The Birth of the Underground Comix Movement

Not all comics were about capes and laughs. In the 1960s, artists like Robert Crumb launched the underground comix movement, pushing boundaries with taboo subjects, counterculture themes, and experimental styles. Titles like Zap Comix were raw, satirical, and unapologetically adult, in sharp contrast to the sanitized comics produced under the strict Comics Code Authority.

These underground comics laid the groundwork for graphic novels, proving that the medium could explore mature, complex stories. Without comix, there might never have been landmark works like Art Spiegelman’s Maus or Alan Moore’s Watchmen.