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Last Gasp (publisher)

April 09, 2024

Last Gasp is a San Francisco–based[5] book publisher with a lowbrow art and counterculture focus.[6] Owned and operated by Ron Turner, for most of its existence Last Gasp was a publisher, distributor, and wholesaler of underground comix[7] and books of all types.

Last Gasp
Founded1970; 54 years ago (1970) in Berkeley, California
FounderRon Turner[1]
Headquarters locationSan Francisco, California
DistributionSCB Distributors[2]
Key peopleColin Turner[3][4]
Publication typesBooks, graphic novels, comics
Nonfiction topicsRock music, art, poetry
Fiction genresUnderground comix
ImprintsHell Comics
Cocoanut Comics
Priaprism Press
Sexploitation Comics Group
Official websitewww.lastgasp.com

Last Gasp was established in 1970. Although the company came onto the scene a bit later than some of the other underground publishers, Last Gasp continued publishing comics far longer most of its competitors. In addition to publishing notable original titles like Slow Death, Wimmen's Comix, Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, and Weirdo, it also picked up the publishing reins of important titles—such as Zap Comix and Young Lust—from rivals who had gone out of business.

Last Gasp no longer publishes "floppy" comics; the company publishes art and photography books, graphic novels, fiction, and poetry, producing 10–15 new titles per year.[4]

History edit

 
Ron Turner in 2007

Last Gasp Eco Funnies was founded in Berkeley, California, in 1970 by San Francisco State University graduate student[8] Ronald E. Turner,[9][10][11] with the help of Gary Arlington,[3] to publish the ecologically-themed comics title Slow Death Funnies (in conjunction with the first Earth Day). Last Gasp followed Slow Death Funnies with the all-female anthology It Ain't Me, Babe,[3] spearheaded by Trina Robbins.

Last Gasp incorporated on September 11, 1971.[12] In the time period 1971–1973, Last Gasp published Air Pirates Funnies #1–2 and a number of other Air Pirates-related titles, including The Tortoise and the Hare, Dopin' Dan #1–3, and Merton of the Movement. (Turner insists that he only served as an advisor to the Air Pirates collective, despite them crediting his company as "publisher.")[12] Considered to be an "enabler" of the Air Pirates infamous Walt Disney parodies, Turner's name was added to Disney's lawsuit against the collective. Turner quickly settled with Disney, but Air Pirates Dan O'Neill, Bobby London, and Ted Richards continued fighting, in a case that dragged on for years.[13]

The company's success with Slow Death and It Ain't Me, Babe enabled Last Gasp to expand into distribution, in addition to publishing.[8] The company soon became a major part of the underground comix movement. Sociopolitical themes were explored in Last Gasp series such as Guy Colwell's Inner City Romance (1972–1979), which portrayed gritty urban tales; Armageddon (1973), which focused on anarcho-capitalism;[14] and Anarchy Comics (1978), which focused on left-wing politics. In addition to publishing Wimmen's Comix for much of its run, Last Gasp published a number of other comix with feminist themes, including It Ain't Me, Babe, Tits & Clits Comix, Twisted Sisters #1, and Good Girls.

In 1972, Last Gasp published Justin Green's seminal autobiographical comic Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary.

Beginning in 1972, Last Gasp began publishing ongoing titles moving over from other companies; beginning with Young Lust, and then Rand Holmes' Harold Hedd. In 1977, the company picked up Joyce Farmer and Lyn Chevely's Tits & Clits Comix, publishing that series until 1987. Last Gasp published the final three issues of San Francisco Comic Book in 1980–1983, and the latter half of Zap Comix' run from 1982 to 2005.

Last Gasp also published Weirdo from 1981 to 1993, and Cherry Poptart from 1982 to 1992.

In the early 1980s Last Gasp published some of the first books about the West Coast punk rock scene, including a number of titles by Peter Belsito.

Last Gasp moved its headquarters from Berkeley to San Francisco in c. 1975.[citation needed] Starting in 1975, Ron Turner began hosting the annual "Burritos, Beer & Cheer" holiday party at the Last Gasp offices, which was also a fundraiser for the Martin de Porres House of Hospitality, a free soup kitchen located in San Francisco. Last Gasp hosted "Burritos, Beer & Cheer" for more than 30 years.[15]

In the period 2004–2010, Last Gasp published English-language compilations of popular manga titles, including Fumiyo Kouno's Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms; Junko Mizuno's Pure Trance; and Keiji Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen.

In early December 2016, Last Gasp announced it was ending its comics distribution business to focus solely on book publishing. (As one of the last independent distributors, they handled comics distribution from more than 100 small comics publishers.) As a consequence, the company planned to lay off the bulk of its dozen employees by February 2017.[4]

Creators associated with Last Gasp edit

Notable artists published by Last Gasp include Tim Biskup, Robert Crumb, Richard Corben, Ron English, Camille Rose Garcia, Justin Green, Bill Griffith, John Howard, Greg Irons, Shawna Kenney, Spain Rodriguez, Mark Ryden, Dori Seda, Larry Welz, Robert Williams, and S. Clay Wilson.

