alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground (S ...

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

minicomics A minicomic is a creator-published comic book, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. In the United Kingdom and Europe the term small press comic is equivalent with minicomic, reserved for those publications measuring A6 (105& ...

Dennis Eichhorn Dennis P. Eichhorn (August 19, 1945 – October 8, 2015) was an American writer, best known for his adult-oriented autobiographical comic book series ''Real Stuff''. His stories, often involving, sex, drugs, and alcohol, have been compared to tho ...

Ellen Forney Ellen Forney (born March 8, 1968) is an American cartoonist, educator, and wellness coach. She is known for her autobiographic comics which include ''I was Seven in '75''; ''I Love Led Zepellin''; and ''Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo a ...

Roberta Gregory Roberta Gregory (born May 7, 1953)
at the

David Lasky David Lasky (born December 8, 1967 in Washington, D.C.) is an alternative cartoonist based in Seattle, Washington. Biography After spending the bulk of his life in Virginia, and graduating from the College of William & Mary, Lasky moved to Seat ...

, Pat Moriarity, Art Penn,

Ed "Big Daddy" Roth Ed "Big Daddy" Roth (March 4, 1932 – April 4, 2001) was an American artist, cartoonist, illustrator, pinstriper and custom car designer and builder who created the hot rod icon Rat Fink and other characters. Roth was a key figure in So ...

, J. R. Williams,

Steve Willis ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

, and

Dennis Worden Dennis Worden is an American comic book writer and artist best known as the creator of the comic book ''Stickboy''. Worden's alternative comics caught the public's attention in the early 1980s, via Robert Crumb's '' Weirdo'' comics anthology, f ...

.

History

Self-described "

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

"Dowers, Michael. "Introduction," ''Newave!: The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s'', edited by Michael Dowers (Fantagraphics, 2010). Michael Dowers discovered minicomics in 1982 and was immediately enthralled by the form. He began writing, drawing, printing, copying, and distributing his own mini comics (under the name Nessie Productions), and by 1984 formed Starhead Comix to publish his work and that of fellow cartoonists, including Ronald Roach, Steve Willis and J. R. Williams. In the late 1980s, Starhead experimented with standard format comics, and from 1991–1995 the company focused almost exclusively on this form, often publishing

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

-based creators like Dennis P. Eichhorn, Forney, Gregory, Lasky,

Colin Upton Colin Upton (born April 2, 1960) is a Canadian cartoonist and artist who was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. Many of his comics are self-published in the minicomic format, although he has also had his work ...

, and J. R. Williams. The company's last few years were limited to publishing reprints and updates of the

pornographic Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of Human sexual activity, sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

''

Tijuana Bibles Tijuana bibles (also known as eight-pagers, Tillie-and-Mac books, Jiggs-and-Maggie books, jo-jo books, bluesies, blue-bibles, gray-backs, and two-by-fours) were palm-sized pornographic comic books produced in the United States from the 1920s to ...

'' from the 1930s. In 1999, publisher Dowers retired the Starhead Comix name and created Brownfield Press to sell remaining titles and occasionally publish new projects. In 2010,

Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

published ''Newave!: The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s'', a nearly 900-page collection of minicomics (many of which originally saw print via Starhead), edited by Dowers. This was followed in 2013 by Dowers' ''Treasury of Mini Comics — Volume One'', also published by Fantagraphics ().

Titles (selected)

Minicomics

* ''3R Cosmix'' (8 issues, 1984–1986) — Ronald Roach *Skinboy Fights Back (1984) ---- J. R. Williams * ''Armageddonquest'' (1984–1986) — Ronald Roach; followed by a full-size comics series in 1994 * ''Exquisite Corpse Comix'' (1985–1990) — anthology * ''Morty the Dog'' (2 issues, 1987) — Steve Willis * ''Outside In'' (7 issues, 1984–1985) — numbering continued from self-published Steve Willis title * ''Seattle Star'' (1985–1990) — newsprint tabloid-size * ''Starhead Presents'' (3 issues, 1987) — anthology

Comics

* ''Amazing Adventures of Ace International'' (1 issue, 1993) —

Dennis Eichhorn Dennis P. Eichhorn (August 19, 1945 – October 8, 2015) was an American writer, best known for his adult-oriented autobiographical comic book series ''Real Stuff''. His stories, often involving, sex, drugs, and alcohol, have been compared to tho ...

