Wednesday, November 28, 2012

RIP Spain Rodriguez, Underground Comix Legend

NationalEnquirer.com
Underground cartoonist the legendary Spain Rodriguez, the creator of Trashman, died this morning at his home In San Francisco.

Zippy the Pinhead auteur Bill Griffith announced the sad news on Facebook, “Legendary cartoonist Spain Rodriguez died this morning at home in San Francisco. He was a great friend and raconteur--and one of the best cartoonists of his or any other generation. I'll always remember our talks on comics and drawing. He had so much more wonderful work inside him--I'll miss him forever.”

Hailing from Buffalo, New York Spain studied at the Silvermine Guild Art School in New Caanan, Connecticut.

Heading for the happening New York City, during the late 1960s, he became a contributor to the  East Village Other and soon published his own underground indie tabloid, Zodiac Mindwarp (1968).

A founder of the United Cartoon Workers of America, he contributed to numerous undergrounds including Zap Comix.

He also drew uber-liberal Salon's continuing graphic storyThe Dark Hotel.

Strongly influenced by 1950s EC comic book artist Wally Wood, Spain pushed Wood's sharp, crisp black shadows and hard-edged black outlines into a more simplified, stylized direction, Wikipedia noted.

No comments:

Post a Comment