#08 Humor Issue
#08 Humor Issue
Kitchen Sink, Nov. 1973
contributors: Harvey Kurtzman (cover), Lynch, Don Stout, Williamson, Dennis Kitchen, Pat Daley, Crumb, Bill Griffith, Deitch, Green, Willy Murphy, Kinney, Ralph Reese
I believe the final issue of Bijou Funnies, published in November, 1973, marked the end of the golden era of underground comic books. Bijou Funnies #8 was published not long after the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling which established that the definition of obscenity should be determined by local communities, and if accused of obscenity the final litmus test would be “whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” Editor Jay Lynch provided a passionate editorial on the inside front cover that sharply denounced the ruling.
But Bijou Funnies #8 gave us much more than a political diatribe. Besides featuring a terrific Harvey Kurtzman cover that pays homage to his early days with MAD, the book is devoted to full-color stories by underground artists appropriating characters from other underground artists. Bijou went out with a bang, with a parody of its own satire that lampoons the entire scope of underground comics. The final issue demonstrated that Bijou didn’t take itself too seriously while proving that it took our constitutional rights deadly seriously.