Weirdo (comics)

Last updated
Weirdo
Weirdo01.jpg
Weirdo #1 (March 1981), art by Robert Crumb.
Publication information
Publisher Last Gasp
Schedule(mostly) Quarterly
Format Ongoing series
Genre Underground/alternative
Publication dateMarch 1981 – Summer 1993
No. of issues28
Creative team
Written by Terry Zwigoff, Josh Alan Friedman, Dennis Eichhorn, Harvey Pekar, et al.
Artist(s) Robert Crumb, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Peter Bagge, Robert Armstrong, Kim Deitch, Mary Fleener, Drew Friedman, Justin Green, Kaz, J. D. King, Carel Moiseiwitsch, Spain Rodriguez, Dori Seda, Carol Tyler, S. Clay Wilson, Dennis Worden
Editor(s) Robert Crumb (issues #1–10)
Peter Bagge (issues #11–17, 25)
Aline Kominsky-Crumb (issues #18–24, 26–28)

Weirdo was a magazine-sized comics anthology created by Robert Crumb and published by Last Gasp from 1981 to 1993. Featuring cartoonists both new and old, Weirdo served as a "low art" counterpoint [1] to its contemporary highbrow Raw , co-edited by Art Spiegelman. [2]

Contents

Crumb contributed cover art and comics to every issue of Weirdo; [3] his wife, cartoonist Aline Kominsky-Crumb, also had work in almost every issue. Crumb focused increasingly on autobiography in his stories in Weirdo. Many other autobiographical shorts would appear in Weirdo by other artists, including Kominsky-Crumb, Carol Tyler, Phoebe Gloeckner, and Dori Seda. David Collier, a Canadian ex-soldier, published autobiographical and historical comics in Weirdo. The anthology introduced artists such as Peter Bagge, Dori Seda, Dennis Worden, and Carol Tyler.

With issue #10, Crumb handed over the editing reins to Bagge; with issue #18, the reins went to Kominsky-Crumb (except for issue #25, which was again edited by Bagge). The three editorial tenures were known respectively as "Personal Confessions", the "Coming of the Bad Boys", and "Twisted Sisters". [4]

Overall, the magazine had a mixed response from audiences; [5] [6] [7] [8] Crumb's fumetti contributions, for instance, were so unpopular that they have never appeared in Crumb collections. [9]

Publication history

Origins

While meditating in 1980, Crumb conceived of a magazine with a lowbrow aesthetic inspired by punk zines, Mad , and men's magazines of the 1940s and 1950s. [10]

Contributor Kim Deitch believes that another inspiration for Weirdo was Bay Area cartoonist and zine publisher Bruce N. Duncan (often credited as "B. N. Duncan.") Before Weirdo came along, Duncan published a zine called The Tele Times, covering "culture and street life in Berkeley." [2]

In fact, said Deitch, he "first heard about Crumb’s plans to publish a new anthology from Duncan.... 'Crumb hadn’t told me about Weirdo, but he’d gotten in touch with Bruce and he definitely was one of the first people that he was buttonholing to be in the magazine.'" [2]

As Deitch discussed at a retrospective panel on Weirdo, he believed that:

...the particular aesthetics and outsider voice of The Tele Times helped inspire the formulation of Weirdo. 'I once said to Crumb ...come on now, this magazine is inspired by Bruce Duncan, right? And he gave me a funny look and he didn’t say no. And I think my supposition is not completely incorrect.... It was fascinating for me to see: Bruce, shunned by everyone and lifted up and valiantly put forward by Crumb.' [2]

"Personal Confessions" era

Early issues of Weirdo reflect Crumb's interests at the time outsider art, fumetti, Church of the SubGenius-type anti-propaganda and assorted "weirdness" (in fact, Crumb provided early publicity for the Church of the SubGenius by reprinting Sub Genius Pamphlet #1 in Weirdo #1). [11]

Crumb's detailed cover borders for most issues of Weirdo were an homage to the 1950s humor magazine Humbug (edited by Harvey Kurtzman); Crumb claimed that the elaborate Jack DavisWill Elder cover to the second issue of Humbug "changed his life". [12]