Titles published (selected) edit

Comix edit

Manga translations edit

Books edit

  • Belsito, Peter, Bob Davis, and Marian Kester. StreetArt: The Punk Poster in San Francisco 1977-1981 (1981) ISBN 9780867193008
  • Belsito, Peter and Bob Davis. Hardcore California: A History of Punk and New Wave (1983) ISBN 9780867193145
  • Belsito, Peter. Notes From the Pop Underground (1985) ISBN 978-0867193374
  • Blank, Joani (ed.) Femalia (2nd ed., 2011)
  • Cometbus. Despite Everything: A Cometbus Omnibus (2002) ISBN 0-86719-561-4
  • Corinne, Tee. The Cunt Coloring Book (1989)
  • Davis, Mike. A Blind Man's Journey (2014) [16]
  • Griffith, Bill. Zippy Stories (1986). ISBN 0-86719-325-5
  • Fitzgerald, F. Stop and Marian Kester. Dead Kennedys: The Unauthorized Version (1983) ISBN 0-86719-312-3
  • LeRoy, J. T. with illustrations by Cherry Hood. Labour (2006) ISBN 9780867196542
  • Perry, Michael with illustrations by Doug Cunningham. Turntable Timmy (paperback re-issue, 2015)
  • Schorr, Todd. American Surreal (2008)

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Ron Turner at Michigan State University Libraries
  2. ^ "The 2016 Book Distributors Profiles - Publishing Trends". Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c Lepage, Cécile. "A 40-year Last Gasp that's getting stronger," San Francisco Bay Guardian online (March 30, 2010).
  4. ^ a b c Aoki, Deb. "Comics Publisher Last Gasp Shuts Down its Distribution Operation," Publishers Weekly (December 7, 2016).
  5. ^ "F A Q." Last Gasp Books. Retrieved on July 30, 2012. "Last Gasp 777 Florida Street San Francisco, CA 94110"
  6. ^ "Last Gasp Hero" The Wave Magazine November 12, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "On the Town: with Ron Turner" SF Chronicle, April 29, 2007
  8. ^ a b Nelson, Gayle. "The Origins of Last Gasp," December 14, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Last Gasp website (Jan. 1999). Accessed December 14, 2013.
  9. ^ Indicia, Slow Death #8 (1977).
  10. ^ R. Crumb: Conversations by Robert Crumb & D. K. Holm. University Press of Mississippi, 2004 ISBN 978-1-57806-637-7 (p. 93)
  11. ^ A history of underground comics, Mark James Estren. Ronin Publishing, 1992 ISBN 978-0-914171-64-5 (p. 254)
  12. ^ a b Levin, Bob.The Pirates and the Mouse: Disney's War Against The Underground (Fantagraphics, 2003), p. 123.
  13. ^ Tom Sito (October 6, 2006). Drawing the Line: The Untold Story of the Animation Unions from Bosko to Bart Simpson. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 236–37. ISBN 0-8131-7148-2.
  14. ^ Multicultural Comics: From Zap to Blue Beetle - Race and Comix by Leonard Rifas pp. 33-34
  15. ^ Beale, Scott. "Last Gasp Holiday Party 2005," LaughingSquid.com (December 17, 2005).
  16. ^ Davis, Mike (2014). A blind man's journey. San Francisco, CA. ISBN 978-0-86719-793-8. OCLC 876000670.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links edit

  • Official website
  • Last Gasp at the Grand Comics Database
  • at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
  • Photos from the 2005 charity fundraising party held at Last Gasp offices
  • Photos from the 2007 charity fundraising party held at Last Gasp offices
  • Photos from the 2008 charity fundraising party held at Last Gasp offices

