Line #19 Main/UndergroundComics


1	[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/TheFabulousFurryFreakBrothers https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fffreakbro.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Ignore the name, and it's a great example!]]
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4	Underground comics (or "comix") are small press or self-published comic books that first emerged in [[TheSixties the 1960's]]. They came about as an artistic response to the mainstream, [[MediaNotes/TheComicsCode Comics Code Authority]]-approved comics, which focused on superheroes, war, romance, and juvenile humor, while ignoring many of the real-life issues affecting their readers. Underground comics took on these topics forbidden in the mainstream, including explicit drug use, sexuality and violence. They were most popular from the late 1960's to [[TheEighties the early 1980's]].
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6	Underground comics were popular with the hippie counterculture and punk scenes. Produced by people like Creator/RobertCrumb, Gilbert Shelton, and Gary Panter, the comics tapped into the zeitgeist of the youth culture, exploring themes of distrust in government, the horrors of daily life, and the fading of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream.
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8	Underground comics gained prominence and influence, as is evidenced in such works as TheMovie of ''WesternAnimation/FritzTheCat'', ''WesternAnimation/DownAndDirtyDuck'' and ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''. Also, ''ComicStrip/ZippyThePinhead'' and ''[[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' originally began as underground comics before gaining mainstream success (in Zippy's case, syndication in newspapers, whereas the Turtles were basically commercialized and pimped out by major corporations). Even mainstream comic books weren't immune, and took on underground themes, as with ''ComicBook/HowardTheDuck''. Their legacy is most obvious with AlternativeComics, the genre's SpiritualSuccessor.
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10	This movement helped to kick off the UsefulNotes/FurryFandom early on due to the sheer number of attempts to subvert the belief that "all comics are {{Funny Animal}}s" that was pervading the mainstream comics industry in the 70s, by basically taking those characters and putting them in adult or sexual situations.
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12	Still other underground comics were important not for the sex and violence, but because they could be experimental in other ways; exploring subject matter that was [[SliceOfLife mundane]] rather than fantastic, or experimenting with the [[ComicBookTropes medium of comics itself]].
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14	As the comic industry has matured (or at least become more tolerant), these pioneering works have [[OnceOriginalNowCommon lost some of their original power]]; SliceOfLife, [[{{Gorn}} extreme violence]], and [[HotterAndSexier sex]] have all found their way into mainstream comics nowadays, but that doesn't mean these comics are any less important or entertaining.
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16	The Underground Comix influence waned during TheEighties due to a number of reasons. The counterculture of TheSixties had fallen out of relevance. These comic books had very limited printing and distribution[[note]]Underground comics were rare in comic book stores due to Diamond Distributor's (the dominant distributor of comics since 1982) history of discriminating against not only small press comics in general, but also comics with what they felt was controversial content [[/note]]. They were often found only in head shops (stores that specialized in cannabis paraphenelia). The rise of Indy Comics (or Independent Publishers; meaning almost everyone who was not Marvel or DC) opened the door for comic books published in a diverse range of genres that were not necessarily edgy, pornographic, taboo, or subversive, but simply providing alternatives to the superhero genre.
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19	!! Underground comics with pages:
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21	[[index]]
22	* ''ComicBook/AmericanSplendor'': Early on. Later published by Creator/DarkHorseComics and Creator/VertigoComics, an imprint of Creator/DCComics. A pioneering autobiographical comic focusing on the life of its creator and writer, Harvey Pekar, with art drawn by many underground cartoonists, including Frank Stack and Robert Crumb.
23	* ''ComicBook/{{Buzz}}'', published by Creator/OniPress and telling the story of a world where spelling bees are SeriousBusiness and a form of combat.
24	* ''ComicBook/TheFabulousFurryFreakBrothers'': A trio of hippies in search of marijuana, various forms of psychedelic drugs, sex, and cheap thrills. [[WesternAnimation/TheFreakBrothers An animated adaptation]] premiered in 2021, starring the voices of Creator/WoodyHarrelson, Creator/PeteDavidson, Creator/JohnGoodman and Creator/TiffanyHaddish.
25	--->"Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope."
26	* ''ComicBook/FritzTheCat'': Creator/RobertCrumb's anthropomorphic cat seeks self-fulfilling pleasures, including drugs and sex, who proclaims himself to be a deep poet seeking "the truth". Adapted as a [[WesternAnimation/FritzTheCat 1972 film]] by Creator/RalphBakshi. A second film, ''WesternAnimation/TheNineLivesOfFritzTheCat'' (which had no involvement from Crumb or Bakshi), was released in 1974.
27	* ''ComicBook/GodNose'': Considered [[TropeMakers one of the first]] (if not the first) underground comic; self-published by Jack "Jaxon" Jackson in 1964, it features {{God}}, Jesus and a satirical look at life in TheSixties.
28	* ''ComicBook/{{Horndog}}'': Creator/IsaacBaranoff's pot-smoking anthropomorphic dog Bob routinely cheats on his cat girlfriend on an extraterrestrial planet inhabited by {{Funny Animal}}s.
29	* ''ComicStrip/LifeInHell'': Before going on to wide mainstream success with ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Creator/MattGroening self-published this in Xeroxed comic book form. It focused on a bitter, depressed rabbit named Binky, his girlfriend, their illegitimate son, Bongo, and a pair of [[{{Twincest}} identical gay lovers]] named Akbar and Jeff (you can even see in the ''Simpsons'' character designs that a lot of the inspiration was from ''Life In Hell'', particularly Akbar and Jeff, whom most ''Simpsons'' fans will recognize as Milhouse van Houten, his mother Luann, and his father, Kirk).
30	* ''ComicBook/HotheadPaisanHomicidalLesbianTerrorist'': Created by lesbian cartoonist Diane [=DiMassa=], the comic is about a lesbian who seeks to end misogyny and homophobia by killing or castrating every man she sees.
31	* ''ComicBook/MrA'': Surprised to see something Creator/SteveDitko was involved in on here? Ditko's Creator/AynRand-inspired, [[UsefulNotes/{{Objectivism}} Objectivist]]-themed superhero series appeared in underground comics series like ''witzend'', as well as issues self-published by Ditko himself.
32	* ''ComicBook/OmahaTheCatDancer'': A very explicit SoapOpera with FunnyAnimal or UsefulNotes/{{Furry\|Fandom}} characters.
33	* ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'': Originally started as a self-released webcomic until Magazine/ShonenJump offered to re-publish it with new artwork, leading it to become one of the most popular Japanese franchises in mainstream media.
34	* ''ComicBook/ReidFlemingWorldsToughestMilkman'': A very silly comic about a very violent man.
35	* ''ComicBook/{{Rocky}}'': Swedish autobiographical comic by Martin Kellerman in which FunnyAnimal AuthorAvatar Rocky and his slacker buddies deal with things like relationships, hang out at bars and coffee shops, attend HipHop concerts and have a series of often-embarrassing [[EverybodyHasLotsOfSex one-night stands]].
36	* ''[[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' was originally a self-published independent comic which was ridiculously gritty and violent (as a parody of the two most popular comics of the early 80s, Creator/FrankMiller's "dark and edgy" ''Daredevil'' and the teenage mutants of the Comicbook/XMen), prior to becoming a mainstream sensation aimed at children.
37	* ''ComicStrip/ZippyThePinhead'': Early on. Later became a syndicated newspaper comic, thus earning mainstream status.
38	[[/index]]

Context Main / UndergroundComics