Underground Comics!

If you are a woman make sure to read Tits and Clits! Tits and Clits was just one of the several over sexualized, pot smoking, ridiculous comics that was produced during the late 60’s and early 70’s. Underground comics were the biggest thing during this time, most ‘head’ shops were offering these comics to their buyers, but after the anti paraphernalia laws most head shops stop selling these comics and the comics moved into a thing we know today, alternative comics.

People that were experimenting with the new drug LSD were the main creators and readers of the underground comic world. That’s why most buyers of these comics were introduced at their head shop. The artist wanted people to view their comics while under the influence to maybe get a better understanding of the comic or just to make the reader really relate to what he or she is seeing. Some of my all time favorite are Mr. Natural, which

Was created by Robert Crumb. He had another amazing comic called Fritz the Cat, which is just incredible. Fritz is this college student who basically lives in this society were he just completely does the wrong thing all the time.

I think these comics were introduced at this time, because of the war and all the resistance we had with our government. I think artist at this time wanted to be able to create their work in a way to have a rebellion feel to it. Most people at this time were protesting the Vietnam War and wanting to make love not war. These comics are extremely offensive and really have no boundaries, which make them so enjoyable. People were allowed to write and draw whatever they wanted, which really opened the door to some really insane things. One of my favorite drawings that Robert Crumb had done at this time was a self portrait that said, “I’m not here to be polite”, which basically sums up the entire era of underground comics.

Will Eisner V. Craig Thompson

After being introduced to Will Eisner’s work I was really impressed. Will basically was on the front edge of making comics popular and starting the idea of a graphic novel. His whole aesthetic is about body language and how human emotion can solely tell a story without any words. He really was trying to push the capacity of the graphic story. He wanted everyone to view comics like he did. What I mean by that is most people saw comics as a reading material for children, and that nothing in a comic would be something an adult would be interested in.

Although Will and Thompson are very different in the style they approach comic making I think there techniques overlap and have lots of similarities. Before I get into that I wanted to talk about how I could really connect with Will’s approach. In most of my illustrations I want to push the human emotion and make people feel a certain way through the way I draw my figures and compositions. I think that all stories can be told without words, and the most powerful ones are the ones that people that speak all different languages can understand. The way Will talks about how the eyes and how the head is held on someone’s shoulders can tell you exactly how they are feeling without drawing mouth or nose. He says those are just extras to back your point up.

I think Blankets is a great comparison between the two, even though Craig Thompson's has lots of flash backs and experimental imagery. Craig takes his story and makes the imagery almost surreal, but a very linear story. He gives his characters basic features and composes his panels around the craziness he is drawing. I think these two are very similar, because the both believe human emotion is what draws someone to read something. Both are approaching their stories based of the fact they know their reader will be able to understand the body language of their characters and will want to see the development of each one.

The Comic Book

After reading all about Will Eisner and what he had to do for comics literally blew me away. Will basically was on the front edge of making comics popular and starting the idea of a graphic novel. His whole aesthetic is about body language and how human emotion can solely tell a story without any words. He really was trying to push the capacity of the graphic story. He wanted everyone to view comics like he did. What I mean by that is most people saw comics as a reading material for children, and that nothing in a comic would be something an adult would be interested in. Being a big comic book reader I couldn’t agree with him more, there’s a whole new world of story telling that people are missing out on. When you read a novel you are given the opportunity to imagine what that world looks like, but with a comic you actually have to be more immersed in the reading than you would anything else. You have to visualize the world through the comic and have to be able to read body language, lighting, compositions, and color. All of the elements are highly considered and make the reader work harder to understand what’s happening with each individual frame. Being an artist this is our biggest accomplishment, when we get someone to look at out piece and understand what we are trying to say. I think Will has lots of good points with this idea, since he was the man to start the graphic novel.  

Even though children viewed most comics, there was a huge production of them during the Second World War. They had a lot of value to them, because of how easily they were to carry with you. I think most of the military was distributing them out to relief their soldiers as well as motivate them. Comics are a beautiful was to polish something and make it better than it is. Anyways, the way we view the comic book today is very similar to the way people did when it was first created. I think as soon as we pass the idea of the comic being a children’s form of reading will be the next revival in this medium.

The Comic Strip.

Growing up all I ever wanted to ask for was comics, my parents eventually starting giving me jobs around the house to solely earn money to buy new comics. On the other hand some of the best comics would come in the newspaper, which my dad would read, everyday. Some of my favorites were Garfield (I think simply because it was so easily available and so popular), Krazy Kat, Calvin and Hobbes, and Peanuts. Peanuts was my all time favorite strip solely based on the characters and how they all related to each other, something about that strip was so real and enjoyable.

I think the comic strip is the best way a comic can be viewed and seen by the most people at that time. Even if you weren’t a comic person, everyone got the newspaper and was able to view these comics. It was a way to get kids into reading the newspaper; they loved being able to read the weekly or daily comic strip. Most were quick stories, either to get a laugh or tell a story. For example Nemo was such a wild comic strip, it had a totally different story line that would happen to this boy at night when he fell asleep. The strip would be his dream and right before it ended he would wake up and realize it was all a dream. Even though most of the comic strips were not like this, Nemo was one of the biggest and most loved comic strips of that time. Another huge comic strip that most people knew was Peanuts, some of the most loved characters of all time were apart of this comic. The adventures these two would take were so relatable for every kid growing up. Calvin and his stuffed tiger would have the best adventures that we all wanted to be apart of. They didn’t just tell a fun adventure story, there would be philosophical perspectives and heavy influential statements for kids. Looking back on this comic now I realize how amazing this story truly is.