April 09, 2024
last, gasp, publisher, last, gasp, francisco, based, book, publisher, with, lowbrow, counterculture, focus, owned, operated, turner, most, existence, last, gasp, publisher, distributor, wholesaler, underground, comix, books, types, last, gaspfounded1970, years. Last Gasp is a San Francisco based 5 book publisher with a lowbrow art and counterculture focus 6 Owned and operated by Ron Turner for most of its existence Last Gasp was a publisher distributor and wholesaler of underground comix 7 and books of all types Last GaspFounded1970 54 years ago 1970 in Berkeley CaliforniaFounderRon Turner 1 Headquarters locationSan Francisco CaliforniaDistributionSCB Distributors 2 Key peopleColin Turner 3 4 Publication typesBooks graphic novels comicsNonfiction topicsRock music art poetryFiction genresUnderground comixImprintsHell ComicsCocoanut ComicsPriaprism PressSexploitation Comics GroupOfficial websitewww wbr lastgasp wbr comLast Gasp was established in 1970 Although the company came onto the scene a bit later than some of the other underground publishers Last Gasp continued publishing comics far longer most of its competitors In addition to publishing notable original titles like Slow Death Wimmen s Comix Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary and Weirdo it also picked up the publishing reins of important titles such as Zap Comix and Young Lust from rivals who had gone out of business Last Gasp no longer publishes floppy comics the company publishes art and photography books graphic novels fiction and poetry producing 10 15 new titles per year 4 Contents 1 History 2 Creators associated with Last Gasp 3 Titles published selected 3 1 Comix 3 2 Manga translations 3 3 Books 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksHistory edit nbsp Ron Turner in 2007This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed September 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Last Gasp Eco Funnies was founded in Berkeley California in 1970 by San Francisco State University graduate student 8 Ronald E Turner 9 10 11 with the help of Gary Arlington 3 to publish the ecologically themed comics title Slow Death Funnies in conjunction with the first Earth Day Last Gasp followed Slow Death Funnies with the all female anthology It Ain t Me Babe 3 spearheaded by Trina Robbins Last Gasp incorporated on September 11 1971 12 In the time period 1971 1973 Last Gasp published Air Pirates Funnies 1 2 and a number of other Air Pirates related titles including The Tortoise and the Hare Dopin Dan 1 3 and Merton of the Movement Turner insists that he only served as an advisor to the Air Pirates collective despite them crediting his company as publisher 12 Considered to be an enabler of the Air Pirates infamous Walt Disney parodies Turner s name was added to Disney s lawsuit against the collective Turner quickly settled with Disney but Air Pirates Dan O Neill Bobby London and Ted Richards continued fighting in a case that dragged on for years 13 The company s success with Slow Death and It Ain t Me Babe enabled Last Gasp to expand into distribution in addition to publishing 8 The company soon became a major part of the underground comix movement Sociopolitical themes were explored in Last Gasp series such as Guy Colwell s Inner City Romance 1972 1979 which portrayed gritty urban tales Armageddon 1973 which focused on anarcho capitalism 14 and Anarchy Comics 1978 which focused on left wing politics In addition to publishing Wimmen s Comix for much of its run Last Gasp published a number of other comix with feminist themes including It Ain t Me Babe Tits amp Clits Comix Twisted Sisters 1 and Good Girls In 1972 Last Gasp published Justin Green s seminal autobiographical comic Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary Beginning in 1972 Last Gasp began publishing ongoing titles moving over from other companies beginning with Young Lust and then Rand Holmes Harold Hedd In 1977 the company picked up Joyce Farmer and Lyn Chevely s Tits amp Clits Comix publishing that series until 1987 Last Gasp published the final three issues of San Francisco Comic Book in 1980 1983 and the latter half of Zap Comix run from 1982 to 2005 Last Gasp also published Weirdo from 1981 to 1993 and Cherry Poptart from 1982 to 1992 In the early 1980s Last Gasp published some of the first books about the West Coast punk rock scene including a number of titles by Peter Belsito Last Gasp moved its headquarters from Berkeley to San Francisco in c 1975 citation needed Starting in 1975 Ron Turner began hosting the annual Burritos Beer amp Cheer holiday party at the Last Gasp offices which was also a fundraiser for the Martin de Porres House of Hospitality a free soup kitchen located in San Francisco Last Gasp hosted Burritos Beer amp Cheer for more than 30 years 15 In the period 2004 2010 Last Gasp published English language compilations of popular manga titles including Fumiyo Kouno s Town of Evening Calm Country of Cherry Blossoms Junko Mizuno s Pure Trance and Keiji Nakazawa s Barefoot Gen In early