Comix eras

[50Cent #II (1st print)]

If the Underground era was first noticed with Zap Comix #1 in 1968 (though the first Ug was about 1963) and ended with approx. Arcade #7 in Fall 1976 (and Comix Book #5 in May 1976) and the Newave was brought in with Raw #1 (and Weirdo #1 in 1981) in 1980, then what would you consider the time between the two (1976-1980) be referred to?  Post Underground?  Early or Pre- Newave?
Just wondering, but since JK used it in his guide I believe to refer to the newer stuff when his guide was published, I think Early Newave would best be suited?  That leaves the pre-Zap #1 (before 1968) as Pre-Underground or Early Underground?

[over40artist]

I believe the last part of your post; anything pre-Zap #1 is really pre-underground; the style and content was beginning to evolve, but the actual revolution did not begin until Zap.

Personally, I think the 1976-1980 years were still underground, as the style and content remained essentially unchanged, but the distribution system and popularity of the genre had dissipated noticeably. If anything, those UGs were even more underground than the pre-1973 undergrounds, which had the advantage of a vast distribution network.

In any scenario, I don't think you can call 1976-1980 full-size comix from the usual publishers (Kitchen Sink, Last Gasp, etc.) Early Newave. Newave really began with the minis, and you might consider Justin Green's Spare Comic? in 1972 as the forefather of that movement.

Just my two cents, fifty cent.

[awillis]

I stake my claim of 1976 to 1980 as part of the underground. We were so far underground, that we didn't even know the era was ending. ComixwWorld was still being published along with Cascade Comic Monthly during some of those years. I guess it all overlaps. There's always a few dinosaurs left when the rodents start chewing their eggs. They were still using cavalry when the tanks were rolling. A grey area for gray matter.

[Rick Bradford]

I think O40 is right on. The 7-centers were coming out in the early '70s (pretty firmly entrenched in "underground") and "newave" really got going by the mid '70s. But this is why it's sort of goofy to nail down specific years. UGs may not have been gangbusters by '76-80 but they were still coming out and it seems to me the scene was still there. However, the newaves were really picking up steam (especially by '78) thanks in large part to Clay Geerdes who was pumping them out like crazy from month to month (although plenty of minis came out before he published his first).