Underground Comics

Naughty, disturbing, funny, crude, political: all of these words can describe underground comics. I never in my life expected to see Mickey Mouse fuck Minnie while held captive by pirates in a blimp, but life is full of surprises. And at least they kept their gloves on, protection is key. I mainly read a bunch of Air Pirates and Robert Crumb stuff, but also a bit of Gay Comix and Tijuana Bibles. Air Pirates hit way too close to home by sexualizing (and humanizing) the popular Disney characters I grew up on. While the majority of Crumb's work was interesting, to say the least. I read Whiteman, which is the tale of a husband and father who goes camping in the woods and is captured by a yeti. He soon falls in love with a yeti woman, and adventure and sex (and adventurous sex) ensue.

Something that surprised my about many of the underground comics was how not-so-underground they felt to me. Obviously sex and drugs and many political things have changed and society has evolved to be more accepting, but I found it hilarious how the majority of the stories in Gay Comix weren't even sexual: no tits, no dicks. Just gays. And I found something reassuring in that, knowing that LGBT+ people weren't being sexualized too much in the comics, or seen as gross items. Rather, I feel like underground comics celebrated gay culture. I also really enjoyed the absurdity of some of the comics. My favorite has to be Frogman, a deep sea diver who can swim in the air but can only breathe out of water for so long to have an affair with a married woman. Trouble ensues when she has to suddenly move farther inland, away from any large water source. I thought this was the funniest shit when I read it, and honestly it's something that I could see being published today with the huge horde of comical comics (I'm punny) out in the world.

It was also cool being able to see where a lot of modern, mainstream comics were inspired. If Saga by Brian K. Vaughan were to be published in the 70's or 80's, it would totally be considered an underground comic! No one in that time would ever believe a mainstream comic in book stores all over the U.S. would have a breastfeeding woman on the cover. But lo' and behold: it exists. Another popular comic going around that would be an absolute hit back in the days of the underground comics is Sex Criminals. The tale of two ordinary people who just so happen to stop time when orgasming. I always considered something to be "underground" if I hid it from my parents. If I'd be afraid of my Mom finding something I hid under my bed, then it was definitely "underground."