Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Underground Comix

This week we dove into the world of underground comics. Right off the bat, I was struck by how crude and crass the content was. For example, while reading "air pirates," Mickey was lamenting to the world why nobody would "fuck him." Later in the comic was the sick man's fantasy of seeing Mickey and Minnie pornography. I couldn't help but laugh, its so amusing how raunchy some of these comics were. Despite the fact that the artistry was not always the best, I find the whimsical line work appropriate for the crude content. The various visual styles most definitely lend to its messy, dark charm.
Intrigued by their unapologetic titles, I was particularly drawn to "Tits and Clits" and . This was one of the first times women really started making their own comics, and they truly depicted empowered females. It was empowering to the point where it seemed like satire. I don't know if the author was completely serious or joking when she created this...but it definitely was shocking how crude and unapollogetically blunt it was.

I could definitely see a difference in attitude when it came to this "empowered female" comic in comparison to the first edition of Wonder Woman. Several weeks back, when we were covering the first comic books to come out, I read this Wonder Woman comic that was published in the late 40s'. Despite featuring a female heroine when most of all other costumed heroes were male, it was apparent that the author was male, and that the times did not yet understand what it was like to have women equal to men. Meanwhile, I read "Girl Fight," where a woman named Fox is depicted having sex with both women and men without a hint of submission, successfully killing a jaguar to wear its skin, and joining an all female militia. The difference was astounding.

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