16 Graphic Novels of Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll
By Martha Cornog, Philadelphia -- Library Journal
07/30/2009
Sex. Drugs. Rock 'n' roll. Equal rights for women, African Americans,
and gay people. Sit-ins. The Vietnam War. The peace movement. Don't
trust anyone over 30. The Woodstock Music & Art Fair brought the
1960s to a crashing close in three days of mud, music, and
mellowed-out mayhem. Woodstock lives on today in that so much of what
went down as radical then is now far more culturally central: doubts
about U.S. military involvements internationally and the freedom to
enjoy diverse music as well as diverse forms of sexual expression.
The 16 graphic novels summarized below capture different facets of
the era and the historic festival, which took place 40 years ago next
week. Chances are, patrons of all ages are reminiscing, so put a
display together pronto.
--
Archie Americana Series. Vol. 3: Best of the Sixties. Bk. 1. Various
authors. Archie Comics. 2005. 96p. ISBN 978-1-879794-02-3. pap. $9.95. F
Archie Americana Series. Vol. 8: Best of the Sixties. Bk 2. Various
authors. Archie Comics. 2008. 96p. ISBN 978-1879794313. pap. $11.95. F
Miniskirts, flower power, Beatlemania, mods and rockers, beads and
Nehru jackets, surfer show-offs, and psychedelia. With all their
usual lighthearted aplomb, the Riverdale High School regulars take on
1960s pop culture iconsand Jughead goes hippie! Tweens and up.
Crumb, R. The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book. Back Bay Bks. 1998.
256p. ISBN 978-0-316-16333-0. pap. $40. GRAPHIC ARTS
More than any other artist's work, Robert Crumb's characters, all
Rabelaisian refugees from normality, embody the face of underground
comix. This collection brings together a wide range of Crumb's
diverse output, from hypersexed, drugged out, and politically
incorrect fantasy to lovingly rendered landscapes and youthful work,
interspersed with hand-lettered commentaries, plus reproductions of
other art that inspired him. Mature readers.
Cruse, Howard. Stuck Rubber Baby. DC Comics. 2000. 216p. ISBN
978-1563892554. pap. $14.99. F
It's the 1960s South, and young, gay Toland Polk hides his sexual
preference as he joins the Civil Rights Movement to protest
discrimination and racism. But as the world changes around him and
his gay friend is lynched, he can't stay in the closet any longer.
This classic coming-out story embodies America's tipping point when
the white male supremicist patriarchy tumbled off its pedestal for
good. Cruse's Baby has won several awards, including from France and
the UK. Older teens and up. (Douglas Lord also cites this book in his
latest Books for Dudes column.)
Danky, James & Denis Kitchen. Underground Classics: The
Transformation of Comics into Comix. Abrams. 2009. 144p. illus.
photos. index. ISBN 978-0-8109-0598-6. $29.95. GRAPHIC ARTS
This collection supports a recent exhibit at the University of
Wisconsin's Chazen Art Museum, displaying the work of 50-plus artists
from the early days of the underground comix movement. Over 125
original drawings, paintings, and objects from the exhibit are
featured together with commentary, including art from Crumb, Shelton,
and Wilson (see below) as well as from Art Spiegelman, Charles Burns,
Will Elder, Harvey Kurtzman, Will Eisner, Trina Robbins, and many
lesser-knowns. Several short essays from comics scholars accompany
the plates. Mature readers.
Drechsler, Debbie. The Summer of Love. Drawn & Quarterly. 2003. 152p.
ISBN 978-1-896597-37-9. pap. $17.48. F
1960s suburbia frames this coming-of-age story. Ninth-grader Lily
searches for love amid petty classmate feuds and those unpredictable,
incomprehensible boysone eluding her, another attempting to prey on
her budding sexuality. Meanwhile, her sister Pearl has found
closer-than-expected mutual affection with a popular girl classmate.
Older teens and up.
Dylan, Bob (text) & various (illus.). Bob Dylan Revisited. Norton.
Nov. 2009. 104p. ISBN 978-0-393-07617-2. $24.95. MUSIC
Authorized by the musician himself and SONY Records, this book
features 13 artists' interpretations of Dylan songs in full color,
some with simple illustrations, some expanding the plot from the
lyrics, some reaching for more of a mood portrait. Most of the songs
come out of Dylan's well-known 1960s repertoire. The wildly varied
art is all interesting and beautifully done, even if some of the
adaptations come off as rather ploddy-foot literal. (Dylan was
invited to perform at Woodstock but decided not to go.) Teens and up.
Parks, Andre (text) & Chris Samnee (illus.). Capote in Kansas. Oni.
2005. 136p. ISBN 978-1932664294. pap. $11.95.
The flamboyant Capote takes on early 1960s small-town America while
researching what was to become a widely recognized classic of true
crime writing, Capote's project heralded a transition to when small
towns like Holcomb, KS; Woodstock in NY; andlaterWasilla, AK, could
break open to national media in the blink of an eye. In this graphic
re-envisioning, Nancy Clutter's ghost keeps watcha reminder of the
real people behind the story. Older teens and up.
Pekar, Harvey & others (text) & Gary Dumm & others (illus.). Students
for a Democratic Society: A Graphic History. Hill & Wang: Farrar.
