Rip Off Press Inc. is a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

retailer and

distributor A distributor is an electric and mechanical device used in the ignition system of older spark-ignition engines. The distributor's main function is to route electricity from the ignition coil to each spark plug at the correct time. Design ...

, better known as the former publisher of adult-themed series like ''

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' is an underground comic about a fictional trio of stoner characters, created by the American artist Gilbert Shelton. The Freak Brothers first appeared in ''The Rag'', an underground newspaper published in ...

'' and ''

Rip Off Comix ''Rip Off Comix'' was an underground comix anthology published between 1977 and 1991 by Rip Off Press. As time passed, the sensibility of the anthology changed from underground to alternative comics. The anthology was originally a byproduct of th ...

'', as well as many other seminal publications from the

underground comix Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...

era. Founded in 1969 in San Francisco by four friends from

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

— cartoonists

Gilbert Shelton Gilbert Shelton (born May 31, 1940) is an American cartoonist and a key member of the underground comix movement. He is the creator of the iconic underground characters '' The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'', '' Fat Freddy's Cat'', and '' Wonder ...

and Jack Jackson, and Fred Todd and Dave Moriaty — Rip Off Press is now run in

Auburn, California Auburn is a city in and the county seat of Placer County, California, United States. Its population was 13,776 during the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history and is registered as a Califo ...

, by Todd. Rip Off Press is notable for being the first company to publish the fourth edition of the ''

Principia Discordia The ''Principia Discordia'' is the first published Discordianism, Discordian religious text. It was written by Greg Hill (Malaclypse the Younger) with Kerry Wendell Thornley (Lord Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst) and others. The first edition was printed ...

'', a Discordian religious text written by Gregory Hill and

Kerry Thornley Kerry Wendell Thornley (April 17, 1938 – November 28, 1998) was an American author. He is known as the co-founder (along with childhood friend Greg Hill) of Discordianism, in which context he is usually known as Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst or sim ...

. It was also an early publisher of a booklet on drug manufacturing, ''Psychedelic Chemistry''.

History

Origins

In January 17, 1969, the company was founded in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

by four Texans: Fred Todd, Dave Moriaty, and cartoonists

and Jack Jackson. The initial plan was to print

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

promotional posters on an old press and do comics on the side — in some ways the company was formed as a sort of cartoonists'

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

, as an alternative publishing venue to other Bay Area publishers like

Apex Novelties The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics), a teenaged super villainess in the Marvel Universe * Ape-X, a super-intelligent ape in the Squadron Supreme universe *Apex ...

and

Print Mint The Print Mint, Inc. was a major publisher and distributor of underground comix based in the San Francisco Bay Area during the genre's late 1960s-early 1970s heyday. Starting as a retailer of psychedelic posters, the Print Mint soon evolved into ...

. The four men purchased a used Davidson 233

offset Offset or Off-Set may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Off-Set", a song by T.I. and Young Thug from the '' Furious 7: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' * ''Offset'' (EP), a 2018 EP by singer Kim Chung-ha * ''Offset'' (film), a 200 ...

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in whi ...

and set up shop in the same space as Apex Novelties, located on the third-floor ballroom of the former Mowry's Opera House, at 633 Laguna Street in

Hayes Valley Hayes Valley is a neighborhood in the Western Addition district of San Francisco, California. It is located between the historical districts of Alamo Square and the Civic Center. Victorian, Queen Anne, and Edwardian townhouses are mixed with hi ...

.Rosenkranz, Patrick
"Don Donahue @ Mowry’s"
, ''The Comics Journal'' website (November 9th, 2010 ). The first comics Rip Off Press published, in 1969, were

R. Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American artist who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American c ...

's ''Big Ass Comics'' (June '69), a reprint of Jaxon's ''

God Nose ''God Nose'' is a 42-page American comic book produced in 1964 by Jack "Jaxon" Jackson and is considered one of the first underground comix. ''God Nose'' centers on philosophical discussions between God and the "fools he rules". Plot ''God Nos ...

