RIPOFF COMIX
RIP OFF COMIX
Rip Off Press (1977-91)
All 30* original Rip-off comix issues published between 1977 and 1991 by Rip Off Press, starring Gilbert Sheldon’s Wonder Warthog.
Rip Off Comix was an underground comix anthology published between 1977 and 1991 by Rip Off Press. As time passed, the sensibility of the anthology changed from underground to alternative comics.
The anthology was originally a byproduct of the Rip Off Press syndication service, which, starting in the early 1970s, sold weekly content to alternative newspapers and student publications. The syndication service was discontinued by 1979, but strips produced by such cartoonists as Gilbert Shelton, Joel Beck, Dave Sheridan, Ted Richards, Bill Griffith, and Harry Driggs (as R. Diggs) were published in early issues of Rip Off Comix. For much of its run, the series served as a vehicle for Shelton’s work, particularly Wonder Wart-Hog and The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers.
For a period, Rip Off Comix was billed as “the International Journal of Humor and Cartoon Art”, and became a showcase for the work of European cartoonists.
The first ten issues of Rip Off Comix are standard comic book size and were published approximately every 6 months. From issue #11 onward Rip Off Comix was published magazine-size.
The title suffered a four-year hiatus between issue #12 (1983) and the next issue, #14 (1987); issue #13 was skipped in the numbering. From that point forward the title was published quarterly until it was cancelled in 1991. As a result of skipping issue #13, even though the series ended with issue #31, *only 30 issues were published in total.
Running for 14 years, Rip Off Comix was the second-longest-running title of any published by Rip Off Press after Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers.
