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The Cool Stuff: Alternative Media, Comics and Zines from Special Collections
July 23 to October 13, 2003
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When most people think of "Special Collections" they imagine
fine and rare books, manuscripts from the 18th century and earlier, valuable
prints, and other "high culture" materials. However, it is becoming
increasingly apparent that in order to tell the whole story about a time
period, archivists and librarians need to pay attention to the rapidly
changing present--which, after all, will soon become the past--and cull
examples from both popular and mainstream culture which run the risk of
quickly disappearing from our collective memories. Our Special Collections
at SDSU is endeavoring to document at least a part of this recent past
by collecting what we are calling "alternative media". |
We are actively collecting and soliciting for donation
zines, graphic novels, comic books and small-run political journals from
the West Coast and California in particular. This exhibit illustrates
some of our collecting focus areas, and provides viewers with a sampling
of materials available for research and enjoyment in Special Collections.
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Showcased in Special Collections and the donor hall from July 23 to
October 13, this exhibit provides an overview of our holdings of local
and West Coast alternative media, comics and zines from the 1960s to the
present. Highlighted are contemporary San Diego and Los Angeles comic
artists, science-fiction comics, political cartoons by Genny Guracar (1959-1999).
The exhibit also features a sampling of contemporary women cartoonists
and comic artists such as Donna Barr and Roberta Gregory, zines from San
Diego, Mexico and the West Coast, and local and West Coast alternative
media from the 1960s to the present.
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Local and West Coast alternative media from the
1960s to the present
The "Do It Yourself" (DIY) ethic prevalent in the punk era
and the 1980s had its roots in the period of great social, economical,
and political upheaval of the 1960s. While small-run publications (mostly
polemical and political in nature) have existed since the inception of
print, the 1960s saw an unprecedented flourishing of small journals that
were not beholden to advertising money (or were able to choose the type
of advertising they felt coincided with their politics and ideals). These
small journals (such as Sunrise: A Journal of Change, The
Movement, or La Raza) were printed cheaply and often had
a brief life-span. The writing was direct and often confrontational, the
production values low, and the idealism quite high. These small-run magazines
and journals provide a voice for many disenfranchised groups and still
offer us a slice of life and reality which most readers are not exposed
to through mainstream media.
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Sunrise: A Journal of Change (San Diego)
May 4, 1970 (#3).
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Wives Tales
by Britton Neubacher (San Diego, 1996)
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Zines
Zines are informal, personal mini-magazines on virtually any topic, written,
published, and distributed by their creators. The incredible breadth of
zines make it difficult to classify them but several areas of focus consistently
emerge such as the political, personal, network, scene, grrrl/girl, art,
fringe culture, sex, religious, health, vocational, travel, and literary
zine, as well as comix, and many, many more. Throughout their history,
a unique and important publishing network has been developed by the dedication
of both zine creators and their readers. A large and complex subculture
revolves around the distribution of this literature where "zinesters"
have created a self-supported underground rich with resourcefulness, networking,
and interaction. While types of zines and their content are as unique
as the individuals who create them, all zines present a social, if not
political, challenge. Backed by a hardboiled Do-It-Yourself ethic, zines
become a form of cultural rebellion where individuals take initiative,
community develops, and a movement is born.
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Girl Noire #2
By Kim Schwenk (San Diego, 2003)
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Titanium Expose #1 (San Diego, Fall 1998)
By Christopher Kalani Woo
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Where do zines come from?
While only recently gaining recognition from mainstream popular culture,
zines have actually been in circulation for over sixty years. The term
comes from fan magazine. Fan magazines were first created in the early
1930's by Science Fiction fans and often published by Sci-Fi club founders.
These productions served as a way to share science fiction stories and
commentary and to widen communication between fans. Amazing Stories,
published by Hugo Gernsback in 1926, was the first creation of its kind.
In the 1970's, fan magazines became known as "fanzines" as they
were adopted by the growing punk rock music scene in response to its neglect
by and criticism of the mainstream music press. |
Giving Birth (San Diego, 2003)
By Yarden
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The world of fanzines became greatly influenced by the
punk scene as alternative music and politics met face to face. Early examples
of these fanzines were Punk and the now infamous Sniffin'
Glue. By the 1980's, streams of publications by fans of other cultural
genres entered the scene, mixing with the writings of discouraged, disgruntled
authors and the printed leftovers of 1960's-1970's political dissent.
At this time, fan was dropped and zine became the umbrella term for all
genres encompassed within this form of alternative press.
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Political cartoons by Genny Guracar, 1959-1999
Using the pen name Bülbül (Turkish for Nightingale), Genny
Guracar produced cartoons which "reflect the struggle for the wholeness
and full human status of women, elders, children, people of color, and
mother earth." Born in Chicago and a graduate of the University of
Michigan with a degree in design, Guracar began moonlighting as a cartoonist
in the 1970s. She has garnered acclaim for her feminist cartoons which
appear in many newspapers, magazines, and books.
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Bülbül aka Genny Guracar
(Artist’s promotional card)
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The Genny Guracar collection (15.62 linear ft.), housed
in SDSU Special Collections and University Archives, includes biographical
information, correspondence, with the bulk of the collection being newspapers,
newsletters, magazines, books and specialty publications in which Bülbül
cartoons appear.
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The Desert Peach: “Headaches”
By Donna Barr. Bremerton: Fine Line Press, June 2001.
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Contemporary women cartoonists and comic artists
Donna Barr began to draw in 1954, to write in 1963 and was first published
in 1986. Now her bold and innovative “drawn books” are sold
from Japan to Australia, and recently her readership has expanded into
Eastern Europe. Her awards include the San Diego Comicon International
Inkpot, Cartoonists Northwest’s Toonie, and the Washington Press
Association’s Communicator Of Excellence for Fiction. Barr is widely
considered one of the leading female authors in her field and serves as
an encouragement for an entire generation of female authors. She has taught,
lectured and spoken from Paris to San Diego, and appeared on radio and
television.
(adapted from: A Fine Line Press web site,)
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The Comic and Graphic Novel books shown in this exhibit are part of
a generous donation from alumnus Daniel Hager (class of 2000). Mr. Hager
is particularly interested in the work of local graphic/comic artists.
To the right:
The Conquest of Venus (San Diego, 2003)
By Daniel Hager.
Virtual exhibit by Elke Zobl
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This page http://infodome.sdsu.edu/about/depts/spcollections/exhibits/0803/alternativemedia.shtml is maintained by Special Collections c/o Cristina Favretto.
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