Dori Seda's first published comics work was in Weirdo #2 (Summer 1981), a strip titled "Bloods in Space". Her work appeared often in Weirdo through issue #24 (Winter 1988/1989), shortly after her untimely death. [13] Dennis Worden's first published work appeared in issue #4 (Feb. 1982); he was a frequent contributor to the magazine throughout its run. Peter Bagge sent copies of his self-published comics Comical Funnies to Crumb, who published some Bagge strips in Weirdo #8 (Summer 1983). Bagge contributed to many issues from that point forward, mostly illustrating "Martini Baton" stories written by Dave Carrino. [14]

In addition to those mentioned above, other cartoonists whose work appeared in early issues of Weirdo included Robert's brother Maxon Crumb, Robert Armstrong, Ace Backwords, Drew Friedman, Kaz, J. D. King, Spain Rodriguez, Robert Williams, Harry S. Robins (the "Professor Brainard" feature), Jeff John, Terry Boyce, and B. N. Duncan.

The magazine's letter column, "Weirdo's Advice to the Lovelorn", was helmed by Terry Zwigoff.

"Coming of the Bad Boys" era

With issue #10 (Summer 1984), Crumb handed over the editing reins to Peter Bagge (who had become a regular contributor with issue #8); [15] [16] Crumb continued as a regular contributor. New contributors to Weirdo during this period included Kim Deitch, Mary Fleener, John Holmstrom, Carel Moiseiwitsch, Diane Noomin, Raymond Pettibon, Savage Pencil, J. R. Williams (his first published comics), S. Clay Wilson, Ken Struck, and Ken Weiner/Ken Avidor.

"Twisted Sisters" era

With issue #18 (Fall 1986), the editorial reins of Weirdo went to Kominsky-Crumb; [17] the "Twisted Sisters" monicker being a reference to an all-female comics anthology that Kominsky-Crumb co-produced with Diane Noomin in 1976. Bagge returned for a single issue as editor, with Weirdo #25, Summer 1989. New contributors to the magazine during this era included Lloyd Dangle, Julie Doucet, Dennis Eichhorn, Justin Green, Krystine Kryttre, Carol Tyler (her first published comics), Penny Van Horn, Michael Dougan, and Mark Zingarelli. Harvey Pekar began a regular column, "Harvey Sez", in issue #19; his column ran in most of the later issues.

Many stories published in Weirdo from the "Twisted Sisters" era were later collected in the 1991 anthology Twisted Sisters: A Collection of Bad Girl Art — including work by Kominsky-Crumb, Carol Lay, Phoebe Gloeckner, Carel Moiseiwitsch, Van Horn, Kryttre, Doucet, Sternbergh, Seda, and Tyler. [18]

In 1991, after the publication of Weirdo #27, Crumb and Kominsky-Crumb moved their family from Northern California to France. [19]

Weirdo was at the center of a legal case in 1986: the manager of a comics retailer in the Chicago area, Friendly Frank's, was arrested on charges of distributing obscenity. [20] [21] The comic books deemed obscene were Weirdo, Omaha the Cat Dancer , The Bodyssey, and Bizarre Sex. The case led to the formation of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. [22]

Weirdo #28: "Verre D'eau"

Weirdo's final issue, #28, released after a three-year hiatus in 1993, was an internationally themed 68-page giant [23] subtitled Verre D'eau (in French, "glass of water"). Promoted as a "One-Time-Only Special International Issue of Weirdo — Absolutely the Last Issue Ever!", it was co-edited by Aline Kominsky-Crumb and French editor Jean-Pierre Mercier. In addition to the usual roster of contributors, issue #28 featured work from French and European cartoonists such as Edmond Baudoin, Florence Cestac, Jean-Christophe Menu, Placid (in French), Willem, and Aleksandar Zograf.

R. Crumb's contributions to the issue — two tongue-in-cheek stories called "When the Niggers Take Over America!" and "When the Goddamn Jews Take Over America!" — got the issue banned as hate literature in Canada. [24]

Publication schedule and page count

Issues #1–14 were 44 pp. each, issues #15–26 were 52 pp. each, issue #27 was 60 pp., and issue #28 was 68 pp.

Notable contributors

Collections / exhibitions

In 2013, Last Gasp released R. Crumb's The Weirdo Years: 1981-'93, a 255-page collection of all of Crumb's contributions to the anthology.

