Tits & Clits Comix

Last updated
Tits & Clits Comix
Tits&Clits01.jpg
The cover of Tits & Clits #1, art by Joyce Farmer.
Publication information
Publisher Nanny Goat Productions
Last Gasp
ScheduleIrregular
Format Ongoing series
Publication dateJuly 1972 - Nov. 1987
No. of issues7
Editor(s) Joyce Farmer, Lyn Chevli

Tits & Clits Comix is an all-female underground comics anthology put together by Joyce Farmer and Lyn Chevli, published from 1972 to 1987. In addition to Farmer and Chevli, contributors to Tits & Clits included Roberta Gregory, Lee Marrs, and Trina Robbins.

Contents

Along with such titles as It Aint Me, Babe and Wimmen's Comix , Tits & Clits was part of a movement by female cartoonists to counter the male-dominated, often blatantly misogynistic, works of the underground. [1] With the conviction that sex was political, the series was created with the focus of sexuality from a female perspective.

Publication history

Seeing what they perceived as the inherent sexism of the mostly male-underground comix scene, as well as the phoniness of mainstream pornographic magazines like Playboy and Penthouse , [2] Farmer and Chevli published Tits & Clits (under the publisher name Nanny Goat Productions) as a sex-positive feminist comic. The first issue appeared in July 1972, preceding Wimmen's Comix by a few months. In addition to Tits & Clits, the duo also produced a one-shot comic about reproductive rights, Abortion Eve, in 1973. [3]

The first issue of Tits & Clits sold out of its first printing of 20,000 copies by the next year. Because the series' title limited its exposure, the second issue appeared in 1973 under the title Pandoras Box Comix (sic - apostrophe omitted). Condemned by many feminists (even other cartoonists), as well as the expected antagonism from male underground cartoonists, [2] Tits & Clits also suffered from a 1973 pornography investigation by the Orange County, California, district attorney's office. [4] [5] [6]

The series returned to its original title in 1976, with a new issue #2. Farmer and Chevli published three issues of Tits & Clits on their own from 1972 to 1987 (often in print runs of 10,000–20,000). [7] The title was opened up to other contributors starting with issue #3. Chevli stopped contributing after the third issue, but continued as co-editor through the sixth. [8]

San Francisco underground publisher Last Gasp picked the title up for its final four issues, which were published intermittently between 1977 and 1987. The final issue, #7, was published seven years after issue #6, and featured work by a number of younger cartoonists, part of a new generation of female alternative cartoonists. Mary Fleener acted as the co-editor along with Farmer. It also featured a story by Dennis Worden, the only male cartoonist to contribute to Tits & Clits.

Contributors

Notes

  1. Sabin, Roger (1996). "Going underground". Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels: A History Of Comic Art. London, United Kingdom: Phaidon Press. pp. 92; 94–95; 103–107; 110; 111; 116; 119; 124–126; 128. ISBN   0-7148-3008-9.
  2. 1 2 Gallagher, Paul. "Such Small Increments: Joyce Farmer's Special Exits a Moving and Unique Graphic Novel on Old Age and Death", Huffington Post (December 17, 2010).
  3. "The Comic Book That Guided Women Through Abortion Months After 'Roe'". Rewire News Group. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
  4. Vankin, Deborah. "R. Crumb: Joyce Farmer’s Special Exits on par with Maus", "Hero Complex", Los Angeles Times (Nov. 28, 2010).
  5. Meier, Sam (15 September 2016). "The Bust: Orange County's War on Underground Comix – Comic Book Legal Defense Fund" . Retrieved 2022-02-17.
  6. "The Forgotten History of Outrageous Women-Made Comic "Tits & Clits"". Bitch Media. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
  7. 1 2 3 Tits & Clits, ComicBookDB.com. Accessed Sept. 15, 2011.
  8. Farmer, Joyce (2016-10-26). "Lyn Chevli, Co-Founder of Tits & Clits, Dies at 84". The Comics Journal . Fantagraphics Books. Archived from the original on 2016-10-27. Retrieved 2016-10-31.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Underground comix</span> Comics genre

Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality, and violence. They were most popular in the United States in the late 1960s and 1970s, and in the United Kingdom in the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melinda Gebbie</span> American comics artist and writer

Melinda Gebbie is an American comics artist and writer, known for her participation in the underground comix movement. She is also known for creating the controversial work Fresca Zizis and her contributions to Wimmen's Comix, as well as her work with her husband Alan Moore on the three-volume graphic novel Lost Girls and the Tomorrow Stories anthology series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aline Kominsky-Crumb</span> American cartoonist (1948–2022)

Aline Kominsky-Crumb was an American underground comics artist. Kominsky-Crumb's work, which is almost exclusively autobiographical, is known for its unvarnished, confessional nature. In 2016, ComicsAlliance listed Kominsky-Crumb as one of twelve women cartoonists deserving of lifetime achievement recognition. She was married to cartoonist Robert Crumb, with whom she frequently collaborated. Their daughter, Sophie Crumb, is also a cartoonist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Last Gasp (publisher)</span> American publishing company

Last Gasp is a San Francisco–based book publisher with a lowbrow art and counterculture focus. Owned and operated by Ron Turner, for most of its existence Last Gasp was a publisher, distributor, and wholesaler of underground comix and books of all types.

