Underground Comix

This week I read the Gay Comics series of Underground Comix. What was surprising to me upon first glance was how the cover did not exactly speak for what was on the inside. The covers were some kind of joking, goofy setup, but the actual comics were heartfelt and personal stories from the lives of the artists. Something big I noticed was just how much these comics were a reflection of the political climate at the time. In one of the issues I read, all of the issues tackled; homosexuality, race, facsism/government, and religion. I was actually a little taken aback because the exact same issues are still prevalent today. We talked about how the Vietnam War is still a dividing factor in today’s society though. Topics from the civil rights movement are still subject today too and it was the first issue in one of the Gay Comics series. Another was religious pastors pursuing boys which has recently become a big topic. Another was rallying against supporters of fascism and explicitly naziism, which is one of the biggest issues talked about today in our political climate. Art is a great way to get an idea across. A history teacher of mine once said artists are the most aware of what’s going on in their society when we were discussing an episode of the Three Stooges where they slipped in criticism on the newly coined term “moron” which is rooted in eugenics. For these artists, their platform was comics.