SKULL COMICS
Skull Comics
Rip Off Press (1970-72)
Of all the pop culture reference points that influenced underground comic creators and publishers, none were greater than EC Comics, which flourished during the childhoods of the forefathers of the underground. It seemed inevitable that underground artists would pay tribute to EC Comics, especially the horror and crime titles that broke new ground in depictions of terror and gore. Sure enough, Rip Off Comix launched Skull Comics just two years after Zap Comix enabled the type of content that EC once revelled in.
Though horror and violence had already surfaced in some undergrounds (e.g., Bogeyman), nothing compared to Skull Comix #1, which featured the decapitation of a naked woman and zombies on peyote, and those were mere harbingers of what was to come. Skull explored all manner of the horror genre, from interpreting the classic writings of Edgar Allan Poe to modern elucidations and hallucinations.
This series was claimed by both Last Gasp and Rip Off Press in the credits, we gave it to Rip Off because that was the parent publisher.
Another grossout guts and gore comic, if anything more gruesome than Psychotic Adventures! Issues #3 and #6 are supposed to be especially disgusting. Bon Appetite!