Going underground
Going underground |
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Page 7 of 36  Page from Zap (Print Mint, 1974), featuring a fetishistic story by Spain Rodriguez. Crumb always claimed that he was never a 'hippie' as such, and disliked being counted as part of the subculture. However, his strips give the lie to this: they show how, despite the fact that he never grew his hair, he was deeply involved with life in Haight-Ashbury. He did, in fact, hang out with rock stars like Janis Joplin, and he took hippie ideals very seriously. There is a socialist/ anarchist/libertarian sensibility to all his work, and however critical he was of flower power in his strips, he was certainly very defensive of it in interviews with the straight press. His weak spot was sexism. Like just about every 1960s icon (with the possible exception of John Lennon), he thought of women as 'chicks', second-class citizens whose function was the entertainment of men (ideally in a sexual sense). To say he was slow to recognize the aims of Women's Liberation would be an understatement: his strips are crowded with misogynist images, often involving violence. His excuse was that he was expressing his innermost feelings, as every artist has a duty to do; but this did not satisfy feminists. As one female creator put it: 'It's weird to me how willing people are to overlook the hideous darkness in Crumb's work ... What the hell is funny about rape and murder?" Later in his career, Crumb would have second thoughts, and create some of the most rounded female characters in comics; but at the time when his influence was at its height, this aspect of his work remained a nagging problem.  Panel from Subvert (Rip Off, 1970). Art: Spain Rodriguez. This features 'Trashman', the tough as nails anarchist and 'Agent of the Sixth International'. Trashman became a symbol for much of the 'street action' of the period.  Pages and panel from Zap (Print Mint, 1969 and 1974). Art: Victor Moscoso. |