weirdo

Last Gasp (1981-93)
Weirdo is a magazine-sized comics anthology created by Robert Crumb and published by Last Gasp from 1981 to 1993. Weirdo served as a “low art” counterpoint to its contemporary highbrow Raw. Early issues of Weirdo reflect Crumb’s interests at the time – outsider art, fumetti, Church of the SubGenius-type anti-propaganda and assorted “weirdness.” It also introduced artists such as Peter Bagge, Dori Seda and Dennis (Stickboy) Worden.

Crumb contributed cover art and comics to every issue of Weirdo; his wife, cartoonist Aline Kominsky-Crumb, also had work in almost every issue. Crumb focused increasingly on autobiography in his stories in Weirdo. Many other autobiographical shorts would appear in Weirdo by other artists, including Kominsky-Crumb, Carol Tyler, Phoebe Gloeckner, and Dori Seda. David Collier, a Canadian ex-soldier, published autobiographical and historical comics in Weirdo. The anthology introduced artists such as Peter Bagge, Dori Seda, Dennis Worden, and Carol Tyler.

Crumb’s detailed cover borders for most issues of Weirdo were an homage to the 1950s humor magazine Humbug (edited by Harvey Kurtzman); Crumb claimed that the elaborate Jack Davis–Will Elder cover to the second issue of Humbug “changed his life”.