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Weirdo (comics)

January 07, 2023

For other uses, see Weirdo (disambiguation).

Weirdo was a magazine-sized comics anthology created by Robert Crumb and published by Last Gasp from 1981 to 1993. Featuring cartoonists both new and old, Weirdo served as a "low art" counterpoint[1] to its contemporary highbrow Raw, co-edited by Art Spiegelman.[2]

Weirdo
Weirdo #1 (March 1981), art by Robert Crumb.
Publication information
PublisherLast Gasp
Schedule(mostly) Quarterly
FormatOngoing series
GenreUnderground/alternative
Publication dateMarch 1981 – Summer 1993
No. of issues28
Creative team
Written byTerry Zwigoff, Josh Alan Friedman, Dennis Eichhorn, Harvey Pekar
Artist(s)Robert Crumb, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Peter Bagge, Robert Armstrong, Kim Deitch, Mary Fleener, Drew Friedman, Justin Green, Kaz, J. D. King, Carel Moiseiwitsch, Spain Rodriguez, Dori Seda, Carol Tyler, S. Clay Wilson, Dennis Worden
Editor(s)Robert Crumb (issues #1–10)
Peter Bagge (issues #11–17, 25)
Aline Kominsky-Crumb (issues #18–24, 26–28)

Crumb contributed cover art and comics to every issue of Weirdo;[3] his wife, cartoonist Aline Kominsky-Crumb, also had work in almost every issue. Crumb focused increasingly on autobiography in his stories in Weirdo. Many other autobiographical shorts would appear in Weirdo by other artists, including Kominsky-Crumb, Carol Tyler, Phoebe Gloeckner, and Dori Seda. David Collier, a Canadian ex-soldier, published autobiographical and historical comics in Weirdo. The anthology introduced artists such as Peter Bagge, Dori Seda, Dennis Worden, and Carol Tyler.

With issue #10, Crumb handed over the editing reins to Bagge; with issue #18, the reins went to Kominsky-Crumb (except for issue #25, which was again edited by Bagge). The three editorial tenures were known respectively as "Personal Confessions", the "Coming of the Bad Boys", and "Twisted Sisters".[4]

Overall, the magazine had a mixed response from audiences;[5][6][7][8] Crumb's fumetti contributions, for instance, were so unpopular that they have never appeared in Crumb collections.[9]

Publication history

"Personal Confessions" era

While meditating in 1980, Crumb conceived of a magazine with a lowbrow aesthetic inspired by punk zines, Mad, and men's magazines of the 1940s and 1950s.[10] Early issues of Weirdo reflect Crumb's interests at the time – outsider art, fumetti, Church of the SubGenius-type anti-propaganda and assorted "weirdness" (in fact, Crumb provided early publicity for the Church of the SubGenius by reprinting Sub Genius Pamphlet #1 in Weirdo #1).[11]

Crumb's detailed cover borders for most issues of Weirdo were an homage to the 1950s humor magazine Humbug (edited by Harvey Kurtzman); Crumb claimed that the elaborate Jack Davis–Will Elder cover to the second issue of Humbug "changed his life".[12]

Dori Seda's first published comics work was in Weirdo #2 (Summer 1981), a strip titled "Bloods in Space." Her work appeared often in Weirdo through issue #24 (Winter 1988/1989), shortly after her untimely death.[13] Dennis Worden's first published work appeared in issue #4 (Feb. 1982); he was a frequent contributor to the magazine throughout its run. Peter Bagge Bagge sent copies of his self-published comics Comical Funnies to Crumb, who published some Bagge strips in Weirdo #8 (Summer 1983). Bagge contributed to many issues from that point forward, mostly illustrating "Martini Baton" stories written by Dave Carrino.[14]

In addition to those mentioned above, other cartoonists whose work appeared in early issues of Weirdo included Robert's brother Maxon Crumb, Robert Armstrong, Ace Backwords, Drew Friedman, Kaz, J. D. King, Spain Rodriguez, Robert Williams, Harry S. Robins (the "Professor Brainard" feature), Jeff John, Terry Boyce, and B. N. Duncan.

The magazine's letter column, "Weirdo's Advice to the Lovelorn," was helmed by Terry Zwigoff.

"Coming of the Bad Boys" era

With issue #10 (Summer 1984), Crumb handed over the editing reins to Peter Bagge (who had become a regular contributor with issue #8);[15][16] Crumb continued as a regular contributor. New contributors to Weirdo during this period included Kim Deitch, Mary Fleener, John Holmstrom, Carel Moiseiwitsch, Diane Noomin, Raymond Pettibon, Savage Pencil, J. R. Williams (his first published comics), S. Clay Wilson, Ken Struck, and Ken Weiner/Ken Avidor.

