arc 07 dwarf clown
arc 07 dwarf clown
Print Mint Fall 1976
After seemingly hitting its stride in the previous issue, Arcade kind of took a step back in its seventh issue, relying on reprinted Tijuana Bible smut, Robert Crumb sketchbook material and a couple less-than-stellar comics. The magazine folded after this issue, and it’s almost like the staff of the magazine knew it was coming and didn’t work as hard as before. Don’t blame Kim Deitch though, since he contributed a terrific Miles Microft adventure in the 12-page “Possessed,” which really helps save this issue.
I think I read in Rosenkranz’s Rebel Visions that Arcade’s retail outlets didn’t know what to make of the magazine. It featured all these underground artists, but instead of coming out once a year or changing titles all the time like most undergrounds, Arcade came out like clockwork every quarter. When issue five came out, some retailers still had the previous four issue on their shelves. What the hell were they supposed to do, build a reading library?
But as alluded to in my overview of Arcade, I think the magazine had more than just retailing issues. Well, actually, my criticism also relates to retailing, except my point is that the magazine failed to connect with a broad audience in the retail marketplace because it took itself too seriously.
When it was all over, co-editor Art Spiegelman vowed he would never edit another magazine again because of the tension and jealousies involved. But four years later he helped launch (with his wife Françoise Mouly) and co-edited the art-comic magazine Raw, forever changing the landscape of comic books yet again. It seems likely that Spiegelman learned a great deal from the issues he encountered as co-editor of Arcade and applied those learnings to Raw (which ironically ran only four more issues than Arcade, but that did represent nine more years). It’s hard to compare the two publications, since they are distinctly different from one another and Mouly’s influence on Raw cannot be underestimated.
As for Arcade, it was a great comic magazine and my minor quibbling about its content does nothing to detract from its place in history. It helped underground comic creators reach a new, more mature and intellectual audience that rightly lauded the magazine for its terrific comics.
Art Spiegelman (editor+) 2(ad) • Bill Griffith (editor+) 3, 4, 39-42 • Mark Beyer (staff) 3, 50 • Diane Noomin (staff) 3, 44-45 • Spain Rodgriguez (staff) 3, 46-48 • Mark Kay Brown 1, 3 • Robert Crumb 2(ad), 3, 4(ad), 17-24 • Harvey Kurtzman 2(ad) • Robert Armstrong 3, 29-31 • Michele Brand 3, 43 • Oliver Christianson 3, 49 • Kim Dietch 3, 5-16 • Justin Green 3, 26-27 • Rory Hayes 3, 49 • B. Kiliban 3, 52 • Aline Kominsky 3, 4, 25 • Lulu Stanley 3, 50 • Robert Williams 3, 28(a) • S. Clay Wilson 3, 51 • Steve Anker 4(t) • Jay Lynch 4(ad) • Jim Hoberman 28(t)
Michael McMillan 32-33 • Carol Becker 46-48(research) • Kirk Fenton 4(letter) • Steve Fisk 4(letter) • Chris Carduff 4(letter) • Joel Goldstein 4(letter) • William J. Manson 4(letter) • Larry Hubbell 4(letter)
2 – Ads • 3 – Contents • 4 – The Outline • 4 – Letters • 5 – Possessed • 17 – Drawings From My Sketchbook • 25 – Arnie’s Air Conditioner • 26 – The Gates Of Purgatory • 28 – Space Age Confidential • 29 – Back Home In Pasadena • 32 – Queezy Riders • 34 – Arcade Archives – Sex Comics of the 30’s • 39 – The Toad And The Madman • 43 – Four Dreams • 44 – Some Of My Best Friends Are • 46 – The Inheritance Of Rufus Griswold • 49 – Sideshow • 51 – Vampire Lust • 52 – Chapter 1 – Nell Calls Phil’s Seal