commies from mars
commies from mars
Kitchen Sink 1973-1987
It took 14 years to produce the six-issue run of Commies from Mars, but everything that followed the inaugural issue was worth the wait. After the first issue was published by Kitchen Sink in 1973, the series took a six-year hiatus before Last Gasp wisely resurrected it for five more issues.
The Last Gasp books deliver post-Star Wars socio-political commentary from a broad range of artists and writers. Commies from Mars was edited by Tim Boxell and featured solid contributions that didn’t read like other comics at the time. It is perhaps the only comic featuring Elvis Presley’s dead penis talking about a Las Vegas comeback. One of the joys of the series are the remarkable front covers provided by John Pound (issues 2, 3 and 4) and Kenneth Huey (issues 5 and 6).
Though none of the issues sold well enough to earn a second printing, the series has aged very well and maintains a small but dedicated circle of fans and collectors, of which I am one. It seems likely that I will return to this overview some time in the future to expound on the virtues of this series in greater detail. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to collect all six issues, especially the last five.