"Twisted Sisters" era

With issue #18 (Fall 1986), the editorial reins of Weirdo went to Kominsky-Crumb;[17] the "Twisted Sisters" monicker being a reference to an all-female comics anthology that Kominsky-Crumb co-produced with Diane Noomin in 1976. (Bagge returned for a single issue as editor, with Weirdo #25, Summer 1989.) New contributors to the magazine during this era included Lloyd Dangle, Julie Doucet, Dennis Eichhorn, Justin Green, Krystine Kryttre, Carol Tyler (her first published comics), Penny Van Horn, Michael Dougan, and Mark Zingarelli. Harvey Pekar began a regular column, "Harvey Sez," in issue #19; his column ran in most of the later issues.

Many stories published in Weirdo from the "Twisted Sisters" era were later collected in the 1991 anthology Twisted Sisters: A Collection of Bad Girl Art — including work by Kominsky-Crumb, Carol Lay, Penny Van Horn, Phoebe Gloeckner, Krystine Kryttre, Julie Doucet, Leslie Sternbergh, Carel Moiseiwitsch, Dori Seda, and Carol Tyler.[18]

In 1991, after the publication of Weirdo #27, Crumb and Kominsky-Crumb moved their family from Northern California to France.[19]

Weirdo #28: "Verre D'eau"

Weirdo's final issue, #28, released after a three-year hiatus in 1993, was an internationally themed 68-page giant[20] subtitled Verre D'eau (in French, "glass of water"). Promoted as a "One-Time-Only Special International Issue of Weirdo — Absolutely the Last Issue Ever!", it was co-edited by Aline Kominsky-Crumb and French editor Jean-Pierre Mercier. In addition to the usual roster of contributors, issue #28 featured work from French and European cartoonists such as Edmond Baudoin, Florence Cestac, Jean-Christophe Menu, Placid (in French), Willem, and Aleksandar Zograf.

Publication schedule and page count

  • Issues #1–6 (1981–1982): Quarterly
  • Issues #7–10 (1982–1984): Bi-annual
  • Issues #11–19 (1984–1987): Quarterly
  • Issues #20–24 (1987–1989): Bi-annual
  • Issues #25–27 (1989–1990): Quarterly
  • Issues #28 (1993): Annual (after a three-year hiatus)

Issues #1–14 were 44 pp. each, issues #15–26 were 52 pp. each, issue #27 was 60 pp., and issue #28 was 68 pp.

Controversies

Weirdo was at the center of a legal case in 1986: the manager of a comics retailer in the Chicago area, Friendly Frank's, was arrested on charges of distributing obscenity.[21][22] The comic books deemed obscene were Weirdo, Omaha the Cat Dancer, The Bodyssey, and Bizarre Sex. The case led to the formation of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.[23]

In 1993, R. Crumb's contributions to Weirdo #28 — two tongue-in-cheek stories called "When the Niggers Take Over America!" and "When the Goddamn Jews Take Over America!" — got the issue banned as hate literature in Canada.[24]