2008. 224p. ed. by Paul Buhle. bibliog. ISBN 978-0-8090-8939-0. pap. $16. HIST
From 1960 to 1969, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held out
to young people an invitation to change America into a more activist,
peaceful, progressive, and egalitarian social order where the
"military industrial complex" would no longer have central power.
Sidetracked by external roadblocks and internal chaos, the
organization stumbled and splintered early on. Yet many of its goals
did move into the mainstream. (A new SDS was established in 2006.)
This account begins with a historical overview, followed by "we were
there" stories from SDS veterans and observers from the period. Older
teens AND up; good for high school libraries.
Pekar, Harvey & others (text) & Ed Piskor & others (illus.). The
Beats: A Graphic History. Hill & Wang: Farrar. 2009. 199p. ed. by
Paul Buhle. ISBN 978-0-8090-9496-7. $22. HIST
Forerunners to Woodstock, the so-called Beat Generation of artists
and writers helped create the climate for the 1960s explosion of
transgressive cultural diversity. There are profiles of Kerouac,
Ginsburg, Burroughs, Ferlinghetti, Corso, the Fugs, and many
lesser-known men and women. Teens and up.
Shelton, Gilbert. The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers Omnibus.
Knockabout Comics/dist. by Last Gasp. 2008. 624p. ISBN
978-0-86166-159-6. pap. $35. HUMOR
One of the unholy trinity of 1960s underground comix artistswith
Robert Crumb and S. Clay WilsonShelton created every stoner's
favorite bad boys and bong-brothers: Fat Freddy the hedonist, Phineas
the intellectual, and Freewheeling Franklin the redneck. In
adventures dripping with good-natured, snarky satire, the Freak
Brothers slack from one ridiculous mishap to the next, always
managing to keep their hides and (usually) their stash intact through
dope deals, rip-offs, abortive attempts to earn quick money, and
encounters with even weirder folk. Nostalgic hippie fun for mature
readers. (See LJ's original review.)
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6657235.html?q=the+fabulous+furry+freak
Stack, Frank. The New Adventures of Jesus: The Second Coming.
Fantagraphics. 2007. 160p. ISBN 978-1560977803. pap. $19.95. F
In this classic and quite funny underground strip from the 1960s,
Jesus has returned at last, and he's not happy. Police hassle him,
inner-city folk find him too White, and Hollywood types put out bogus
versions of his earlier career on earth. Needing to make a living
more or less while deciding when to hold the Last Judgment, our New
Testament Superhero gets himself a gig as adjunct lecturer at a
boonies collegewhere he becomes an innocent bystander at the faculty
party from hell. Even his halo goes on the blink. Satiric but never
sacrilegious riffs on modern life for mature readers.
Torres, J. (text) & Scott Chantler (illus.). Days Like This. Oni.
2003. 80p. bibliog. ISBN 978-1-929998-48-7. pap. $8.95. F
It's the early 1960s, and girl groups like the Shirelles are topping
the pop music charts. When African American teens Christina, Emily,
and Doreen make a demo record in the Harmony Plaza building, the
future looks rosy. But Christina's dad doesn't see it that way.
Includes a wealth of period detail. Tweens and up. (See LJ's original
review.) http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/BookDetail.aspx?isbn=1929998481
Worley, Kate & James M. Vance (text) & Reed Waller (illus.). The
Complete "Omaha" the Cat Dancer. Vol. 1. NBM/Amerotica. 2005. 128p.
ISBN 978-1-56163-451-4. pap. $12.95. F
Omaha came out of the 1980s, but its cheerfully explicit erotic
content reflects 1960s sensibilities. Sweet exotic dancer Omaha falls
in love with Chuck Katt and he with her, but interference from
Chuck's tycoon father and complications provided by numerous others
keep the lovers apart or squabbling. This sexy melodrama features
anthropomorphic animal characters of diverse social and sexual types,
and the frank erotic episodes are well contextualized in complex and
sometimes noir-ish plots. Note: the new NBM reissued collections have
sexually explicit cover art. Seven volumes are currently available.
Mature readers.
Yasgur, Abigail & Joseph Lipner (text) & Barbara Mendes (illus.). Max
Said Yes! The Woodstock Story. Change the Universe Pr. 2009. 32p.
ISBN 978-0-615-21144-2. $17.95. PICTURE BOOK
Not a graphic novel as such but a cheerful children's book with
rhyming text and vibrantly colorful illustrations. Librarian Abigail
is cousin to Max Yasgur, the farmer who owned the land where
Woodstock was held. For ages four to eight and their nostalgic older
relatives.
Zimmerman, Dwight Jon (text) & Wayne Vansant (illus.). The Vietnam
War: A Graphic History. Hill & Wang: Farrar. 2009. 160p. bibliog.
ISBN 978-0-8090-9495-0. $19.95. HIST
The Vietnam War of 1965 to 1973 wreaked considerable damage on U.S.
forces as well as on Vietnam and spurred the expansion and
mainstreaming of the peace movement to the extent that all U.S.
military operations abroad are now questioned more widely. This
brief, strategic overview from a military writer and a Vietnam vet
cartoonist is basically sympathetic to the U.S. armed forces while
laying out fairly the growing objections among the American people
and politicians to the conflict. Teens and up.
.
0 comments:
Post a Comment