Arcade: The Comics Revueis a magazine-sizedcomics anthologycreated and edited by cartoonistsArt SpiegelmanandBill Griffithto showcaseunderground comix.Published quarterly by thePrint Mint,it ran for seven issues between1975and1976.Arriving late in the underground era,Arcade"was conceived as a 'comics magazine for adults' that would showcase the 'best of the old and the best of the new comics'".[1]Many observers credit it with paving the way for the Spiegelman-edited anthologyRaw,the flagship publication of the 1980salternative comicsmovement.
| Arcade: The Comics Revue | |
|---|---|
 Arcade#1, artwork byR. Crumb. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Print Mint |
| Schedule | Quarterly |
| Format | Oversize |
| Genre | Underground |
| Publication date | Spring1975 – Fall1976 |
| No.of issues | 7 |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | Art Spiegelman&Bill Griffith |
| Written by | Steve Anker,Charles Bukowski,William S. Burroughs,Samuel Coleridge,David Cohen,George DiCaprio,Will Fowler,J. Hoberman,Paul Krassner,Jane Lynch, Michael Reynolds |
| Artist(s) | Robert Armstrong,Mark Beyer,Michele Brand,M. K. Brown,Harrison Cady,Oliver Christianson(aka Revilo),Robert Crumb,Kim Deitch,Justin Green,Bill Griffith,Geoffrey Hayes,Rory Hayes,Gerald Jablonski,Jay Kinney,B. Kliban,Aline Kominsky,George Kuchar,Bill Lynch,Jay Lynch,Curt McDowell,Michael McMillan,Victor Moscoso,Willy Murphy,Diane Noomin,James Osborne,Spain Rodriguez,Gilbert Shelton,Art Spiegelman,Lulu Stanley,Robert Williams,S. Clay Wilson |
| Editor(s) | Art Spiegelman&Bill Griffith |
Well-known creators who contributed to the anthology includeR. Crumb,Kim Deitch,Jay Kinney,Aline Kominsky,Jay Lynch,Spain Rodriguez,Gilbert SheltonandS. Clay Wilson.[2]
Overview
editBy the mid-1970s, the underground comix movement was encountering a slowdown,[1]and Spiegelman and Griffith conceived ofArcadeas a "safe berth". It stood out from similar publications by having an ambitious editorial plan, in which Spiegelman and Griffith attempted to show how comics connected to the broader realms of artistic and literary culture.[3]Arcadealso introduced comic strips from ages past, as well as contemporary literary pieces by writers such asWilliam S. BurroughsandCharles Bukowski,[4]and illustrated nonfiction pieces by writers likePaul KrassnerandJ. Hoberman.
Publication history
editSpiegelman and Griffith, based in theSan Francisco Bay Area— the epicenter of the underground movement[5]— originally conceived of a comics magazine for adults inc.1971, planning to call itBanana Oilas an homage toMilt Gross(who originated the non-sequitur as a phrase deflating pomposity and posing).[6]The publisher,Company & Sons,they approached about it, but was unable to make it a reality.[6]
Some years later, in Spring 1975, with the help ofPrint Mint,they were able to launch the magazine asArcade.Soon after, however, co-editor Spiegelman moved back to his original home of New York City,[7]which put most of the editorial work forArcadeon the shoulders of Griffith and his cartoonist wife,Diane Noomin.This, combined with distribution problems, retailer indifference, and a general failure to find a devoted audience,[1]led to the magazine's 1976 demise.
Contributors
editContributors to every issue ofArcadeincluded Spiegelman, Griffith,Robert Armstrong,Robert Crumb,Justin Green,Aline Kominsky,Michael McMillan,Diane Noomin,andSpain Rodriguez.Crumb illustrated five of the seven front covers. Each issue contained a reprint of work by a cartoonist from the medium'sGolden Age,includingH. M. Bateman,Harrison Cady,Billy DeBeck,Milt Gross,andGeorge McManus.Each issue's title page contained individual self-portraits by the contributors.
