This was an odd beast, Comix Book.
Smilin' Stan Lee persuaded a starving Denis
Kitchen to work for Marvel Comics in 1974. Lee wanted
to capitalize on the "energy" and cutting-edge style
of the underground cartoonists. Equally eager to broaden underground
comix exposure via newsstands ---and to earn a decent wage---
Kitchen conditionally agreed to create and edit a "hybrid"
magazine. Kitchen wrested unprecedented concessions from Marvel:
they agreed to return all artwork, to run no advertising in the
mag, to throw out the "Comics Code Authority" restrictions,
and to eventually allow artists to keep their copyrights ---all
policies unheard of from mainstream comics publishers at that
time. The result was a short-lived experimental comic magazine
that either failed to find its audience, was mishandled by baffled
newsstand distributors and/or opened a Pandora's box at Marvel.
Lee quickly canceled the series as the third issue hit newsstands.
But Kitchen had editorially assembled five issues. After
a year back and forth, he persuaded Marvel to let his own Kitchen
Sink Press publish the final two issues of Comix Book.
The 5th and final Comix Book, when
intended for newsstands, originally scheduled a sexy and
more commercial John Pound cover. Kitchen on his own instead
went with the decidedly non-commercial Justin Green for
the final cover. Green's 5-part "We Fellow Traveleers"
story conveniently wrapped with the magazine's capstone issue.
Other contributors: Gary Hallgren ("Tom Terkey");
S. Clay Wilson ("The Corpse Gobblin' Ogre of Columbite
Mountain"); Ted Richards & Willy Murphy ("Two
Fools"); Howard Cruse ("Barefootz" story
+ color back cover); "Luke," a short horror story written
by Will Fowler and illustrated by Peter Poplaski; Sharon
Rudahl ("Die Bubbeh: The Grandmother"); Leslie
Cabarga ("Buddy Baker, Crooner for Hire" and "Take
the A Train"); Skip Williamson ("On the Job");
Trina Robbins ("Panthea" wrap-up); Joel Beck
("Lefty Doomsday"); Tim Boxell; John Pound ("Flip
the Bird"); Robert Armstrong ("Those Low-Down
Crash Pad Blues"); Murphy ("Henry Henpeck");
and Kim Deitch ("Scooped"). Also: a Trina
Robbins Interview, a final Kitchen editorial and a
letters page. Imagine [thumb and forefinger held 1/8" apart]...
Marvel Comics came this close to publishing S. Clay
Wilson!!