Dennis Worden is an American comic book writer and artist best known as the creator of the comic book Stickboy.

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.

<i>Wimmens Comix</i> All-female underground comics anthology

Wimmen's Comix, later retitled (respelled) as Wimmin's Comix, is an influential all-female underground comics anthology published from 1972 to 1992. Though it covered a wide range of genres and subject matters, Wimmen's Comix focused more than other anthologies of the time on feminist concerns, homosexuality, sex and politics in general, and autobiographical comics. Wimmen's Comix was a launching pad for many cartoonists' careers, and it inspired other small-press and self-published titles like Twisted Sisters, Dyke Shorts, and Dynamite Damsels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trina Robbins</span> American cartoonist and writer (1938–2024)

Trina Robbins was an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first women in the movement. She co-produced the 1970 underground comic It Ain't Me, Babe, which was the first comic book entirely created by women. She co-founded the Wimmen's Comix collective, wrote for Wonder Woman, and produced adaptations of Dope and The Silver Metal Lover. She was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2013 and received Eisner Awards in 2017 and 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Marrs</span> American cartoonist and animator

Lee Marrs is an American cartoonist and animator, and one of the first female underground comix creators. She is best known for her comic book series The Further Fattening Adventures of Pudge, Girl Blimp, which lasted from 1973 to 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diane Noomin</span> American comics artist (1947–2022)

Diane Robin Noomin was an American comics artist associated with the underground comics movement. She is best known for her character DiDi Glitz, who addresses transgressive social issues such as feminism, female masturbation, body image, and miscarriages.

Joyce Farmer is an American underground comix cartoonist. She was a participant in the underground comix movement. With Lyn Chevli, she created the feminist anthology comic book series Tits & Clits Comix in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyn Chevli</span> American cartoonist

Lyn Chevli, also credited as Lyn Chevely and Chin Lyvely, was an American cartoonist who participated in the underground comix movement. With Joyce Farmer, she created the feminist comic-book anthology series Tits & Clits Comix (1972–1987) and Abortion Eve (1973), an educational comic book about women's newly-guaranteed reproductive rights.

Although, traditionally, female comics creators have long been a minority in the industry, they have made a notable impact since the very beginning, and more and more female artists are getting recognition along with the maturing of the medium. Women creators have worked in every genre, from superheroes to romance, westerns to war, crime to horror.

Leonard Rifas is an American cartoonist, critic, editor, and publisher associated with underground comix, comics journalism, left-wing politics, and the anti-nuclear movement. He is notable for his contributions to the form of minicomics as well as publishing Japanese manga in the United States. Rifas' publishing company, EduComics, operated most actively from 1976 to 1982.

Krystine Kryttre is an American alternative comics artist, painter, animator, writer, and performer from San Francisco. currently based in Los Angeles. Her work is dark, often explicit, and visually distinctive." Her work has been exhibited in galleries since the late 1980s, including a number of solo shows in Los Angeles.

<i>It Aint Me, Babe</i> (comics)

It Ain't Me Babe Comix is a one-shot underground comic book published in 1970. It is the first comic book produced entirely by women. It was co-produced by Trina Robbins and Barbara "Willy" Mendes, and published by Last Gasp. Robbins and other staff members from a feminist newspaper in Berkeley, California, also called It Ain't Me, Babe, contributed. Many of the creators from the It Ain't Me Babe comic went on to contribute to the long-running series Wimmen's Comix.

<i>Twisted Sisters</i> (comic) All-female underground comics anthology

Twisted Sisters is an all-female underground comics anthology put together by Aline Kominsky and Diane Noomin, and published in various iterations. In addition to Kominsky and Noomin, contributors to Twisted Sisters included M. K. Brown, Dame Darcy, Julie Doucet, Debbie Drechsler, Mary Fleener, Phoebe Gloeckner, Krystine Kryttre, Carol Lay, Dori Seda, and Carol Tyler.

Michele Wrightson, also known as Michele Brand, was an American artist who worked in the comic book industry. The former wife of underground cartoonist Roger Brand, she started out as an underground comix cartoonist. Later, when she was married to comics artist Bernie Wrightson, she made her name as a colorist. She was a key contributor to the first all-female underground comic, It Ain't Me, Babe, as well as its follow-up series, Wimmen's Comix.

Angela Bocage is a bisexual comics creator who published mainly in the 1980s and 1990s. Bocage was active in the queer comics community during these decades, publishing in collections like Gay Comix,Strip AIDS USA, and Wimmen's Comix. Bocage also created, edited, and contributed comics to Real Girl, a comics anthology published by Fantagraphics.

Sharon Rudahl is an American comic artist, illustrator and writer. She was one of the first female artists who contributed to the underground comix movement of the early 1970's. In 1972, she was part of the women's collective that founded Wimmen's Comix, the first on-going comic drawn exclusively by women.

References