Issue guide
edit| # | Date | Cover artist | Back cover artist | Contributors | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spring 1975 | Robert Crumb | Victor Moscoso | Aldo Bobbo(Robert Armstrong),Robert Crumb,Kim Deitch,Will Fowler,Justin Green,Bill Griffith,Jay Kinney,Aline Kominsky,Paul Krassner,George Kuchar,Jay Lynch,Curt McDowell,Michael McMillan,Willy Murphy,Diane Noomin,James Osborne,Spain Rodriguez,Gilbert Shelton,Art Spiegelman,andS. Clay Wilson;plus aHarrison Cadyreprint | |
| 2 | Summer 1975 | Robert Crumb | Art Spiegelman | Armstrong, David Cohen, Crumb, Deitch, Green, Griffith,Rory Hayes,Kinney, Kominsky, Krassner, Kuchar, Lynch, McMillan, Murphy, Noon, Osborne, Shelton, Spain, and Spiegelman; plus a W. E. Hill reprint | |
| 3 | Fall 1975 | Robert Crumb | Gilbert Shelton | Armstrong,Charles Bukowski/Crumb,Sally Cruikshank,Green, Griffith, Hayes,Denis Kitchen,Kominsky, Kuchar, Jane Lynch, McMillan, Murphy, Noomin, Jim Osborne,Joe Schenkman,Shelton, Spain, Spiegelman, Wilson; plus aMilt Grossreprint | |
| 4 | Winter 1975 | Robert Crumb | Justin Green | Armstrong,William S. Burroughs,Crumb, Deitch, Green, Griffith, Hayes,J. Hoberman,Kominsky, Bill Lynch, Curt McDowell, McMillan, Murphy, Noomin, Michael Reynolds, Schenkman, Shelton, Spain, Spiegelman,Robert Williams,Wilson; plus aGeorge McManusreprint | |
| 5 | Spring 1976 | Jay Lynch | Robert Williams | Armstrong,Michele Brand,M. K. Brown,Dirk Burhans, Crumb, Deitch,George DiCaprio,Green, Griffith, Hayes, Hoberman, Kominsky, McDowell, McMillan, Murphy, Noomin, Spain, Spiegelman, Wilson, Williams; plus aBilly DeBeckreprint | |
| 6 | Summer 1976 | Robert Crumb | Michael McMillan | Armstrong,Mark Beyer,Brown, Crumb, Deitch, Green, Griffith,Geoffrey Hayes,Hayes, Hoberman, Gerald Jablonski, Kominsky, McMillan, Murphy, Noomin, Larry Rippee, Spain, Spiegelman, Wilson; plus aH. M. Batemanreprint | Includes a tribute to the recently deceasedWilly MurphybyTed Richards. |
| 7 | Fall 1976 | M. K. Brown | B. Kliban | Armstrong, Beyer, Brand,Oliver Christianson(aka Revilo), Crumb, Deitch, Green, Griffith, Rory Hayes, Hoberman,B. Kliban,Kominsky, McMillan, Noomin, Spain, Lulu Stanley, Williams; plus "Sex Comics of the Thirties" (Tijuana bible) section |
Legacy
editAlthough short-lived,Arcadestill has admirers. Famed comics writerAlan Mooresaid it was "the only truly worthwhile material produced during the 1970s".[1]With the general waning of the underground scene, however, Spiegelman despaired that comics for adults might fade away for good. Frustrated with editing his peers because of the tension and jealousies involved, for a time Spiegelman swore he would never edit another magazine.[8]Nonetheless, by 1980, Spiegelman and his wife/collaboratorFrançoise MoulylaunchedRaw,a "graphix magazine", hoping their unprecedented approach would bypass readers' prejudices against comics and force them to look at the work with new eyes.
References
edit- ^abcdFox, M. Steven."Arcade, The Comics Revue",ComixJoint. Accessed June 19, 2018.
- ^Sacks, Jason; Dallas, Keith (2014).American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s.TwoMorrows Publishing. pp. 155–156.ISBN978-1605490564.
- ^Grishakova, Marina; Ryan, Marie-Laure (2010).Intermediality and Storytelling.Walter de Gruyter.ISBN978-3-11-023774-0,pp=67–68.
- ^Buhle, Paul (2004).From the Lower East Side to Hollywood: Jews in American Popular Culture.Verso.ISBN978-1-85984-598-1,p. 252.
- ^Lopes, Paul.Demanding Respect: The Evolution of the American Comic Book(Temple University Press, 2009), p. 77.
- ^ab"Bill Griffith: Politics, Pinheads, and Post-Modernism",The Comics Journal#157 (Mar. 1993), p. 73.
- ^Witek, Joseph, ed. (2007). "Chronology".Art Spiegelman: Conversations.University Press of Mississippi. pp. xvii–xiii.ISBN978-1-934110-12-6,p. xix.
- ^Kaplan, Arie (2006). "Art Spiegelman".Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed!.Chicago Review Press. pp. 99–124.ISBN978-1-55652-633-6,p. 108.