Zap Comix #1 FIRST PRINT 1967 Robert Crumb Charles Plymell Historic Underground

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Zap Comix #1 FIRST PRINT 1967 Robert Crumb Charles Plymell Historic Underground:
$3995.95

Offered for sale is an original first print edition of \"Zap Comix #1\" (1967, Charles Plymell / Apex), featuring Robert Crumb\'s iconic artistry, is a RARE to find collector\'s item and investment grade collectible (less than 350 known copies)(see bio info below). The asking price is $3,995.00 + FREE S/H (U.S. Domestic), and is exponentially nicer than the only other copy on selling for the same price! Overseasordersplease allowfor additional S/H costs (CA State Residents please add 10% sales tax). Thanks for visiting my sale listing, and feel free to contact me with further questions or comments!

Zap ComixFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaZap ComixCover ofZap Comix#1 (Feb. 1968). Art byR. Crumb.Publication informationPublisherApex Novelties(issues #1–2, 0)
Print Mint(issues #3–9)
Last Gasp(issues #10–15)FormatOngoing seriesGenreUndergroundPublication dateOctober1968- November2014Number of issues17Creative teamArtist(s)Robert Crumb,Victor Moscoso,S. Clay Wilson,Gilbert Shelton,Spain Rodriguez,Robert Williams,Rick Griffin,Paul MavridesCreator(s)Robert Crumb

Zap Comixis anunderground comixseries which was originally part of theyouth counterculture of the late 1960s.

Premiering in 1968,Zapwas unlike any comic book sensibility that had been seen before. Labeled \"Fair Warning: For Adult Intellectuals Only\", it featured the publishing debut of Crumb\'s much-bootlegged \"Keep on Truckin\'\" imagery, an early appearance of unreliable holy manMr. Naturaland his neurotic discipleFlakey Foont, and the first of innumerable self-caricatures (in which Crumb calls himself \"a raving lunatic\", and \"one of the world\'s last great medieval thinkers\"). Perhaps most notable in the debut issue was the story \"Whiteman,\" which detailed the inner torment seething within the lusty, fearful heart of an outwardly upright American. While a few small-circulation self-published satirical comic books had been printed prior to this,Zapbecame the model for the \"comix\" movement that snowballed after its release.

Contents[hide]

1Publication history
2Circulation
3\"Comix\"
4Other Characters
5References
6External links

Publication history[edit]

Zap#1 was published inSan Franciscoin late 1968. It featured the work ofsatiricalcartoonistRobert Crumb. Some 3,500 copies were printed byBeatwriterCharles Plymell,[1]who arranged with publisherDon DonahueforZapto be the first title put out under Donahue\'sApex Noveltiesimprint.

The contents of the firstZapwere not intended to be the debut issue. Philadelphia publisherBrian Zahn(who had published earlier works of R. Crumb in his tabloid calledYarrowstalks[2]) had intended to publish an earlier version of the comix, but reportedly he left the country with the artwork.[citation needed]Rather than repeat himself, Crumb drew a new assortment of strips, which replaced the missing issue.

The first issue was sold on the streets ofHaight-Ashburyout of a baby stroller pushed by Crumb\'s wife Dana on the first day. In years to come, the comic\'s sales would be most closely linked with alternative venues such ashead shops. (The tagline ofZap#1, \"Zap Comics are Squinky Comics!!\" has an interesting origin.Art Spiegelmancalled his girlfriend of the time,Isabella Fiske, \"Squink.\" Crumb liked the word and decided to use it on the cover.)[citation needed]

After the success of the first issue, Crumb opened the pages ofZapto several other artists, includingS. Clay Wilson,Robert Williams,\"Spain\" Rodriguez,Gilbert Shelton, and two artists with reputations aspsychedelicposterdesigners,Victor MoscosoandRick Griffin. This stable of artists, along with Crumb, remained mostly constant throughout the history ofZap,which published sporadically after the collapse of the underground comix market in the mid-1970s.

In 1969, shortly beforeZap#3 was to be published (by a new company,Print Mint), Crumb foundXeroxcopies of the missing pages from the originalZap#1, which (according to fellowZapcontributorVictor Moscoso) successfully captured the linework but not the solid blacks. After being reinked by Crumb, those cartoons subsequently appeared asZap#0, published by Apex Novelties. ThusZap#0 became the third in the series (even though it was drawn before #1 in 1967), andZap#3 the fourth.[3]

After that it was typical for three to five years to pass between new issues, which continued to be published by Print Mint through issue #9 (1978).

From issue #10 (1982) onward,Zapwas published byLast Gasp(which also published many reprints of earlier issues).

Contributor Rick Griffin died in 1991; a two-page story by artistPaul Mavridesappeared in issue #14. (Mavrides was invited to contribute when Crumb announced that he no longer wanted to work onZap.)

Zap#15 (ISBN 0867196351) came out in 2005, seven years after the previous issue.

A limited edition six-volume hardcover box set containing the completeZap Comix(ISBN 9781606997871) was published byFantagraphicsin November 2014.[4]Besides including an oral history, portfolio and previously unseen material, the set also includes the never-before publishedZap Comix#16 — the final issue in the series.[5]Zap#16 would later be released by Fantagraphics as a stand-alone, 80-page comic in February 2016, with a few changes and additions.[6]

Circulation[edit]

Due to its unusual outside position in the comic distribution industry, a completely accurate count ofZap\'s circulation cannot be known, but overall sales for the comic\'s first 16 issues are in the millions. It is important to note that there are three printings of the first issue, the first one being sold on the streets of San Francisco by Crumb himself.

\"Comix\"[edit]

While the origin of the spelling \"comix\" is a subject of some dispute, it was popularized by its appearance in the title of the first issues ofZap.Design criticSteven Hellerclaims that the term \"comix\" refers to the traditional comic book style ofZap, and its mixture of dirty jokes and storylines.[7]

Other Characters[edit]

Captain Piss-Gums and his Pervert Pirates: (S. Clay Wilson) A crew of bisexual male drug-addict pirates that were into a series of kinky and outre sexual acts. His nemesis was Captain Fatima and the butch all-female crew of theSS Quivering Thigh.[8]Captain Piss-Gums is mentioned as one of the Captains attending the Pirate\'s Conference in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Dirty Dog: An anthropomorphic animal comic in which the hero is a horny long-eared hound dog. An all-seeing god is portrayed by a bunny rabbit in astraw boaterand striped vest with a movie camera.
Mr. Goodbar: A clueless hick in suspenders that seems to be the opposite of Mr. Natural. His motto is the unprintable - and literal - \"Go Fuck Yourself!\".
Wonder Wart-Hog: (Gilbert Shelton) the \'Hog of Steel\': A violent reactionary amoral \"superhero\" who hypocritically murders and rapes people he doesn\'t approve of. His alter ego is reporter Philbert DeSanex; instead of being a human disguised as a rubber-masked monster, he is a pig-faced monster who disguises himself as a rubber-faced human.