fiske, "Squink." Crumb liked the word and decided to use it on the cover.
After the success of the first issue, Crumb opened the pages of Zap to several other artists, including S. Clay Wilson, Robert Williams, "Spain" Rodriguez, Gilbert Shelton, and two artists with reputations as psychedelic poster designers, Victor Moscoso and Rick Griffin.
This stable of artists, along with Crumb, remained mostly constant throughout the history of Zap, which published sporadically after the collapse of the underground comix market in the mid-1970s. After that it was typical for three to five years to pass between new issues. And towards the end, even longer- Zap #15 (ISBN 0867196351) came out in 2005, seven years after the previous issue. Griffin died in 1991; a two-page story by artist Paul Mavrides appeared in issue #14. Mavrides was invited to contribute when Crumb announced that he no longer wanted to work on Zap.
A limited edition six-volume hardcover box set containing the complete Zap Comix (ISBN 9781606997871) was published by Fantagraphics in November 2014. Besides including an oral history, portfolio and previously unseen material, the set also includes the never-before published Zap Comix #16- the final issue in the series.
Debut issue
Premiering in 1968, Zap #1 was unlike any comic book sensibility that had been seen before. Labeled "Fair Warning: For Adult Intellectuals Only", it featured the publishing debut of Crumb's much-bootlegged "Keep on Truckin'" imagery, an early appearance of unreliable holy man Mr. Natural and his neurotic disciple Flakey Foont, and the first of innumerable self-caricatures (in which Crumb calls himself "a raving lunatic", and "one of the world's last great medieval thinkers"). Perhaps most notable was the story "Whiteman", which detailed the inner torment seething within the lusty, fearful heart of an outwardly upright American. While a few small-circulation self-published satirical comic books had been printed prior to this, Zap #1 became the model for the "comix" movement that snowballed after its release.
The contents of the first Zap were not intended to be the debut issue. Crumb had drawn a completely different issue's worth of comics, but the artwork was stolen prior to publication. Rather than repeat himself, Crumb drew a new assortment of strips, which replaced the missing issue. Fortunately, Crumb had made Xerox copies of the missing pages, which (according to fellow Zap contributor Victor Moscoso) successfully captured the linework but not the solid blacks. After being reinked, those cartoons subsequently appeared as Zap #0 (which was first published about the same time as Zap #3).
"Comix"
While the origin of the spelling "comix" is a subject of some dispute, it was popularized by its appearance in the title of the first issues of Zap. Design critic Steven Heller claims that the term "comix" refers to the traditional comic book style of Zap, and its mixture of dirty jokes and storylines.
Other Characters
- Angelfood McSpade: A large-built black woman drawn as a racist African native caricature. She is usually depicted being sexually exploited or manipulated by men.
- Captain Piss-Gums and his Pervert Pirates: A crew of bisexual male drug-addict pirates that were into a series of kinky and outre sexual acts. His nemesis was Captain Fatima and the butch all-female crew of the SS Quivering Thigh. Captain Piss-Gums is mentioned as one of the Captains attending the Pirate's Conference in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
- Dirty Dog: An anthropomorphic animal comic in which the hero is a horny long-eared hound dog. An all-seeing god is portrayed by a bunny rabbit in a straw boater and striped vest with a movie camera.
- Mr. Goodbar: A clueless hick in suspenders that seems to be the opposite of Mr. Natural. His motto is the unprintable - and literal - "Go Fuck Yourself!".
- Wonder Wart-Hog: the 'Hog of Steel': A violent reactionary amoral "superhero" who hypocritically murders and rapes people he doesn't approve of. His alter ego is reporter Philbert DeSanex; instead of being a human disguised as a rubber-masked monster, he is a pig-faced monster who disguises himself as a rubber-faced human.
Circulation
Due to its unusual outside position in the comic distribution industry, a completely accurate count of Zap's circulation cannot be known, but overall sales for the comic's first 16 issues are in the millions.