'' (originally published in 1964), Jaxon's ''Happy Endings Comics'' (August '69), and the first issue of

Fred Schrier Fred Schrier (born 1945 in Ohio) is an artist, writer, and animator, best known as partner to the underground comic book artist Dave Sheridan. Together, using the name "Overland Vegetable Stagecoach," they worked on ''Mother's Oats Comix'', publ ...

and Dave Sheridan's ''Mother's Oats Comix'' (October '69). After a fire almost destroyed the opera house in late 1969, Rip Off moved to the decaying former headquarters of the Family Dog

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

music promotion collective (which Jaxon had been a member of starting in 1966). Rip Off Press was located at 1250 17th Street in San Francisco from 1970 until 1985. By 1972, the poster printing business had faded away and the company had become a

publishing house Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

. Other works the company published during this period included comics by

Frank Stack Frank Huntington Stack (born October 31, 1937, in Houston, Texas) is an American underground comix, underground cartoonist and fine artist. Working under the name Foolbert Sturgeon to avoid persecution for his work while living in the Bible Belt ...

, Sheridan (all co-published with

Gary Arlington Gary Edson Arlington (October 7, 1938 – January 16, 2014) was an American retailer, artist, editor, and publisher, who became a key figure in the underground comix movement of the 1960s and 1970s.Yardley, William"Gary Arlington, a Force in Unde ...

's San Francisco Comic Book Company), ''

The Rip Off Review of Western Culture ''The Rip Off Review of Western Culture'' was an underground comics magazine published by Rip Off Press and produced out of San Francisco, California. It published three issues in 1972. The publication was historically significant in that it broug ...

'' omnibus, and Shelton's ''

''. The company also published a board game, '' Feds 'N' Heads'', that was based on Shelton's 1968 identically named comic.

Changing times

As the underground comix market began to peter out in the early 1970s, Rip Off Press shifted its focus to other cartoonists and other comics. By this point, Rip Off Press co-founders Moriaty and Jackson had gone back to Texas, leaving the running of the company to Shelton and Todd. The company started a syndication service, managed by Shelton, that sold weekly content to

alternative newspaper An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting ...

s and

student publication A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station Graduate student journal, produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related new ...

s.Fox, M. Steven
"Rip Off Comix — 1977-1991 / Rip Off Press,"
Comixjoint. Retrieved Dec. 5, 2022. Each Friday, the company sent out a distribution sheet with the strips it was selling, by such cartoonists as Shelton,

Joel Beck Joel Beck (May 7, 1943 – September 14, 1999) was a San Francisco Bay Area artist and cartoonist. His comic book ''Lenny of Laredo'', one of the earliest underground comic books of the 1960s, was the first underground comic book published on t ...

, Dave Sheridan,

Ted Richards Ted Richards (born 11 January 1983) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club and the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). AFL career Richards was recruited from Xavier Col ...

Bill Griffith William Henry Jackson Griffith (born January 20, 1944) is an American cartoonist who signs his work Bill Griffith and Griffy. He is best known for his surreal daily comic strip '' Zippy''. The catchphrase "Are we having fun yet?" is credited t ...

, and Harry Driggs (as R. Diggs). The Rip Off Press Syndicate, never really a profitable operation, was discontinued by 1979. (Griffith's ''Zippy'', which had debuted in 1976 as a weekly strip with Rip Off's syndicate,"Zippy Congratulates Rip-Off Press," ''Rip Off Comix'' #21 (Winter 1988), p. 50. was picked up for daily syndication in 1986 by

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is an American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product License, licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, columnist, newspape ...

.) Much of the material produced for the syndicate was eventually published in the company's long-running

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

'', which had debuted in 1977. In 1979,

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

paid Shelton and Rip Off Press $250,000 for the rights to make a live-action ''Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' film. Rip Off used its share of the rights fees to buy a new typesetting machine and a computer system, which enabled it in turn to launch the

business that later became integral to the company's survival. (The Universal-produced ''Freak Brothers'' film never made it to production.) The future Kathe Todd, who first came to the company in 1975 for a college summer job, married co-founder Fred Todd in 1980; by the mid-1980s she had assumed co-management of the company. Cartoonist

Jay Kinney Jay Kinney (born 1950) is an American author, editor, and former underground cartoonist. Kinney has been noted for "adding new dimensions to the political comic" in the underground comix press of the 1970s and '80s. Career Kinney was a member, ...

joined the company as an editor in 1981, but left after a few months. Cartoonist

Guy Colwell Guy Colwell (born March 28, 1945) is an American painter and occasional underground cartoonist. Although not African-American himself, Colwell's comics often portray blacks in strong roles in stories of life on the streets. His " Figurative Soci ...

began freelancing for Rip Off Press in the production department beginning in 1980; he worked on-and-off for the company through . After bouncing back and forth between Europe and the Bay Area in the late 1970s and early 1980s (thanks to the money he received from Universal), co-founder Shelton and his wife permanently relocated to France in 1984. In mid-1985, the company moved from 17th Street to a smaller space on San Jose Avenue near the city's southern border, with warehouse space across town at the Bayview Industrial Park. This three-story, block-square building, which housed over a hundred other businesses, burned to the ground on April 6, 1986, following an explosion in an illegal fireworks factory in the basement.

