Last Gasp (publisher)

History

Last Gasp Eco Funnies was founded in Berkeley, California, in 1970 by San Francisco State University graduate student Ronald E. Turner, with the help of Gary Arlington, Last Gasp followed Slow Death Funnies with the all-female anthology It Ain't Me, Babe, spearheaded by Trina Robbins.

Last Gasp was incorporated on September 11, 1971. In the time period 1971–1973, Last Gasp published Air Pirates Funnies #1–2 and a number of other Air Pirates-related titles, including The Tortoise and the Hare, Dopin' Dan #1–3, and Merton of the Movement. (Turner insists that he only served as an advisor to the Air Pirates collective, despite them crediting his company as "publisher.")

The company's success with Slow Death and It Ain't Me, Babe enabled Last Gasp to expand into distribution, in addition to publishing. and Anarchy Comics (1978), which focused on left-wing politics. In addition to publishing Wimmen's Comix for much of its run, Last Gasp published a number of other comix with feminist themes, including It Ain't Me, Babe, Tits & Clits Comix, Twisted Sisters #1, and Good Girls.

In 1972, Last Gasp published Justin Green's seminal autobiographical comic Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary.

Beginning in 1972, Last Gasp began publishing ongoing titles moving over from other companies; beginning with Young Lust, and then Rand Holmes' Harold Hedd. In 1977, the company picked up Joyce Farmer and Lyn Chevely's Tits & Clits Comix, publishing that series until 1987. Last Gasp published the final three issues of San Francisco Comic Book in 1980–1983, and the latter half of ''Zap Comix''' run from 1982 to 2005.

Last Gasp also published Weirdo from 1981 to 1993, and Cherry Poptart from 1982 to 1992.

In the early 1980s Last Gasp published some of the first books about the West Coast punk rock scene, including a number of titles by Peter Belsito.

Last Gasp moved its headquarters from Berkeley to San Francisco in c. 1975. Starting in 1975, Ron Turner began hosting the annual "Burritos, Beer & Cheer" holiday party at the Last Gasp offices, which was also a fundraiser for the Martin de Porres House of Hospitality, a free soup kitchen located in San Francisco. Last Gasp hosted "Burritos, Beer & Cheer" for more than 30 years.

In the period 2004–2010, Last Gasp published English-language compilations of popular manga titles, including Fumiyo Kouno's Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms; Junko Mizuno's Pure Trance; and Keiji Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen.

In early December 2016, Last Gasp announced it was ending its comics distribution business to focus solely on book publishing. (As one of the last independent distributors, they handled comics distribution from more than 100 small comics publishers.) As a consequence, the company planned to lay off the bulk of its dozen employees by February 2017.

Creators associated with Last Gasp

Notable artists published by Last Gasp include Tim Biskup, Robert Crumb, Richard Corben, Ron English, Camille Rose Garcia, Justin Green, Bill Griffith, John Howard, Greg Irons, Shawna Kenney, Spain Rodriguez, Mark Ryden, Dori Seda, Larry Welz, Robert Williams, Jay Howell, and S. Clay Wilson.

Titles published (selected)

Comix

• The Adventures of Harold Hedd (1972–Sept. 1973)
• Anarchy Comics (4 issues; 1978–1987)
• Armageddon (3 issues; 1970–1973)
• Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary (1972)
• Brain Fantasy (2 issues; May 1972–Jan. 1975)
• Cherry Poptart (13 issues; 1982–1992)
• Harlan Ellison's Chocolate Alphabet (Aug. 1975)
• Cocaine Comix (4 issues; 1975–1982)
• Dirty Laundry (1974, 1978, 1993)
• Dopin' Dan (3 issues; 1972–1979)
• Dr. Atomic (6 issues; Sept. 1972–Apr. 1981)
• Fresca Zizis (1977)
• Good Girls (6 issues; 1987–1991)
• Grim Wit (2 issues; June–Sept. 1973)
• Harold Hedd (3 issues, 1973–1984)
• Horny Biker Slut (13 issues; 1990–1998)
• Hup (4 issues; 1986–1992)
• Inner City Romance (5 issues; 1972–1978)
• It Ain't Me, Babe (July 1970)
• Last Gasp Comix & Stories (5 issues; 1994–1997)
• The Legion of Charlies (Fall 1971) — one-shot by Tom Veitch, Greg Irons, and Dave Sheridan
• Mickey Rat (2 issues; 1980–1982)
• Monolith (1972)
• Neurocomics (Mar. 1979)
• Skull (5 issues; 1970–1972)
• Slow Death Funnies/Slow Death (11 issues; 1970–1992)
• Tales from the Leather Nun (1973)
• Twisted Sisters #1 (1976)
• Weirdo (28 issues; Spring 1981–Summer 1993)
• Wimmen's Comix (10 issues; Spring 1981–Summer 1993)
• Young Lust (5 issues; 1972, 1987–1993)
• Zap Comix (16 issues; 1982–2005)