In 2019, Last Gasp published The Book of Weirdo: A Retrospective of R. Crumb's Legendary Humor Comics Anthology, by Jon B. Cooke. The 288-page hardcover book "features the comprehensive story of the fondly-recalled magazine, along with testimonials from over 130 of the mag's contributors, plus interviews with Weirdo's three editors ... as well as publisher 'Baba Ron' Turner. [25] New York's Society of Illustrators hosted an event commemorating the book's publication, with a panel of guests, including Art Spiegelman, Kim Deitch, John Holmstrom, Glenn Head, Mark Newgarden, Drew Friedman, and Cooke. [2]

In 2022, Boston College's McMullen Museum of Art featured the exhibition "American Alternative Comics, 1980–2000: Raw, Weirdo, and Beyond", that showcased the work of a number of Weirdo contributors, including Bagge, Lynda Barry, Crumb, Doucet, Gilbert Hernandez, Kominsky-Crumb, Panter, and Woodring. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Crumb</span> American illustrator and cartoonist (b. 1943)

Robert Dennis Crumb is an American cartoonist who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American culture.

<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">Dori Seda</span> Underground comix artist

Dorothea Antoinette "Dori" Seda was an artist best known for her underground comix work in the 1980s. She occasionally used the pen name "Sylvia Silicosis." Her comics combined exaggerated fantasy and ribald humor with documentation of her life in the Mission District of San Francisco, California.

<i>Raw</i> (comics magazine) Comics anthology edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly

Raw was a comics anthology edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly and published in the United States by Mouly from 1980 to 1991. It was a flagship publication of the 1980s alternative comics movement, serving as a more intellectual counterpoint to Robert Crumb's visceral Weirdo, which followed squarely in the underground tradition of Zap and Arcade. Along with the more genre-oriented Heavy Metal it was also one of the main venues for European comics in the United States in its day.

<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">Sophie Crumb</span> American-French comics artist

Sophia Violet "Sophie" Crumb is an American-French comics artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phoebe Gloeckner</span> American artist

Phoebe Louise Adams Gloeckner is an American cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and novelist.

<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.

<i>Arcade</i> (comics magazine)

Arcade: The Comics Revue is a magazine-sized comics anthology created and edited by cartoonists Art Spiegelman and Bill Griffith to showcase underground comix. Published quarterly by the Print Mint, it ran for seven issues between 1975 and 1976. Arriving late in the underground era, Arcade "was conceived as a 'comics magazine for adults' that would showcase the 'best of the old and the best of the new comics'". Many observers credit it with paving the way for the Spiegelman-edited anthology Raw, the flagship publication of the 1980s alternative comics movement.

<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.

<i>Mineshaft</i> (magazine) Art magazine

Mineshaft is an independent international art magazine launched in 1999 by Everett Rand and Gioia Palmieri in Guilford, Vermont. Initially focusing on poetry and literature, the magazine began to publish comics after Robert Crumb became a contributor in 2000. The newsblog at The Guardian refers to Mineshaft's website as a source to find out more about Crumb's latest work.

<i>The Narrative Corpse</i> 1995 comic book

The Narrative Corpse is a chain story, or comic jam, created by 69 all-star cartoonists in the early-to-mid 1990s. A graphic novel compilation of the result was published in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Eichhorn</span> American writer (1945-2015)

Dennis P. Eichhorn was an American writer, best known for his adult-oriented autobiographical comic book series Real Stuff. His stories, often involving, sex, drugs, and alcohol, have been compared to those of Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, and Charles Bukowski.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Donahue</span> Publisher associated with the underground comix movement

Donald Richard Donahue was a comic book publisher, operating under the name Apex Novelties, one of the instigators of the underground comix movement in the 1960s.

<i>Tits & Clits Comix</i> All-female underground comics anthology

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.

Gary Edson Arlington was an American retailer, artist, editor, and publisher, who became a key figure in the underground comix movement of the 1960s and 1970s. As owner of one of America's first comic book stores, the San Francisco Comic Book Company, located in San Francisco's Mission District, Arlington's establishment became a focal point for the Bay Area's underground artists. He published comics under the name San Francisco Comic Book Company, as well as publishing and distributing comics under the name Eric Fromm. Cartoonist Robert Crumb has noted, "Gary made a cultural contribution in San Francisco in the late 1960s, through the '70s, '80s & '90s that was more significant than he realizes."

