Alternative comics or independent comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which in the past have dominated the American comic book industry. Alternative comic books span a wide range of genres, artistic styles, and subjects.
Gilbert Shelton is an American cartoonist and a key member of the underground comix movement. He is the creator of the iconic underground characters The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Fat Freddy's Cat, and Wonder Wart-Hog.
Slave Labor Graphics (SLG) is an independent American comic book publisher, well known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat adult comics. Creators associated with SLG over the years include Evan Dorkin, Roman Dirge, Sarah Dyer, Woodrow Phoenix, Jhonen Vasquez, and Andi Watson.
Matt Howarth is an American comic book writer/artist known for such series as Those Annoying Post Bros, Savage Henry, Star Crossed, and Bugtown.
Erik J. Larsen is an American comic book artist, writer, and publisher. He currently acts as the chief financial officer of Image Comics. He gained attention in the early 1990s with his art on Spider-Man series for Marvel Comics. In 1992 he was one of several artists who stopped working for Marvel to found Image Comics, where he launched his superhero series Savage Dragon – one of the longest running creator-owned superhero comics series – and served for several years as the company's publisher.
William Henry Jackson Griffith is an American cartoonist who signs his work Bill Griffith and Griffy. He is best known for his surreal daily comic strip Zippy. The catchphrase "Are we having fun yet?" is credited to Griffith.
Ted McKeever is an American artist known for his work in the comic book industry. A master of pen-and-ink, McKeever has also fully painted many comics. He is known for his distinct graphic style and "bold, angular lines, which gives his work a fantastic, almost Kafka-esque edge."
The Vault of Horror was an American bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in the early 1950s. Along with Tales from the Crypt and The Haunt of Fear, it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies. The Vault of Horror hit newsstands with its April/May 1950 issue and ceased publication with its December/January 1955 issue, producing a total of 40 issues.
Yummy Fur (1983–1994) was a comic book by Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown. It contained a number of different comics stories which dealt with a wide variety of subjects. Its often-controversial content led to one printer and one distributor refusing to handle it.
Roberta Gregory is an American comic book writer and artist best known for the character Bitchy Bitch from her Fantagraphics Books series Naughty Bits. She is a prolific contributor to many feminist and underground anthologies, such as Wimmen's Comix and Gay Comix.
Savage Henry is the title of a comic book series written and illustrated by Matt Howarth. The stories center on Savage Henry, lead guitarist of the "insect rock" band the Bulldaggers. Howarth regularly drew "guest appearances" by real world musicians in the comic book, including The Residents, Moby, Foetus, Hawkwind, Nash the Slash, and others.
Rip Off Press Inc. is a comic book mail order retailer and distributor, better known as the former publisher of adult-themed series like The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and Rip Off Comix, as well as many other seminal publications from the underground comix era. Founded in 1969 in San Francisco by four friends from Austin, Texas — cartoonists Gilbert Shelton and Jack Jackson, and Fred Todd and Dave Moriaty — Rip Off Press is now run in Auburn, California, by Todd.
Louis J. Stathis was an American author, critic and editor, mainly in the areas of fantasy and science fiction. During the last four years of his life he was an editor for DC Comics' Vertigo line, working on such titles as Preacher, Doom Patrol, Industrial Gothic, Peter Kuper's The System, and Dhampire.
Ed the Happy Clown is a graphic novel by Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown. Its title character is a large-headed, childlike children's clown who undergoes one horrifying affliction after another. The story is a dark, humorous mix of genres and features scatological humour, sex, body horror, extreme graphic violence, and blasphemous religious imagery. Central to the plot are a man who cannot stop defecating; the head of a miniature, other-dimensional Ronald Reagan attached to the head of Ed's penis; and a female vampire who seeks revenge on her adulterous lover who had murdered her to escape his sins.
Lowlife is a semi-autobiographical comic book series written and drawn by Ed Brubaker, originally published by Caliber Comics and later Aeon Press. Collected editions were put out by Aeon and Black Eye Books.
Millennium Publications was an American independent comic book publishing company active in the 1990s.
Vortex Comics is a Canadian independent comic book publisher that began operation in 1982. Under the supervision of president, publisher, and editor Bill Marks, Vortex was known for such titles as Dean Motter's Mister X, Howard Chaykin's Black Kiss, and Chester Brown's Yummy Fur, the last of which was a pioneer of alternative comics. Vortex also earned a reputation for publishing Canadian comic book creators such as Brown, Ty Templeton, Ken Steacy, and Jeffrey Morgan.
James Wallis is a British designer and publisher of tabletop and role-playing games.
MU Press was an independent comic book publisher based in Seattle, Washington, which operated from 1990 until c. 2006. MU Press was one of the industry's most prolific "furry" comic publishers, while its mid-1990s imprint Aeon Publications specialized in alternative fare. MU Press was founded by writer/editor Edd Vick. Notable creators associated with MU/Aeon included Donna Barr, Ed Brubaker, Matt Howarth, Milton Knight, David Lasky, Colin Upton, Taral Wayne and Nicola Cuti.
Ariel Bordeaux is an American alternative cartoonist, painter, and writer. She is known for the confessional autobiographical minicomics series Deep Girl and the two-person title Raisin Pie.