Manga translations

• Kouno, Fumiyo. Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms (2004)
• Mizuno, Junko. Pure Trance (2005)
• Nakazawa, Keiji. Barefoot Gen (10 issues, 2004–2010)

Books

• Belsito, Peter, Bob Davis, and Marian Kester. StreetArt: The Punk Poster in San Francisco 1977-1981 (1981)
• Belsito, Peter and Bob Davis. Hardcore California: A History of Punk and New Wave (1983)
• Belsito, Peter. Notes From the Pop Underground (1985)
• Blank, Joani (ed.) Femalia (2nd ed., 2011)
• Cometbus. Despite Everything: A Cometbus Omnibus (2002)
• Corinne, Tee. The Cunt Coloring Book (1989)
• Davis, Mike. A Blind Man's Journey (2014)
• Griffith, Bill. Zippy Stories (1986).
• Fitzgerald, F. Stop and Marian Kester. Dead Kennedys: The Unauthorized Version (1983)
• LeRoy, J. T. with illustrations by Cherry Hood. Labour (2006)
• Perry, Michael with illustrations by Doug Cunningham. Turntable Timmy (paperback re-issue, 2015)
• Schorr, Todd. American Surreal (2008)

References

References

1. [http://comics.lib.msu.edu/rri/trri/turner_n.htm Ron Turner at Michigan State University Libraries]
2. "The 2016 Book Distributors Profiles - Publishing Trends".
3. Lepage, Cécile. [http://www.sfbg.com/pixel_vision/2010/03/30/40-year-last-gasp-thats-getting-stronger "A 40-year Last Gasp that's getting stronger,"] ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'' online (March 30, 2010).
4. "[http://www.lastgasp.com/faq/ F A Q]." Last Gasp Books. Retrieved on July 30, 2012. "Last Gasp 777 Florida Street San Francisco, CA 94110"
5. link. (November 12, 2006)
6. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/29/LVGIPPG7M51.DTL&hw=ron+turner&sn=001&sc=1000 "On the Town: with Ron Turner" SF Chronicle, April 29, 2007]
7. Nelson, Gayle. [http://www.lastgasp.com/olg/ "The Origins of Last Gasp,"] {{webarchive. link. (December 14, 2013 Last Gasp website (Jan. 1999). Accessed December 14, 2013.)
8. [http://files1.comics.org/img/gcd/generic_images/3/3055.jpg Indicia], ''Slow Death'' #8 (1977).
9. ''R. Crumb: Conversations'' by Robert Crumb & D. K. Holm. University Press of Mississippi, 2004 {{ISBN. 978-1-57806-637-7 (p. 93)
10. Estren, Mark James. (1974). "A History of Underground Comics". Straight Arrow Books.
11. Levin, Bob.[https://archive.org/details/piratesmouse00bobl/page/122 ''The Pirates and the Mouse: Disney's War Against The Underground''] (Fantagraphics, 2003), p. 123.
12. Tom Sito. (October 6, 2006). "Drawing the Line: The Untold Story of the Animation Unions from Bosko to Bart Simpson". University Press of Kentucky.
13. The company soon became a major part of the [[underground comix]] movement. Sociopolitical themes were explored in Last Gasp series such as [[Guy Colwell]]'s ''Inner City Romance'' (1972–1979), which portrayed gritty urban tales; ''[[Armageddon (underground comic)
14. Beale, Scott. [http://laughingsquid.com/last-gasp-holiday-party-photos/ "Last Gasp Holiday Party 2005,"] LaughingSquid.com (December 17, 2005).
15. Aoki, Deb. [http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/72221-last-gasp-shuts-down-its-distribution-operation.html "Comics Publisher Last Gasp Shuts Down its Distribution Operation,"] ''Publishers Weekly'' (December 7, 2016).
16. Davis, Mike. (2014). "A blind man's journey".