''Slow Death'' is an

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, ...

anthology published 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 first title published by the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

-based press. Conceived as an ecologically themed comics magazine (in conjunction with the first

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally through earthday.org (formerly Earth Day Network) includin ...

), the title's "underlying theme was always about what the human race was doing to damage the native planet."Fox, M. Steven
''Slow Death''
Comixjoint. Accessed Sept. 22, 2016. Frequent contributors to ''Slow Death'' included

Greg Irons Greg Irons (September 29, 1947 – November 14, 1984) was an American poster artist, underground cartoonist, animator and tattoo artist. Biography Irons was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He moved to San Francisco, California, in 1967, ...

, Jaxon, Dave Sheridan,

Richard Corben Richard Corben (November 1, 1940December 2, 2020) was an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in '' Heavy Metal'' magazine, especially the ''Den'' series which was featured in the magazine's first film a ...

, Jim Osborne, Tom Veitch, and Dennis Ellefson. Released sporadically from 1970 to 1992, 11 issues were published in all.

Publication history

The first issue, titled ''Slow Death Funnies'', was produced by

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

graduate studentNelson, Gayle
"The Origins of Last Gasp,"
Last Gasp website (Jan. 1999). Accessed Dec. 14, 2013. Ron Turner as a benefit for a local ecology center. Turner borrowed $2,500, and with the help of San Francisco Comic Book Company's

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 ...

,Lepage , Cécile
"A 40-year Last Gasp that's getting stronger,"
''San Francisco Bay Guardian'' online (March 30, 2010). printed 20,000 copies, which were published on April 15, 1970. The first issue was copyrighted by the "Visual Yoyo Tribe," a Berkeley-based

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an e ...

of which Turner was a member.indicia
''Slow Death Funnies'' #1 (April 1970). New issues, now simply titled ''Slow Death'', were published annually through 1974, when the title went on hiatus until 1976. Two issues were published in 1977 and then the title went annual again through 1979. After a 13-year gap, the final issue in the series, ''Slow Death'' #11, was published in 1992.

Themes and contributors

''Slow Death Funnies'' #1 featured underground comix stars such as

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 ...

Kim Deitch Kim Deitch (born May 21, 1944 in Los Angeles, California) is an American cartoonist who was an important figure in the underground comix movement of the 1960s, remaining active in the decades that followed with a variety of books and comics, somet ...

, Jaxon,

Rory Hayes Rory Hayes (August 8, 1949 – August 29, 1983) was an American underground cartoonist in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His comics were drawn in an expressionistic, primitivist style and usually dealt with grim subject matter such as par ...

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 ...

, Dave Sheridan,

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 ...

Gary Grimshaw Gary Grimshaw (February 25, 1946 – January 13, 2014) was an American graphic artist active in Detroit and San Francisco who specialized in designing rock concert posters. He was also a radical political activist with the White Panther Party and ...

, and Jim Evans taking on such targets as the auto industry, corporate polluters, litterers, and other perceived abusers of the planet. The second issue took on a

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...

science fiction theme, with dark stories by Jaxon, Dave Sheridan, Jim Osborne, and

. Science fiction stories continued throughout the series, but with issue #5, each issue's theme became connected to real-world issues:

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

, true war stories,

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...

, cancer, and other topics. The final issue, published 13 years after issue #10, and focused on

energy conservation Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less and better sources of energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavi ...

, featuring stories by (among others)

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

Bryan Talbot Bryan Talbot (born 24 February 1952) is a British comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of '' The Adventures of Luther Arkwright'' and its sequels '' Heart of Empire'' and '' The Legend of Luther Arkwright'', as well as the ''Gra ...

Graham Manley Graham Manley is a British comic artist. Biography Graham Manley has worked for a wide range of British comics, and is credited by Tony O'Donnell as inspiring the creation of ''Near Myths''.Ewing, Garen. Interview with Tony O'Donnell (July 1998 ...

, and

Wally Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as ''Weird Science (comic), Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', an ...

contributed to 8 of the 11 issues, while Jaxon had stories in 6 issue overall.

Issues

# (Apr. 1970) — contributors:

, Dave Sheridan, Jim Osborne, Jim Evans,

/Jeffery Hayes, R. Cobb, Jaxon,

Tony Auth William Anthony Auth Jr. (May 7, 1942 – September 14, 2014) was an American editorial cartoonist and children's book illustrator. Auth is best known for his syndicated work originally drawn for ''The Philadelphia Inquirer,'' for whom he worked ...

, Randy Tuten # (Dec. 1970) — contributors: Jaxon, Sheridan, Osborne,

# (Nov. 1971) — contributors: Corben, Sheridan, Osborne, Jaxon,

Larry Welz Lawrence Edward Welz (born November 21, 1948) is an American cartoonist who created Cherry Poptart (now known simply as Cherry). He was an early contributor to the underground comix movement in the San Francisco area during the late 1960s and ea ...

, Irons # (Nov. 1972) — contributors: Corben, Sheridan,

George Metzger George Metzger (born 1939) is an American cartoonist and animator. He was an underground comics artist during the mid-1960s and early 1970s in California, eventually relocating to Canada, where he worked in animation. Biography Born in rural Illi ...

, Tom Veitch/Irons, Jaxon, Eric Kimball # (Apr. 1973) — "We agree Nix--un!" issue; contributors:

Rand Holmes Randolph Holton Holmes (February 22, 1942 – March 15, 2002) was a Canadian artist and illustrator probably best known for his work in underground comix. His work was of a higher level of quality than was seen elsewhere in the field, and is cons ...

, Sheridan, Veitch/Irons, Charles Dallas, Corben # (Jan. 1974) — "Call of the Wild" issue; contributors: Holmes, Ron Turner/Holmes, Dallas, Metzger, Jaxon # (Winter 1976/1977) — "True War Tales" issue; contributors:

William Stout William Stout (born September 18, 1949) is an American fantasy artist and illustrator with a specialization in paleontological art. His paintings have been shown in over seventy exhibitions, including twelve one-man shows. He has worked on over ...

, Jaxon, Irons, George DiCaprio/John Edgar, William York Wray, Errol McCarthy,

Melinda Gebbie Melinda Gebbie (born 1947) is an American comics artist and writer, known for her participation in the underground comix movement. She is also known for creating the controversial work ''Fresca Zizis'' and her contributions to '' Wimmen's Com ...

, Irons # (July 1977) —

issue; contributors: Stout, Irons, Brenda Bernu, Michael J. Becker, Doug Hansen,

Michael T. Gilbert Michael Terry Gilbert (born May 7, 1951) is an American comic book artist and writer who has worked for both mainstream and underground comic book companies. Education Gilbert attended the State University of New York at New Paltz, graduating i ...

, Sam Wray,

Roger Brand Roger Brand (January 5, 1943 – November 23, 1985) was an People of the United States, American cartoonist who created stories for both mainstream and Underground comix, underground comic books. His work showed a fascination with Horror comics, h ...

, Shelby Sampson, Dennis Ellefson, Tim Boxell # (Aug. 1978) — "Our Friend Mr. Atom" issue; contributors: Irons, Becker, Ellefson, McCarthy, Boxell # (Nov. 1979) — "Cancer special"; contributors: Irons, Ellefson,

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 ...

, DiCaprio/Warren Greenwood, Janet Abbey/Irons, Boxell # (1992) — "Energy!" issue; contributors: Irons, Veitch/Irons,

, Peter Sinclair,

, R. Waldmire, Edgar, Greenwood,

References

External links

* * * * {{Underground comix works Last Gasp titles Underground comix 1970 comics debuts Comics anthologies