Anarchy Comics
| Anarchy Comics | |
|---|---|
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Cover to Anarchy Comics issue 1. Art by Jay Kinney.
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Last Gasp |
| Schedule | Irregular |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Number of issues | 4 |
| Creative team | |
| Artist(s) | Various (see Contributors sub-section) |
| Creator(s) | Jay Kinney |
Anarchy Comics is a series of underground comic books published by Last Gasp between 1978 and 1987, as part of the underground comix subculture of the era.
Published in 1978, 1979, 1981, and 1987 and edited by Jay Kinney (#1-3) and Paul Mavrides (#4), each issue of Anarchy Comics was created by an international cast of anarchist or sympathetic contributors. Each anthology included a mixture of fiction, history, commentary, and artwork, with wide ranges in style and format.
Each issue of Anarchy Comics showcased an international cast of artists who identified as anarchists, or non-sectarian socialists. An example of this is Spain Rodriguez, a Marxist, who was considered of "sufficient libertarian bent" to be included. Contributors including Rodriguez, Gilbert Shelton, Jay Kinney and Paul Mavrides were distinct for "adding new dimensions to the political comic" in the underground comix press of the 1970s and '80s.
The following is a list of each contributor in alphabetical order.
All of the work in this issue has been inspired by - or based on - anarchist ideas and history. As it becomes increasingly clear that the real 'terrorists' are not a few isolated leftists but are the governments and corporations of this world who hold us hostage with their armaments, militaries & intelligence activities, anarchism becomes more & more relevant!
Overtly anarchist in its bent, all content included was based on anarchist philosophy and history. The humor of each anthology was satirical in nature, mocking both mainstream culture as well as traditional leftist ideas of revolution.
Roger Sabin, an English historian of comics and subculture, noted a number of connections between the comic and the Punk rock subculture of the '70s, suggesting that Jay Kinney "clearly hoped to pick up a share of the punk market with this very political comic." The covers of issues No.2 and No.3 both feature archetypal "punk" characters, and issue No. 2 features the short comic "Kultur Documents", a punk rock parody of Archie Comics. Sabin also analyzes "Too Real", Jay Kinney's short comic from the first issue, as being jointly inspired by a combination of Situationist and punk rock imagery. Sabin noted that many of the comics didn't have any relationship to Punk culture, but thought that the comic may have introduced radical ideas to a generation of new, young punks.
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