Week 6 Underground Comics: Air Pirates,Tits and Clits, Complete Crumb Vol. 8 (5 pts)

 I thoroughly enjoyed reading underground comics! I appreciate the realness and unapologetic-ness the creators bring to the table. I can see why many would be uncomfortable with reading material like this but I believe that most people have thoughts that are very on par with, if not even more twisted, that what was being portrayed in these comics. It's the reality of the human mind sexuality, drugs, alcohol are all things that we as humans struggle with. I think it is very evident that men struggle moreso with their sexual temptations than women do but these comics shed a light on how different people deal with these temptations. In Air Pirates I read: the Dirty Duck comics, as well as Silly Sympathies, and Dopin' Dan. You can really feel the college kid spirit in these comics. I thought about how when you're in your twenties is when it seems you're your most authentic self. Your most unapologetic self. These creators have come into their own and put out material that they think is important with messages they think need to be heard without worry of what others will think or how it will be received. In fact, it almost seems as if they were expecting negative feedback and almost welcomed it. They wanted to show they were not sticking to the status quo and I really enjoyed seeing that come through their work. There was commentary on how men try to take advantage of women for their sexual pleasure and how women were fighting back which I can see was just starting to happen during this time period. I also really enjoyed reading Tits and Clits and reading comics from a woman's perspective I read all the way down to First Lover and I found most of these comics very funny. I had to sit there and ask myself if I would have found them as amusing had a man wrote them. I think it's very interesting how I found Pastoral Interlude and I was a Sex Junkie very funny knowing that they were written by women but I think both would've had me rolling my eyes had they been written by men. Women can be very talkative and indecisive which is what I found funny about Pastoral Interlude because they kept getting interrupted by themselves as they tried to find a good spot or deal with the decision if it was a good idea or not to go on with what they were doing because I could see myself struggling with that same scenario. Or in I was a Sex Junkie, I found it funny that this woman was paying men for sex when I know that most men would want to have sex with any woman for free. I think it was also very cool that these comics relay the message that women are sexual beings as well and that they do crave sex. Some men, especially in this time period, think women are hypocritical because they don't want to be take advantage of but they DO want to have sex. I think Clits and Tits show how there is also a desire for intimacy and a feeling of safety. I thought that Rufus and the Rapist was also funny because the woman ends up getting out of the situation because she's on her period and as a woman its funny knowing that many men are squeamish about periods. But if a man were to write this I would definitely be annoyed and find myself thinking "Oh my God grow up its a little blood." As I write this I realize I have my own biases that I need to look at more closely. Of course the creator of this story also showed the rapist's point of view humanizing him a bit. Which I have no qualm with it is understandable why this man would be led to the temptation of raping women, of course this doesn't make it right. Lastly, I read Complete Crumb Volume 8. I read this one in it's entirety and I really, really, enjoy Crumb's art style (although he does draw all his women very bottom heavy, I can tell this was a fetish of his.) His stories were mostly sexual but I did appreciate how he was truly expressing himself. I enjoyed Fritz the Cat: Super Star, and A Letter to You Feminist Women (surprisingly enough). Fritz' story was very dark and after reading The History of Comics, I know that Robert Crumb was having a lot of issues with big companies due to the success of Fritz the cat and he had gotten tired of it. Knowing all that, really adds to this comic and you can feel how the success of Fritz has weighed on his creator. I also agree with Crumb's sentiments in A Letter to you Feminist Women that he should be able to express whatever he wants as an artist and that he shouldn't have to censor himself to appease any given group especially considering that he was not an enemy to the feminist movement. However, in the Mr. Natural comic at the end when he says "Notice women was poor Ruth used as a pawn in the mind game?" It felt very condescending but then again maybe the women of this time period weren't all catching on to this due to the fact that that kind of behavior was the norm of men back then. As a woman in the year 2020, I was like "well duh she's being used..." I can see why feminists would have been upset with his work but I feel that his commentary was valid and that his work deserved to be published.