* ''Armageddonquest'' (3 issues, 1994) — Ronald Roach * ''Artistic Licentiousness'' (3 issues, 1991–1994) —

Roberta Gregory Roberta Gregory (born May 7, 1953)
at the

Colin Upton Colin Upton (born April 2, 1960) is a Canadian cartoonist and artist who was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. Many of his comics are self-published in the minicomic format, although he has also had his work ...

* ''Big Mouth'' (2 issues, 1992–1993) — Pat Moriarity * ''Bumber Comix'' (2 issues, 1985–1988) — second issue published with a grant from the

Bumbershoot Bumbershoot is an annual international music and arts festival held in Seattle, Washington. One of North America's largest such festivals, it takes place every Labor Day weekend (leading up to and including the first Monday of September) at the ...

Arts Festival * ''Cruel and Unusual Punishment'' (2 issues, 1993–1994) * ''Fun House'' (1 issue, 1993) — J. R. Williams * ''Hemp for Victory'' (1 issue, 1995) * ''The Mutant Book of the Dead'' (1 issue, 1994) —

Mack White Mack White (born December 20, 1952 in Mineral Wells, Texas) is a comics writer and artist who lives in Texas. Biography White grew up in North Texas where his father published weekly newspapers in small towns in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, p ...

* ''Northwest Cartoon Cookery'' (1 issue, 1995) - edited by

Dennis Eichhorn Dennis P. Eichhorn (August 19, 1945 – October 8, 2015) was an American writer, best known for his adult-oriented autobiographical comic book series ''Real Stuff''. His stories, often involving, sex, drugs, and alcohol, have been compared to tho ...

* ''Rat Fink Comix'' (1 issue, 1987) —

Ed "Big Daddy" Roth Ed "Big Daddy" Roth (March 4, 1932 – April 4, 2001) was an American artist, cartoonist, illustrator, pinstriper and custom car designer and builder who created the hot rod icon Rat Fink and other characters. Roth was a key figure in So ...

* ''Real Schmuck'' (1 issue, 1993) —

Dennis Eichhorn Dennis P. Eichhorn (August 19, 1945 – October 8, 2015) was an American writer, best known for his adult-oriented autobiographical comic book series ''Real Stuff''. His stories, often involving, sex, drugs, and alcohol, have been compared to tho ...

* ''Seattle Sketchbook'' (1 issue, 1995) — David Collier * ''Stickboy'' (2 issues, 1993–1995)—

Dennis Worden Dennis Worden is an American comic book writer and artist best known as the creator of the comic book ''Stickboy''. Worden's alternative comics caught the public's attention in the early 1980s, via Robert Crumb's '' Weirdo'' comics anthology, f ...

; numbering continues from

Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

/

Revolutionary Comics Revolutionary Comics was an American comic book publisher specializing in unauthorized profiles of entertainers and professional athletes, as well as a line of erotic comics. Its flagship series was ''Rock 'N' Roll Comics''. Founded by Todd Lore ...

title * ''The

Tijuana Bible Tijuana bibles (also known as eight-pagers, Tillie-and-Mac books, Jiggs-and-Maggie books, jo-jo books, bluesies, blue-bibles, gray-backs, and two-by-fours) were palm-sized pornographic comic books produced in the United States from the 1920s to ...

'' (9 issues, 1994–1998) — reprints of stories from the 1930s * ''Tomato'' (2 issues, 1994–1995) —

Ellen Forney Ellen Forney (born March 8, 1968) is an American cartoonist, educator, and wellness coach. She is known for her autobiographic comics which include ''I was Seven in '75''; ''I Love Led Zepellin''; and ''Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo a ...

References

Notes

Sources consulted

* * {{comicbookdb, type=publisher, id=1985, title=Starhead Comix * Chrislip, Bruce. "Starhead Comics: Art for Art's Sake," ''Subliminal Tattoos'' #4 (Spring 1995), pp. 25-28.

External links

Brownfield Press website

Brownfield Press website on Tripod

from ''Starhead Presents'' #2
Starhead Comix at Open Library
Defunct comics and manga publishing companies Comic book publishing companies of the United States 1984 establishments in Washington (state) Publishing companies established in 1984 Minicomics Companies based in Seattle