Slow Death is an underground comix anthology published by Last Gasp, the first title published by the San Francisco Bay Area-based press. Conceived as an ecologically themed comics magazine (in conjunction with the first Earth Day), the title's "underlying theme was always about what the human race was doing to damage the native planet."[1] Frequent contributors to Slow Death included Greg Irons, Jaxon, Dave Sheridan, Richard Corben, Jim Osborne, Tom Veitch, and Dennis Ellefson.[2] Released sporadically from 1970 to 1992, 11 issues were published in all.
Publication history
The first issue, titled Slow Death Funnies, was produced by San Francisco State University graduate student[3]Ron Turner as a benefit for a local ecology center. Turner borrowed $2,500, and with the help of San Francisco Comic Book Company's Gary Arlington,[4] printed 20,000 copies, which were published on April 15, 1970.[1] The first issue was copyrighted by the "Visual Yoyo Tribe," a Berkeley-based collective of which Turner was a member.[5]
New issues, now simply titled Slow Death, were published annually through 1974, when the title went on hiatus until 1976. Two issues were published in 1977 and then the title went annual again through 1979. After a 13-year gap, the final issue in the series, Slow Death #11, was published in 1992.
Science fiction stories continued throughout the series, but with issue #5, each issue's theme became connected to real-world issues: Richard Nixon, true war stories, Greenpeace, nuclear power, cancer, and other topics.[1]
(July 1977) — Greenpeace issue; contributors: Stout, Irons, Brenda Bernu, Michael J. Becker, Doug Hansen, Michael T. Gilbert, Sam Wray, Roger Brand, Shelby Sampson, Dennis Ellefson, Tim Boxell