December 2016 Last Gasp announced it was ending its comics distribution business to focus solely on book publishing As one of the last independent distributors they handled comics distribution from more than 100 small comics publishers As a consequence the company planned to lay off the bulk of its dozen employees by February 2017 4 Creators associated with Last Gasp editNotable artists published by Last Gasp include Tim Biskup Robert Crumb Richard Corben Ron English Camille Rose Garcia Justin Green Bill Griffith John Howard Greg Irons Shawna Kenney Spain Rodriguez Mark Ryden Dori Seda Larry Welz Robert Williams and S Clay Wilson Titles published selected editComix edit The Adventures of Harold Hedd 1972 Sept 1973 Anarchy Comics 4 issues 1978 1987 Armageddon 3 issues 1970 1973 Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary 1972 Brain Fantasy 2 issues May 1972 Jan 1975 Cherry Poptart 13 issues 1982 1992 Harlan Ellison s Chocolate Alphabet Aug 1975 Cocaine Comix 4 issues 1975 1982 Dirty Laundry 1974 1978 1993 Dopin Dan 3 issues 1972 1979 Dr Atomic 6 issues Sept 1972 Apr 1981 Fresca Zizis 1977 Good Girls 6 issues 1987 1991 Grim Wit 2 issues June Sept 1973 Harold Hedd 3 issues 1973 1984 Horny Biker Slut 13 issues 1990 1998 Hup 4 issues 1986 1992 Inner City Romance 5 issues 1972 1978 It Ain t Me Babe July 1970 Last Gasp Comix amp Stories 5 issues 1994 1997 The Legion of Charlies Fall 1971 one shot by Tom Veitch Greg Irons and Dave Sheridan Mickey Rat 2 issues 1980 1982 Monolith 1972 Neurocomics Mar 1979 Skull 5 issues 1970 1972 Slow Death Funnies Slow Death 11 issues 1970 1992 Tales from the Leather Nun 1973 Twisted Sisters 1 1976 Weirdo 28 issues Spring 1981 Summer 1993 Wimmen s Comix 10 issues Spring 1981 Summer 1993 Young Lust 5 issues 1972 1987 1993 Zap Comix 16 issues 1982 2005 Manga translations edit Kouno Fumiyo Town of Evening Calm Country of Cherry Blossoms 2004 Mizuno Junko Pure Trance 2005 Nakazawa Keiji Barefoot Gen 10 issues 2004 2010 Books edit Belsito Peter Bob Davis and Marian Kester StreetArt The Punk Poster in San Francisco 1977 1981 1981 ISBN 9780867193008 Belsito Peter and Bob Davis Hardcore California A History of Punk and New Wave 1983 ISBN 9780867193145 Belsito Peter Notes From the Pop Underground 1985 ISBN 978 0867193374 Blank Joani ed Femalia 2nd ed 2011 Cometbus Despite Everything A Cometbus Omnibus 2002 ISBN 0 86719 561 4 Corinne Tee The Cunt Coloring Book 1989 Davis Mike A Blind Man s Journey 2014 16 Griffith Bill Zippy Stories 1986 ISBN 0 86719 325 5 Fitzgerald F Stop and Marian Kester Dead Kennedys The Unauthorized Version 1983 ISBN 0 86719 312 3 LeRoy J T with illustrations by Cherry Hood Labour 2006 ISBN 9780867196542 Perry Michael with illustrations by Doug Cunningham Turntable Timmy paperback re issue 2015 Schorr Todd American Surreal 2008 See also edit nbsp San Francisco Bay Area portal nbsp Companies portal nbsp Comics portalList of book distributorsReferences edit Ron Turner at Michigan State University Libraries The 2016 Book Distributors Profiles Publishing Trends Retrieved December 25 2017 a b c Lepage Cecile A 40 year Last Gasp that s getting stronger San Francisco Bay Guardian online March 30 2010 a b c Aoki Deb Comics Publisher Last Gasp Shuts Down its Distribution Operation Publishers Weekly December 7 2016 F A Q Last Gasp Books Retrieved on July 30 2012 Last Gasp 777 Florida Street San Francisco CA 94110 Last Gasp Hero The Wave Magazine Archived November 12 2006 at the Wayback Machine On the Town with Ron Turner SF Chronicle April 29 2007 a b Nelson Gayle The Origins of Last Gasp Archived December 14 2013 at the Wayback Machine Last Gasp website Jan 1999 Accessed December 14 2013 Indicia Slow Death 8 1977 R Crumb Conversations by Robert Crumb amp D K Holm University Press of Mississippi 2004 ISBN 978 1 57806 637 7 p 93 A history of underground comics Mark James Estren Ronin Publishing 1992 ISBN 978 0 914171 64 5 p 254 a b Levin Bob The Pirates and the Mouse Disney s War Against The Underground Fantagraphics 2003 p 123 Tom Sito October 6 2006 Drawing the Line The Untold Story of the Animation Unions from Bosko to Bart Simpson University Press of Kentucky pp 236 37 ISBN 0 8131 7148 2 Multicultural Comics From Zap to Blue Beetle Race and Comix by Leonard Rifas pp 33 34 Beale Scott Last Gasp Holiday Party 2005 LaughingSquid com December 17 2005 Davis Mike 2014 A blind man s journey San Francisco CA ISBN 978 0 86719 793 8 OCLC 876000670 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link External links editOfficial website Last Gasp at the Grand Comics Database Last Gasp at the Comic Book DB archived from the original Photos from the 2005 charity fundraising party held at Last Gasp offices Photos from the 2007 charity fundraising party held at Last Gasp offices Photos from the 2008 charity fundraising party held at Last Gasp offices Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Last Gasp publisher amp oldid 1210845989 History, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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