Cult books and underground comix have recently hit the mainstream and emerged into the broader public consciousness so here is a primer about what they really are.

Underground comics or underground comix as they are spelt with a deliberate misspelling of the word comics to distinguish them from the main stream comics are an independent version of mainstream comics that deal with more grown up issues and socially relevant themes as well as more taboo subjects that most of mainstream media is afraid to deal with or unable to deal with due to censorship or standards and broadcast regulations. Underground comix are themselves not regulated as they fall afoul of the standards and rules of the body that regulates comics and illustrated publications in the United States of America, the Comics Code Authority which is more commonly known as the CCA. You will have seen the tiny logo of the CCA on most mainstream comics that comply with CCA standards. Since underground comics deal with and depict with imagery things like violence and use of illegal drugs along with sexuality and a whole lot of of other subjects that are highly taboo and forbidden to mainstream publications they cannot be printed or distributed like normal publications.

Instead cult books and underground comics are printed or self published in most cases by the artists or the authors or they may be printed at independent printing presses in very small runs with limited numbers. Since they cannot be sold in regular stores their distribution also takes place hand to hand and through trading among fans. They are thus instant collectibles in the underground circuit that has a cult following of this genre of art. The genre of cult books and underground comics started in the United States of America in the late 1920′s and the first examples of the art form were comics which depicted the popular main stream characters of the era in sexual and pornographic acts. Due to this they earned the ire of the owners of the authorities and the copyright holders and this served to drive them further underground. Over the years the underground comic scene has dealt with many subjects that were extremely taboo at the time such as when rock and roll music first came on the scene in the late fifties and was denounce by the church and the state as the music of the devil and rock records were smashed and burned these comix were a champion of rock and roll music.

Today with most taboos broken this form of art has been absorbed into the mainstream and underground comix are sold at high end stores and specialty outlets that cater to fans as well as affluent collectors. The earliest and most prized examples of this art form are now highly prized collectors items that are traded on the market for large sums of money.By Finchley Bows