Cat-Head Comics was an American

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/ underground

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that operated from 1980 to 1998. Founded by cartoonist Steve Lafler as a vehicle for his own work, Cat-Head was later joined by writer/poet/editor Stephen Beaupre. Cat-Head's longest-running title was the anthology ''Buzzard'', which lasted 20 issues. In addition to Lafler and Beaupre, creators published by Cat-Head included R. L. Crabb, Lloyd Dangle, Krystine Kryttre, and J. R. Williams.

History

Lafler founded Cat-Head in 1980, shortly after graduating from the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

. Cat-Head's first publication was ''BenB and Gerald'', a collection of Lafler's strips (titled ''Aluminum Foil'') published in '' The Massachusetts Daily Collegian''. Cat-Head's first true ongoing series was Lafler's ''Dog Boy'', which ran seven issues from 1983–1985. (In 1987, the publisher

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...

picked up ''Dog Boy'', launching a new volume which ran 10 issues.) In 1984, Cat-Head moved headquarters from

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. In 1987, Cat-Head published its first non-Lafler title, releasing ''Out the Next'', by Lafler's long-time friend Stephen Beaupre. The book featured Beaupre's text pieces, poems, photographs, and drawings, with some additional art by Lafler. In 1988–1989, Cat-Head published two issues of Lafler & Beaupre's ''Duck & Cover'', featuring satirical comics and poetry by Beaupre and Lafler, parodying politics, religion, and big business. Beaupre became Cat-Head co-publisher in 1989, helping to finance much of the publisher's output from then on.Clough, Rob
"Explaining Reality to Myself: The Steve Lafler Interview (Part Two of Three),"
''The Comics Journal'' (September 21, 2010). Cat-Head moved its headquarters to

Hudson, Massachusetts Hudson is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, with a total population of 20,092 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Before its incorporation as a town in 1866, Hudson was a ne ...

, in 1990 (remaining there until at least 1994), and expanded its line-up, launching the long-running ''Buzzard'' anthology, edited by Beaupre,Cwiklik, Gregory. "Objective Opinions: Firing Line: ''Buzzard'' #14," ''The Comics Journal'' #179 (Aug. 1995), p. 37. with such contributors as Lloyd Dangle,

Julie Doucet Julie Doucet (born December 31, 1965)
is a Canadian

, Mary Fleener, Dave Gill,

Phoebe Gloeckner Phoebe Louise Adams Gloeckner (born December 22, 1960) is an American cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and novelist. Early life Gloeckner was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her mother was a librarian and her father, David Gloeckner, was ...

, Gerald Jablonski,

James Kochalka James Kochalka (born May 26, 1967, in Springfield, Vermont) is an American comic book artist, writer, animator, and rock and roll, rock musician. His comics are noted for their blending of the real and the surreal. Largely autobiographical, Ko ...

, Krystine Kryttre,

Adrian Tomine Adrian Tomine (; born May 31, 1974) is an American cartoonist. He is best known for his ongoing comic book series ''Optic Nerve'' and his illustrations in ''The New Yorker''. Early life Adrian Tomine was born May 31, 1974, in Sacramento, Califo ...

, Tom Tomorrow, Steven Weissman, J. R. Williams, and Aleksandar Zograf. Over the next couple of years the publisher released one-shot titles by R. L. Crabb, Lloyd Dangle, Krystine Kryttre, and J. R. Williams. From 1993 to 1998, Cat-Head retrenched, focusing on Lafler solo titles like ''Bughouse'' and the ongoing ''Buzzard'' anthology. Critic Rob Clough described ''Bughouse'' as Lafler's All six issues of ''Bughouse'' were later collected into a trade paperback by

Top Shelf Productions Top Shelf Productions is an American publishing company founded in 1997, originally owned and operated by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock with a small staff. Currently an imprint of IDW Publishing, Top Shelf is based in Marietta, Georgia. Top Sh ...

Titles

Steve Lafler solo titles (chronologically)

* ''BenB and Gerald'' (1980)Lafler entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999.'' Accessed Oct. 28, 2015. * ''Mean Cat'' (1981) * ''Guts'' (1981–1982) * ''Dog Boy'' (7 issues, 1983–1985) — later published by Fantagraphics * ''Femme Noir'' (2 issues, 1988) — Lafler's take on mystical crime fiction, starring a detective named Maria and her occasional boyfriend, BenB. Lafler's recurring character Dog Boy makes occasional appearances. * ''Prometheus' Gift'' (1 issue, Oct. 1992) — Lafler's homage to

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

and

Psilocybin mushrooms Psilocybin mushrooms, or psilocybin-containing mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms or as shrooms, are a type of hallucinogenic mushroom and a polyphyletic informal group of fungi that contain the prodrug psilocybin, which turns into t ...

* ''Bughouse'' (6 issues, Mar. 1994–Mar. 1997) * ''Jonk!: A Bughouse Fable'' (1 issue, 1998)

Other titles (alphabetically)

* ''Bad Comics'' (1 issue, 1990) — J. R. Williams * ''Bummer'' (1 issue, 1992) — J. R. Williams; later continued by Fantagraphics * ''Buzzard'' (20 issues, 1990–1998) * ''Crabbs'' (1 issue, 1993) — R. L. Crabb * ''Dangle'' (1 issue, 1991) — Lloyd Dangle * ''Death Warmed Over'' (1 issue, 1990) — Krystine Kryttre * ''Duck & Cover'' (2 issues, 1988–1989) — Lafler & Stephen Beaupre * ''Out the Next'' (1 issue, 1987) — Stephen Beaupre

References

External links

* *
Selected Cat-Head title covers and synopsis

{{Comic book publishers in North America navbox 1998 disestablishments in Massachusetts American companies established in 1980 Comic book publishing companies of the United States Companies based in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Companies based in Portland, Oregon Defunct comics and manga publishing companies Defunct companies based in Massachusetts Companies based in Eugene, Oregon Hudson, Massachusetts Mass media companies disestablished in 1998 Privately held companies based in Oregon Publishing companies established in 1980