Zap Comix


Zap Comix is an underground comix series which was originally part of the youth counterculture of the late 1960s. While a few small-circulation self-published satirical comic books had been printed prior to this, Zap became the model for the "comix" movement that snowballed after its release. The title itself published 17 issues over a period of 46 years.
Premiering in early 1968 as a showcase for the work of Robert Crumb, Zap was unlike any comic book sensibility that had been seen before. After the success of the first issue, Crumb opened the pages of Zap to several other artists, including S. Clay Wilson, Robert Williams, "Spain" Rodriguez, Gilbert Shelton, and two artists with reputations as psychedelic poster designers, Victor Moscoso and Rick Griffin. This stable of artists, along with Crumb, remained mostly constant throughout the history of Zap.
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 of Zap. Design critic Steven Heller claims that the term "comix" refers to the traditional comic book style of Zap, and its mixture of dirty jokes and storylines.

Overview

Labeled "Fair Warning: For Adult Intellectuals Only", Zap #1 featured the publishing debut of Robert Crumb's much-bootlegged Keep on Truckin' imagery, an early appearance of unreliable holy man Mr. Natural and his neurotic disciple Flakey Foont, and the first of innumerable self-caricatures. The debut issue included the story "Whiteman," which detailed the inner torment seething within the lusty, fearful heart of an outwardly upright American.
For the second issue, Crumb invited S. Clay Wilson, Victor Moscoso and Rick Griffin to contribute. Gilbert Shelton joined the crew with issue #3, and Robert Wiliams and Spain Rodriguez joined with issue #4, completing the roster.
Zap's new publisher the Print Mint weathered a lawsuit filed over the Zap #4, released in 1969, which featured among other things, Crumb's depiction of incest in a middle-class family. The publishers, Don & Alice Schenker, were arrested and charged with publishing pornography by the Berkeley Police Department. Previous to that, Simon Lowinsky, who had a gallery on College Avenue in Berkeley and had put up an exhibition of the Crumb's original drawings, had been arrested on the same charge. His case came to trial first. He was acquitted after supportive testimony from Peter Selz, a prominent figure in the art world. At that point the city dropped the charges against the Print Mint. In a related case, however — also brought on by Zap #4 — the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that local communities could decide their own First Amendment standards with reference to obscenity. In the mid-1970s, sale of drug paraphernalia was outlawed in many places, and the distribution network for these comics dried up, leaving mail order as the only commercial outlet for underground titles.
Contributor Rick Griffin died in 1991; Paul Mavrides made his debut as a Zap contributor in issue #14.

Publication history

Zap #1 was published in San Francisco in early 1968. Some 3,500 copies were printed by Beat writer Charles Plymell, who arranged with publisher Don Donahue for Zap to be the first title put out under Donahue's Apex Novelties imprint.
The contents of the first Zap were not intended to be the debut issue. Philadelphia publisher Brian Zahn had intended to publish an earlier version of the comic, but reportedly left the country with the artwork. Rather than repeat himself, Crumb drew a new assortment of strips, which replaced the missing issue.
In late 1968, shortly before Zap #3 was to be published, Crumb found Xerox copies of the missing pages from the original Zap #1, which successfully captured the linework but not the solid blacks. After being re-inked by Crumb, those strips subsequently appeared as Zap #0. Thus Zap #0 became the third in the series, and Zap #3 the fourth.
With issue #4, Zap moved publishers to the Print Mint, which weathered a lawsuit related to its contents. A 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling led to the collapse of the underground comix market, and after that Zap was published sporadically, with it being typical for three to five years to pass between new issues. Zap continued to be published by Print Mint through issue #9, when the company stopped publishing comics altogether.
From issue #10 onward, Zap was published by Last Gasp. Again, there were often long periods between issues: altogether, five issues of Zap were published in the 1970s, three issues in the 1980s, and two issues in the 1990s. Zap #15 came out in 2005, seven years after the previous issue.
Issues #13–15 all featured cameos by sex-positive feminist Susie Bright as a character within its pages.
A limited edition six-volume hardcover box set containing the complete Zap Comix was published by Fantagraphics in November 2014. Besides including an oral history, portfolio, and previously unseen material, the set also included the never-before published Zap Comix #16 — the final issue in the series. Zap #16 would later be released by Fantagraphics as a stand-alone, 80-page comic in February 2016, with a few changes and additions.

Circulation

The first issue of Zap was sold on the streets of Haight-Ashbury out 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 as head shops.
Due to its unusual outside position in the comic distribution industry, a completely accurate count of Zap's circulation cannot be known, but overall sales for the comic's first 16 issues are in the millions.

Jams

From issue #3 forward, every issue of the title featured a group jam by the "Zap collective," where the cartoonists would pass a story around, each one contributing panels to the overall story.
In addition, in June 1970, the collective did the one-page jam "Science Fiction Comics" along with Harvey Kurtzman, which was published in East Village Other vol. 6, #1. In 1974, between issues #7 and #8 of Zap Comix, the collective produced Zam, an entire 36-page comic filled with their jams.

List of ''Zap'' jams