Notable contributors

References

Notes

  1. ^ Heer 2013, pp. 71–72.
  2. ^ Kartalopoulos, Bill. "GETTING WEIRDO AT THE SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS," The Comics Journal (June 19, 2019).
  3. ^ Cwiklik, Greg. "R. Crumb in Weirdo, 1981-1993," The Comics Journal #210 (Feb. 1999), pp. 88-89.
  4. ^ Weirdo page at Last Gasp website. 2010-01-06 at the Wayback Machine Accessed Dec. 14, 2008.
  5. ^ "The Other Weirdo," The Comics Journal #69 (Dec. 1981), p. 55.
  6. ^ "Turning In On Yourself," The Comics Journal #69 (Dec. 1981), pp. 104-105.
  7. ^ Scholz, Carter. "Apostles of Junk," The Comics Journal #109 (July 1986), pp. 59-64.
  8. ^ Woodring, Jim. "The Weirdo Difference," The Comics Journal #139 (Dec. 1990), pp. 115-119.
  9. ^ Holm 2005, pp. 83–85.
  10. ^ Holm 2005, p. 83.
  11. ^ Niesel, Jeff (April 6, 2000), "Slack Is Back", Cleveland Scene, retrieved October 28, 2012
  12. ^ Kitchen & Buhle 2009, p. 126.
  13. ^ "Lonely Nights Artist Dori Seda Dead At 37," The Comics Journal #121 (April 1988).
  14. ^ Worcester, Kent, ed. Peter Bagge: Conversations (University Press of Mississippi, Feb 2015) ISBN 9781628462043.
  15. ^ Macrone, Michael. "Two Generations of Weirdos: An Interview with Peter Bagge and Robert Crumb," The Comics Journal #106 (Mar. 1986), pp. 50-71.
  16. ^ Monaco, Steve. "A Worthwhile (But Weird) Grab-Bag," The Comics Journal #106 (Mar. 1986), pp. 29-33.
  17. ^ "Weirdo's New Editor: Aline Crumb," The Comics Journal #111 (Sept. 1986), p. 20.
  18. ^ Twisted Sisters: A Collection of Bad Girl Art (Viking Penguin, 1991) ISBN 978-0140153774.
  19. ^ Salkinjan, Allen (January 21, 2007). "Mr. and Mrs. Natural". New York Times.
  20. ^ "The Comics Journal Hit List," The Comics Journal #161 (Aug. 1993), pp. 104-105.
  21. ^ "Comic Shop Busted," The Comics Journal #114 (Feb. 1987), pp. 13-15.
  22. ^ Thompson, Maggie. "April 21, 1954: Mr. Gaines Goes to Washington," "The 1900s: 10 biggest events from 100 years in comics," October 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine CBGXtra.com (Dec. 12, 2005).
  23. ^ "Comics". Spin. 4 (5): 50. ISSN 0886-3032.
  24. ^ Newswatch: "Canada Customs Seizures: Weirdo #28 Banned as Hate Literature, and More!", The Comics Journal #166 (Feb. 1994), p. 48.

