COMIX: THE UNDERGROUND REVOLUTION

While mainstream schoolboy comics have always graced the shelves of Western newsagents, there has also been an underground comics scene bubbling beneath the surface. The comix of the title emerged in 1960s America as a reaction to ultra-conservative and patriotic comics produced by the large corporations that featured characters such as Captain America and Superman. Bored with superheroes, many artists such as Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton produced their own pamphlets with a new and revolutionary style, freely attacking politicians, the war in Vietnam and corporate America. They found their first dedicated audience in the Flower Power generation, and having suffered badly as a result of punk, disco and big business in the 1970s, a new breed of comix has, in recent years, begun to rise from the ashes. Comix: The Underground Revolution is an homage both to the motivation and the talent of the artists working then and now in the genre. Beautifully illustrated throughout with original artworks, the book graphically expresses a range of attitudes from drugs, rock 'n' roll and sex to politics, big business and women's liberation. It also features key events in the history of comix and potted biographies of the main creators.