Relocation to Auburn

Freed of a 17-year accumulation of comics and other paraphernalia, Fred Todd (at this point the only original partner still working in the business) decided to relocate Rip Off Press to

(part of the

Sacramento metropolitan area The Greater Sacramento area is a metropolitan region in Northern California comprising either the U.S. Census Bureau defined Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade metropolitan statistical area or the larger Sacramento–Roseville combined sta ...

), where he and Kathe continued to run the company while raising their two small children. The move was made in June 1987. During this era, Rip Off Press continued to publish Shelton's ''

'' and the ''

'' anthology; the popularity of

erotic comics Erotic comics are adult comics which focus substantially on nudity and sexual activity, either for their own sake or as a major story element. As such they are usually not permitted to be sold to legal minors. Like other genres of comics, they c ...

in the late 1980s/early 1990s led to the publication of such titles as ''Strips'' by

Chuck Austen Chuck Austen (born Chuck Beckum)
Kees Kousemaker's Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved November 14, 2011. is an Ameri ...

, ''The Girl'' by Kevin J. Taylor, ''Doll'' by

, and

SS Crompton Steven S. Crompton is a Canadian-born artist, author and designer who has worked in the role-playing and comic genres since 1981. In the gaming industry he is best known as the artist for the '' Grimtooth's Traps'' books as well as other ''Catal ...

's '' Demi the Demoness''. The company published two music-related indy comics titles by

Matt Howarth Matt Howarth is an American comic book writer/artist known for such series as '' Those Annoying Post Bros'', '' Savage Henry'', '' Star Crossed'', and ''Bugtown''. Biography Howarth's influences include writers Philip K. Dick and H. P. Lovecr ...

— '' Savage Henry'' and '' Those Annoying Post Bros.'', from 1989 to 1994. Rip Off Press also took over the publication of the long-running all-female underground anthology ''

Wimmen's Comix ''Wimmen's Comix'', later retitled (respelled) as ''Wimmin's Comix'', is an influential all-female underground comics anthology published from 1972 to 1992. Though it covered a wide range of genres and subject matters, ''Wimmen's Comix'' focused m ...

'' with issue #14 (1989) of that title, publishing it through 1993.

Shift from publishing to retailing

After the collapse of the

direct market The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of: * three major comic distributors: ** Luna ...

in the early 1990s (fueled by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

' withdrawal of its 40% market share from the distribution system), Rip Off Press began cutting costs and gradually retreated from publishing. By 1997, it had shifted its business to selling backlist comics in its store and to mail-order customers, plus to the fans finding them online. The Todds moved the business to much smaller quarters adjoining their home in 1999, where they continue to sell comics, mostly through the company website. The website was disabled for a time in 2011–2012, during which time it was completely redesigned and a large number of collectors' items (including historic ad pieces, rare press sheets, publisher's overlay proofs from the company's publishing history, and more) were added to its offerings.

Selected titles and artists

Syndication service strips

* ''Cartoon Cavalcade'' by

* ''Dealer McDope'' by Dave Sheridan * ''E.Z. Wolf'' by

* ''

'' by

* ''

Fat Freddy's Cat ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' is an underground comic about a fictional trio of stoner characters, created by the American artist Gilbert Shelton. The Freak Brothers first appeared in ''The Rag'', an underground newspaper published in ...

'' by Gilbert Shelton * ''Forty Year Old Hippie'' by Ted Richards * ''Griffith Observatory'' by

* ''Mom Squad'' by Harry Driggs (as R. Diggs) * ''Motoring Tips'' by Gilbert Shelton * ''Nerds'' by Dave Sheridan * ''

Wonder Wart-Hog Wonder Wart-Hog (the "Hog of Steel") is an underground comic book character, a porcine parody of Superman, created by American cartoonist Gilbert Shelton and first published in 1962. Over the years, Shelton has worked on the strip in collaboration ...

