Salon Feature | Zap splits!

zapsplits!
When R. Crumb told his underground-artist peers he wanted out of the club, things got ugly -- then they got interesting. How a legendary countercultural institution washed its dirty leather undies in very public view.
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BY BOB CALLAHAN | The loyal readers of Zap Comix are accustomed to waiting two or three years between issues. Produced by six giants of the old underground movement -- S. Clay Wilson, Victor Moscoso, Gilbert Shelton, Robert Williams, Spain Rodriguez and the most famous of them all, R. Crumb -- Zap has proven to be the one underground comic book serial worth waiting for. And the new Zap, No. 14, available now, may be the most amazing issue of them all. It may also end up being the last gasp of Zap.
The story begins -- as did this comic book itself -- with the remarkable Mr. Crumb.
About 28 years ago, this loyal reader visited a pioneering comic book shop in the Mission District of San Francisco in search of another cheap and easy high. At the time Marvel Comics, particularly those books created by the admirable team of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, were the best the comics could offer. That situation, however, was about to change, and radically.
The store owner leaned over and said, "Hey ... you want to see something really amazing?"
Of course I wanted to see something amazing. I have always wanted to see something amazing.
And so the owner produced, quite literally from under the counter, a weirdly pornographic little comic he himself had published. It was a copy of the very first issue of Zap.
N E X T+P A G E | Crumb: Leaving Zap is like leaving the Mafia

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