Underground Comics

Today in class we discussed the topic of: Underground Comics.  This has probably been one of my personal favorites.  Underground comics is a great example of a rich sub-culture and one that consists of very passionate and devoted followers. The sub culture of comic books explores areas of interest that very few mediums would have ever considered before the popularity of the internet.

Sex, drugs, lust, nudity, violence, racism, religion, etc are all very taboo subjects, when being handled delicately, which underground comics used to fuel their own personal success.  The sub culture of comics used these different topics and themes and pushed them to the extreme.  The opening showed sex in various panels, along with nudity and violence. A lot of the underground comics showed all of them combined in the same issue.  The underground artists were not afraid to explore the medium.

In class we discussed the use of drugs and psychedelics, which were often popular amongst the underground comic genre. Various underground artists, would try to represent the feelings and emotions experienced during drug use, sex, etc, through the comic book medium. Some artists were heavy users of hardcore drugs like lsd, and heroin.  However, this honesty and pureness to their work provided an experience to the viewer which is rarely felt, through media which has been heavily censored by corporations and various censorship committees. 

Dr Atomic was the underground piece that I had a chance to look at in class. This was a really hard one to put down. One of the more important notes to make about underground comics, lies in the mastership and execution of the medium. A lot of the work which came out of this field was extremely well done. The artists were amazing artists who explored amazing ideas. Dr. Atomic is a great example of this. The panels flow very interesting and are amazingly well drawn. One never finds himself having trouble becoming immersed in the action and following the zany character, who is Dr. Atomic.  Besides the pure aesthetics of Dr. Atomic the content also fit perfectly into the underground comic culture. This particular issue dealt with the irony of uneducated social classes, who pass judgment and show discrimination towards other groups with different opinions. This issue also touched on the absurdity of the media and the news networks, prompting Dr. Atomic to build a spaceship which would take him off of earth. Awesome!

Underground comics are a goldmine for anyone looking to think [outside of the box.]  The topics and issues explored are not for everyone, but there is also something for everyone if you dig deep enough. The culture is very strong and the popularity of this comic craze has only grown with the development of the internet and the availability of information on topics that are not considered main stream or normal.  These comics feature some of the most interesting and pure explorations in any artistic medium and have indirectly helped  pave the way for a lot of the "crazyness" which has become the internet and popular culture today.