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>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.

<i>Young Lust</i> (comics) Underground comix anthology

Young Lust is an underground comix anthology that was published sporadically from 1970 to 1993. The title, which parodied 1950s romance comics such as Young Love, was noted for its explicit depictions of sex. Unlike many other sex-fueled underground comix, Young Lust was generally not perceived as misogynistic. Founding editors Bill Griffith and Jay Kinney gradually morphed the title into a satire of societal mores. According to Kinney, Young Lust "became one of the top three best-selling underground comix, along with Zap Comix and The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cartoonists' Co-op Press</span> Comics publishing cooperative

Cartoonists Co-op Press was an underground comix publishing cooperative based in San Francisco that operated from 1973 to 1974. It was a self-publishing venture by cartoonists Kim Deitch, Bill Griffith, Jerry Lane, Jay Lynch, Willy Murphy, Diane Noomin, and Art Spiegelman. Cartoonist Justin Green's brother Keith acted as salesman/distributor, and the operation was run out of Griffith's apartment.

References

Notes

  1. Heer 2013, pp. 71–72.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Kartalopoulos, Bill. "GETTING WEIRDO AT THE SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS", The Comics Journal (June 19, 2019).
  3. Cwiklik, Greg. "R. Crumb in Weirdo, 1981-1993", The Comics Journal #210 (Feb. 1999), pp. 88-89.
  4. Weirdo page at Last Gasp website. Archived 2010-01-06 at the Wayback Machine Accessed Dec. 14, 2008.
  5. "The Other Weirdo", The Comics Journal #69 (Dec. 1981), p. 55.
  6. "Turning In On Yourself", The Comics Journal #69 (Dec. 1981), pp. 104-105.
  7. Scholz, Carter. "Apostles of Junk", The Comics Journal #109 (July 1986), pp. 59-64.
  8. Woodring, Jim. "The Weirdo Difference", The Comics Journal #139 (Dec. 1990), pp. 115-119.
  9. Holm 2005, pp. 83–85.
  10. Holm 2005, p. 83.
  11. Niesel, Jeff (April 6, 2000), "Slack Is Back", Cleveland Scene , retrieved October 28, 2012
  12. Kitchen & Buhle 2009, p. 126.
  13. "Lonely Nights Artist Dori Seda Dead At 37", The Comics Journal #121 (April 1988).
  14. Worcester, Kent, ed. Peter Bagge: Conversations (University Press of Mississippi, Feb 2015) ISBN   9781628462043.
  15. Macrone, Michael (Mar 1986). "Two Generations of Weirdos: An Interview with Peter Bagge and Robert Crumb". The Comics Journal. No. 106. p. 50-71.
  16. Monaco, Steve. (Mar 1986). "A Worthwhile (But Weird) Grab-Bag". The Comics Journal. No. 106. pp. 29–33.
  17. "Weirdo's New Editor: Aline Crumb", The Comics Journal #111 (Sept. 1986), p. 20.
  18. Twisted Sisters: A Collection of Bad Girl Art (Viking Penguin, 1991) ISBN   978-0140153774.
  19. Salkinjan, Allen (January 21, 2007). "Mr. and Mrs. Natural". New York Times.
  20. "Comic Shop Busted", The Comics Journal #114 (Feb. 1987), pp. 13-15.
  21. Thompson, Maggie. "April 21, 1954: Mr. Gaines Goes to Washington", "The 1900s: 10 biggest events from 100 years in comics", Archived October 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine CBGXtra.com (Dec. 12, 2005).
  22. "Comics". Spin . 4 (5): 50. ISSN   0886-3032.
  23. "The Comics Journal Hit List", The Comics Journal #161 (Aug. 1993), pp. 104-105.
  24. Newswatch: "Canada Customs Seizures: Weirdo #28 Banned as Hate Literature, and More!", The Comics Journal #166 (Feb. 1994), p. 48.
  25. The Book of Weirdo page, Last Gasp website. Retrieved Jan. 6, 2023.
  26. "American Alternative Comics, 1980–2000: Raw, Weirdo, and Beyond", McMullen Museum of Art website. Retrieved Jan. 7, 2023.

Sources consulted

Further reading

See also