Sources consulted

See also

External links

    January 07, 2023
    weirdo, comics, other, uses, weirdo, disambiguation, weirdo, magazine, sized, comics, anthology, created, robert, crumb, published, last, gasp, from, 1981, 1993, featuring, cartoonists, both, weirdo, served, counterpoint, contemporary, highbrow, edited, spiege. For other uses see Weirdo disambiguation Weirdo was a magazine sized comics anthology created by Robert Crumb and published by Last Gasp from 1981 to 1993 Featuring cartoonists both new and old Weirdo served as a low art counterpoint 1 to its contemporary highbrow Raw co edited by Art Spiegelman 2 WeirdoWeirdo 1 March 1981 art by Robert Crumb Publication informationPublisherLast GaspSchedule mostly QuarterlyFormatOngoing seriesGenreUnderground alternativePublication dateMarch 1981 Summer 1993No of issues28Creative teamWritten byTerry Zwigoff Josh Alan Friedman Dennis Eichhorn Harvey PekarArtist s Robert Crumb Aline Kominsky Crumb Peter Bagge Robert Armstrong Kim Deitch Mary Fleener Drew Friedman Justin Green Kaz J D King Carel Moiseiwitsch Spain Rodriguez Dori Seda Carol Tyler S Clay Wilson Dennis WordenEditor s Robert Crumb issues 1 10 Peter Bagge issues 11 17 25 Aline Kominsky Crumb issues 18 24 26 28 Crumb contributed cover art and comics to every issue of Weirdo 3 his wife cartoonist Aline Kominsky Crumb also had work in almost every issue Crumb focused increasingly on autobiography in his stories in Weirdo Many other autobiographical shorts would appear in Weirdo by other artists including Kominsky Crumb Carol Tyler Phoebe Gloeckner and Dori Seda David Collier a Canadian ex soldier published autobiographical and historical comics in Weirdo The anthology introduced artists such as Peter Bagge Dori Seda Dennis Worden and Carol Tyler With issue 10 Crumb handed over the editing reins to Bagge with issue 18 the reins went to Kominsky Crumb except for issue 25 which was again edited by Bagge The three editorial tenures were known respectively as Personal Confessions the Coming of the Bad Boys and Twisted Sisters 4 Overall the magazine had a mixed response from audiences 5 6 7 8 Crumb s fumetti contributions for instance were so unpopular that they have never appeared in Crumb collections 9 Contents 1 Publication history 1 1 Personal Confessions era 1 2 Coming of the Bad Boys era 1 3 Twisted Sisters era 1 4 Weirdo 28 Verre D eau 2 Publication schedule and page count 3 Controversies 4 Notable contributors 5 References 5 1 Notes 5 2 Sources consulted 6 See also 7 External linksPublication history Edit Personal Confessions era Edit While meditating in 1980 Crumb conceived of a magazine with a lowbrow aesthetic inspired by punk zines Mad and men s magazines of the 1940s and 1950s 10 Early issues of Weirdo reflect Crumb s interests at the time outsider art fumetti Church of the SubGenius type anti propaganda and assorted weirdness in fact Crumb provided early publicity for the Church of the SubGenius by reprinting Sub Genius Pamphlet 1 in Weirdo 1 11 Crumb s detailed cover borders for most issues of Weirdo were an homage to the 1950s humor magazine Humbug edited by Harvey Kurtzman Crumb claimed that the elaborate Jack Davis Will Elder cover to the second issue of Humbug changed his life 12 Dori Seda s first published comics work was in Weirdo 2 Summer 1981 a strip titled Bloods in Space Her work appeared often in Weirdo through issue 24 Winter 1988 1989 shortly after her untimely death 13 Dennis Worden s first published work appeared in issue 4 Feb 1982 he was a frequent contributor to the magazine throughout its run Peter Bagge Bagge sent copies of his self published comics Comical Funnies to Crumb who published some Bagge strips in Weirdo 8 Summer 1983 Bagge contributed to many issues from that point forward mostly illustrating Martini Baton stories written by Dave Carrino 14 In addition to those mentioned above other cartoonists whose work appeared in early issues of Weirdo included Robert s brother Maxon Crumb Robert Armstrong Ace Backwords Drew Friedman Kaz J D King Spain Rodriguez Robert Williams Harry S Robins the Professor Brainard feature Jeff John Terry Boyce and B N Duncan The magazine s letter column Weirdo s Advice to the Lovelorn was helmed by Terry Zwigoff Coming of the Bad Boys era Edit With issue 10 Summer 1984 Crumb handed over the editing reins to Peter Bagge who had become a regular contributor with issue 8 15 16 Crumb continued as a regular contributor New contributors to Weirdo during this period included Kim Deitch Mary Fleener John Holmstrom Carel Moiseiwitsch Diane Noomin Raymond Pettibon Savage Pencil J R Williams his first published comics S Clay Wilson Ken Struck and Ken Weiner Ken Avidor Twisted Sisters era Edit With issue 18 Fall 1986 the editorial reins of Weirdo went to Kominsky Crumb 17 the Twisted Sisters monicker being a reference to an all female comics anthology that Kominsky Crumb co produced with Diane Noomin in 1976 Bagge returned for a single issue as editor with Weirdo 25 Summer 1989 New contributors to the magazine during this era included Lloyd Dangle Julie Doucet Dennis Eichhorn Justin Green Krystine Kryttre Carol Tyler her first published comics Penny Van Horn Michael Dougan and Mark Zingarelli Harvey Pekar began a regular column Harvey Sez in issue 19 his column ran in most of the later issues Many stories published in Weirdo