'' by Gilbert Shelton with Tony Bell and Joe E. Brown, Jr. * '' Zippy'' by Bill Griffith (from 1976)

Comics

* Anthologies: ** ''

'' (30 issues, 1977–1991) ** ''

'' (3 issues, 1972) — edited by Dave Moriaty ** ''

'' (4 issues, 1989–1992) *

Chuck Austen Chuck Austen (born Chuck Beckum)
Kees Kousemaker's Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved November 14, 2011. is an Ameri ...

: '' Strips'' (1989–1991) *

: ** ''Doll'' (8 issues, 1989–1992) ** ''Central Body: The Art of Guy Colwell'' (1991) *

: '' Demi the Demoness'' (1993–1997) *

Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American artist who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American c ...

: ** ''Big Ass Comics'' (2 issues, 1969–1971) ** ''R. Crumb's Comics and Stories'' (1969) — features 10-page

Fritz the Cat ''Fritz the Cat'' is a comic strip created by Robert Crumb. Set in a "supercity" of anthropomorphic animals, it focused on Fritz, a tabby cat who frequently went on wild adventures that sometimes involved sexual escapades. Crumb began drawing ...

story drawn in 1964 ** ''Motor City Comics'' (2 issues, 1969–1970) * Harry Driggs (as R. Diggs) ** ''Great Diggs of '77: a Cartoonists View of 1977 from the Pages of the Rip Off Comix Syndicate, the Berkeley Barb and the Ag-Biz Tiller'' (64 pp, 1977) —

political cartoons A political cartoon, also known as an editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically co ...

** ''Great Diggs II: a Cartoonist's View of World Events, Compiled from the Pages of the Rip Off Comix Syndicate'' (36 pp., 1979) — political cartoons ** ''Greatest Diggs of All Time'' (Rip Off Press, 1991) — collecting material from various anthologies ** ''The Life and Loves of Cleopatra'' (1991) — censored version of Driggs' pornographic comic, originally published in 1967 *

Larry Gonick Larry Gonick (born August 24, 1946) is an American cartoonist best known for '' The Cartoon History of the Universe'', a history of the world in comic book form, which he published in installments from 1977 to 2009. He has also written ''The Ca ...

: '' Cartoon History of the Universe'' (9 issues, 1978–1992) *

: ** '' Savage Henry'' (17 issues, 1990–1993) ** '' Those Annoying Post Bros.'' (20 issues, 1991–1994) *

Carol Lay Carol Lay (born 1952) is an American alternative cartoonist best known for her weekly comic strip, ''Story Minute'' (later to evolve into the strip ''Way Lay''), which ran for almost 20 years in such US papers as the ''LA Weekly'', the ''NY Press' ...

: '' Good Girls'' (1991) *

: ** ''

'' (13 issues, 1971–1997) ** ''

'' (12 issues, 1977–1993) ** ''

'' (1973–1975) ** ''

Not Quite Dead Gilbert Shelton (born May 31, 1940) is an American cartoonist and a key member of the underground comix movement. He is the creator of the iconic underground characters ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'', ''Fat Freddy's Cat'', and ''Wonder Wa ...

'' (5 issues, 1993–1995) * Dave Sheridan: ** ''Mother's Oats Comix'' (1970–1976)— with

and others ** ''Skull Comics'' #1 (1970) — with

and others; later picked up by

Last Gasp (The) Last Gasp may refer to * Last Gasp (publisher) Last Gasp is a San Francisco–based book publisher with a lowbrow art and counterculture focus. Owned and operated by Ron Turner, for most of its existence Last Gasp was a publisher, dis ...

** ''The Balloon Vendor'' (1971)— with

: ** ''Jesus Comics'' (3 issues, 1969–1972) **''Feelgood Funnies'' (2 issues, 1972, 1984) ** ''Amazon Comics'' (1972) ** ''Dorman's Doggie'' (1979) * Kevin J. Taylor: ** ''Model by Day'' (1990)''Model by Day''
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on April 16, 2012. ** ''The Girl'' (1991)

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Comic book publishing companies of the United States Underground comix Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in San Francisco Publishing companies established in 1969 1969 establishments in California