Editing Underground comix (section)

====1975–1982: The underground era comes to a close====
By this time, some artists, including [[Art Spiegelman]], felt that the underground comix scene had become less creative than it had been in the past. According to Spiegelman: "What had seemed like a revolution simply deflated into a lifestyle. Underground comics were stereotyped as dealing only with Sex, Dope and Cheap Thrills. They got stuffed back into the closet, along with bong pipes and love beads, as Things Started To Get Uglier".<ref name="Sabin-92"/>

One of the last major underground titles was ''[[Arcade: The Comics Revue]]'', co-edited by Spiegelman and [[Bill Griffith]]. With the underground movement encountering a slowdown, Spiegelman and Griffith conceived of ''Arcade'' as a "safe berth", featuring contributions from such major underground figures as [[Robert Armstrong (cartoonist)|Robert Armstrong]], [[Robert Crumb]], [[Justin Green (cartoonist)|Justin Green]], [[Aline Kominsky]], [[Jay Lynch]], [[Spain Rodriguez]], [[Gilbert Shelton]], and [[S. Clay Wilson]] (as well as Griffith and Spiegelman). ''Arcade'' stood out from similar publications by having an editorial plan, in which Spiegelman and Griffith attempted to show how comics connected to the broader realms of artistic and literary culture.<ref>Grishakova, Marina; Ryan, Marie-Laure (2010). [https://books.google.com/books?id=V5oClRagMywC ''Intermediality and Storytelling'']. Walter de Gruyter. {{ISBN|978-3-11-023774-0}},pp=67–68.</ref> ''Arcade'' lasted seven issues, from 1975 to 1976.

[[Autobiographical comics]] began to come into prominence in 1976, with the premiere of [[Harvey Pekar]]'s self-published comic ''[[American Splendor]]'', which featured art by several cartoonists associated with the underground, including Crumb.<ref name="Sabin-92"/> Comics critic Jared Gardner asserts that, while underground comix was associated with countercultural iconoclasm, the movement's most enduring legacy was to be autobiography.<ref>{{cite journal|last = Gardner |first = Jared|year = 2008|title = Autography's Biography, 1972–2007 |journal = [[Biography (journal)|Biography]]|volume = 31|issue = 1|pages = 6–7|publisher = [[University of Hawaii Press]]| doi=10.1353/bio.0.0003 |via = [[Project MUSE]]|url = http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/biography/v031/31.1.gardner.pdf|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In the late 1970s, Marvel and [[DC Comics]] agreed to sell their comics on a no-return basis with large discounts to comic book retailers; this led to later deals that helped underground publishers.<ref name="Estren-7"/> During this period, underground titles focusing on [[feminist movement|feminist]] and [[Gay Liberation]] themes began to appear, as well as comics associated with the [[environmental movement]].<ref name="Sabin-92"/> ''[[Anarchy Comics]]'' focused on [[left-wing politics]], while Barney Steel's ''[[Armageddon (underground comic)|Armageddon]]'' focused on [[anarcho-capitalism]].<ref name=Rifas>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0O-Jh5dugUC&dq=barney+steel+libertarian+comic&pg=PA33 Multicultural Comics: From Zap to Blue Beetle] - Race and Comix by Leonard Rifas pp. 33-34</ref> British underground cartoonists also created political titles, but they did not sell as well as American political comics.<ref name="Sabin-92"/>

Artists influenced by the underground comix scene, who were unable to get work published by better-known underground publications, began self-publishing their own small press, photocopied comic books, known as [[minicomic]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dowers |first=Michael |year=2010 |title=Newave! The Underground Mini Comix Of The 1980s |chapter=Introduction |publisher=Fantagraphics Books |isbn=978-1-60699-313-2 |pages=9–11}}</ref> The [[punk subculture]] began to influence underground comix.<ref name="Sabin-177">{{cite book |last=Sabin |first=Roger |year=1996 |title=Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels: A History Of Comic Art |chapter=Alternative Visions |publisher=[[Phaidon Press]] |location=[[London]], [[United Kingdom]] |isbn=0-7148-3008-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/comicscomixgraph00sabi/page/177 177–78; 182; 188; 200; 208–209] |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/comicscomixgraph00sabi/page/177}}</ref>