Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Underground Comix - Comics With Purpose

Do you remember how fond we were of comics in our childhood days? In those days we really used to yearn for comics but in today's tech-savvy world, with the advent of television and internet, comic books have lost their charm as avid readers have become a dying species. At one point underground comics were also very sought after, and may still have some collectors.

Underground comix are comic books that were self published in a small press and deal with socially relevant or satirical topics. They usually depict topics which are banned under normal publications by a regulatory body known as the Comics Code Authority. They deal with forbidden topics like drug use, explicit sex and violence and they were popular in United States and United Kingdom between 1968 to1975.

These comics were very popular among hippies and punks. Later they even gained popularity through films and television shows but they were always considered as alternative comics by the masses. Between 1920 and 1940 underground comix started including pornographic comic books which depicted popular comic strip characters who engaged in sleaze and perverted sexual activities. They appeared sporadically in the early sixties till 1967 and they were basically personalized works created solely for friends and also contained comic strips for publication in newspapers.

Underground comics became very popular between 1968 and 1975 and these titles were popular in head shops which sold drugs and narcotics which were banned by the society. These comics were used to popularize the drugs and the sleazes which were predominant in Western societies those days It was the lack of censorship which made them popular among the masses.

Underground comix are basically cartoon strips which were meant to titillate the audiences. Some believe that these comics were created by revolutionaries and miscreants in order to mould the minds of children so that they became a menace for the society.

Today, underground comix are not easily available but collectors can find a good variety at http://www.worldheadpress.com/. However, it is highly recommended to read these for entertainment purposes only and be kept away from impressionable minds of children.


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