from the Twisted Sisters era were later collected in the 1991 anthology Twisted Sisters A Collection of Bad Girl Art including work by Kominsky Crumb Carol Lay Penny Van Horn Phoebe Gloeckner Krystine Kryttre Julie Doucet Leslie Sternbergh Carel Moiseiwitsch Dori Seda and Carol Tyler 18 In 1991 after the publication of Weirdo 27 Crumb and Kominsky Crumb moved their family from Northern California to France 19 Weirdo 28 Verre D eau Edit Weirdo s final issue 28 released after a three year hiatus in 1993 was an internationally themed 68 page giant 20 subtitled Verre D eau in French glass of water Promoted as a One Time Only Special International Issue of Weirdo Absolutely the Last Issue Ever it was co edited by Aline Kominsky Crumb and French editor Jean Pierre Mercier In addition to the usual roster of contributors issue 28 featured work from French and European cartoonists such as Edmond Baudoin Florence Cestac Jean Christophe Menu Placid in French Willem and Aleksandar Zograf Publication schedule and page count EditIssues 1 6 1981 1982 Quarterly Issues 7 10 1982 1984 Bi annual Issues 11 19 1984 1987 Quarterly Issues 20 24 1987 1989 Bi annual Issues 25 27 1989 1990 Quarterly Issues 28 1993 Annual after a three year hiatus Issues 1 14 were 44 pp each issues 15 26 were 52 pp each issue 27 was 60 pp and issue 28 was 68 pp Controversies EditWeirdo was at the center of a legal case in 1986 the manager of a comics retailer in the Chicago area Friendly Frank s was arrested on charges of distributing obscenity 21 22 The comic books deemed obscene were Weirdo Omaha the Cat Dancer The Bodyssey and Bizarre Sex The case led to the formation of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund 23 In 1993 R Crumb s contributions to Weirdo 28 two tongue in cheek stories called When the Niggers Take Over America and When the Goddamn Jews Take Over America got the issue banned as hate literature in Canada 24 Notable contributors EditDoug Allen Robert Armstrong Ace Backwords Peter Bagge Edmond Baudoin Florence Cestac in French Daniel Clowes David Collier Maxon Crumb Robert Crumb Sophie Crumb Lloyd Dangle Kim Deitch Julie Doucet Debbie Drechsler Dennis Eichhorn Mary Fleener Josh Alan Friedman Drew Friedman Phoebe Gloeckner Justin Green Bill Griffith Rory Hayes Gilbert Hernandez John Holmstrom Kaz J D King Aline Kominsky Crumb John Kricfalusi as Billy Bunting Krystine Kryttre Carol Lay Joe Matt Jean Christophe Menu Mark Newgarden Diane Noomin Gary Panter Harvey Pekar Raymond Pettibon Placid in French Sasa Rakezic Harry S Robins Spain Rodriguez occasionally credited as Algernon Backwash Ed Big Daddy Roth Savage Pencil Joe Sacco Dori Seda Stanislav Szukalski Frank Stack as Foolbert Sturgeon Carol Tyler Willem J R Williams Robert Williams S Clay Wilson Dennis Worden Terry ZwigoffReferences EditNotes Edit Heer 2013 pp 71 72 Kartalopoulos Bill GETTING WEIRDO AT THE SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS The Comics Journal June 19 2019 Cwiklik Greg R Crumb in Weirdo 1981 1993 The Comics Journal 210 Feb 1999 pp 88 89 Weirdo page at Last Gasp website Archived 2010 01 06 at the Wayback Machine Accessed Dec 14 2008 The Other Weirdo The Comics Journal 69 Dec 1981 p 55 Turning In On Yourself The Comics Journal 69 Dec 1981 pp 104 105 Scholz Carter Apostles of Junk The Comics Journal 109 July 1986 pp 59 64 Woodring Jim The Weirdo Difference The Comics Journal 139 Dec 1990 pp 115 119 Holm 2005 pp 83 85 Holm 2005 p 83 Niesel Jeff April 6 2000 Slack Is Back Cleveland Scene retrieved October 28 2012 Kitchen amp Buhle 2009 p 126 Lonely Nights Artist Dori Seda Dead At 37 The Comics Journal 121 April 1988 Worcester Kent ed Peter Bagge Conversations University Press of Mississippi Feb 2015 ISBN 9781628462043 Macrone Michael Two Generations of Weirdos An Interview with Peter Bagge and Robert Crumb The Comics Journal 106 Mar 1986 pp 50 71 Monaco Steve A Worthwhile But Weird Grab Bag The Comics Journal 106 Mar 1986 pp 29 33 Weirdo s New Editor Aline Crumb The Comics Journal 111 Sept 1986 p 20 Twisted Sisters A Collection of Bad Girl Art Viking Penguin 1991 ISBN 978 0140153774 Salkinjan Allen January 21 2007 Mr and Mrs Natural New York Times The Comics Journal Hit List The Comics Journal 161 Aug 1993 pp 104 105 Comic Shop Busted The Comics Journal 114 Feb 1987 pp 13 15 Thompson Maggie April 21 1954 Mr Gaines Goes to Washington The 1900s 10 biggest events from 100 years in comics Archived October 26 2007 at the Wayback Machine CBGXtra com Dec 12 2005 Comics Spin 4 5 50 ISSN 0886 3032 Newswatch Canada Customs Seizures Weirdo 28 Banned as Hate Literature and More The Comics Journal 166 Feb 1994 p 48 Sources consulted Edit Comic Book Artist vol 2 7 Heer Jeet 2013 In Love with Art Francoise Mouly s Adventures in Comics with Art Spiegelman Coach House Books ISBN 978 1 77056 351 3 Holm D K 2005 Robert Crumb Pocket Essentials ISBN 978 1 904048 51 0 Kitchen Denis Buhle Paul 2009 The Art of Harvey Kurtzman The Mad Genius of Comics Harry N Abrams ISBN 978 0 8109 7296 4 Weirdo at the Grand Comics Database Weirdo at the Comic Book DB archived from the original See also EditRaw Rip Off ComixExternal links EditLast Gasp Catalog Weirdo Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Weirdo comics amp oldid 1127774731, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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