<p>Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette</p><p>Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications Philosophy, Department of</p><p>3-1-2012 <a href="/tags/Milwaukee/" rel="tag">Milwaukee</a>'s King of Comix: The ndeU rground Art of Jim Mitchell Curtis Carter Marquette University, [email protected]</p><p>Published version. Published in the newspaper entitled "Shepherd Express." March 1, 2012, "A&E Feature": 20. Permalink: http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/article-17845-milwaukees-king-of- comix.html. © 2012 Shepherd Express. Used with permission. • " \.-, .• ; .:-.. ," , ...... ~ .. ~ - . , ' - - .., ...... ,. ~.." , ... ~. • .,,4o ...... :: .. . .."'" " ... if;. "" ...... , .'. .. ,': « ,•\ • , '•i -( , .. .THE -UNDE GROUND A T ••.~ .. ... ":. .. . =.... ,' ••Z::~~: ...... • •• · .. .::.-\.• .a "' .. .. , ':~':. · F' J' I I T' C ELL .. ,.. # ...... M M' H -- :~: /::.::" ...... If: ...... '.:...... , </p><p>SPRING GUIDE ::pg 6 TO HIGHER EDUCATION Redistricting Goes to Court INSIDE For more A&E, log onto :A&E · ~xpressmilwaUkee .com FEATURE I MILWAUKEE COLOR I FILM I THEATRE I ART I BOOKS I CLASSICAL MUSIC I DANCE </p><p>THE UNDERGROUND ART </p><p>OF JIM MITCHELL ::BY CURTIS L. CARTER </p><p> uring the late 1960s and early 70s, young cartoon­ called Kumquat. Their collaboration led to the creation producing a T-shirt for Yes. He is among the first art­ ists working in the spirit of the' era's counterculture in 1969 of the <a href="/tags/Underground_comix/" rel="tag">underground comix</a> project called Shan­ ists to create and market T-shirts with original air-dry free of the carefully constructed universe of gri/a featuring artists from Chicago and Milwaukee. ink silk-screen prints. In all of these ventures, Mitchell iUperlilen)eS promoted by mainstream comic-book These efforts, were pioneering, as underground co­ prefers to think of his contributions as positive and ·n... n •• n;"" Addressing such daring themes as sex. mix barely existed at the time. In 1970 Kitchen and life-enforcing. Not all underground comix artists and the Vietnam War, the underground co­ Mitchell joined Don Glassford to form Krupp Comic were dedicated to provocative sexuality or violence. mix artists experimented with new styles, self-pub­ Works. The artists associated with Krupp generated The comixunderground can be likened to the Da­ lishing their work ana finding outlets in the era's a successful stream of comic strips for national dis­ daists of the early-2Oth~century art scene in the sense alternative newspapers. tribution to some 50 college and alternative newspa­ that their art grew but of societal conditions fraught Often forgotten is the important role Milwaukee pers. The venture lasted until 19". with unrest and anxiety over dark social and politi­ played in the comix movement, with homegrown The popularity of the underground comix from cal clouds. Like the Dadaists, the comix artists chal­ artists such as Jim Mitchell, <a href="/tags/Denis_Kitchen/" rel="tag">Denis Kitchen</a> and oth­ Milwaukee artists spread across the nation and be­ lenged establiShed norms. They invented a contro­ ers. Mitchell has returned to Milwaukee, where he yond. Mitchell's fans included John Lennon, who versial art form and called into question conventional continues to practice as an artist at Distant Thunder once phoned him. According to Mitchell, Lennon norms while expressing dismay over the political Studios, located in the Brewers Hill neighborhood. especially loved a piece called "Wouldn't It Be Nice hypocrisies and injustices of the Nixon era. These How does one decide to be an artist? "An artist If Everyone Were Children Again," a drawing that art:i&ts sought to advance freedom of expression and never decides to be an artist. You just are," Mitch­ appeared in Kitchen's comix book Smile No.1, and freedom of lifestyles and to end the travails of a soci­ ell insists. His early discovery of a natural talent for "Magical Mystical Tour," which appeared on the ety divided over seemingly futile wars. making art overrode his parents' aspirations for him back cover of Smile No.2. Mitchell's success led to Though the underground comix artists never suc­ to become a lawyer (his father) or a surgeon (his his inclusion in the 1972 edition of Who's Who in the' ceeded in becoming a major art movement, their mother). Needless to say, art won out and has been New Earth. work is an impbrtant barometer of the discontent of at the core of his life's work. He is presently at work An important outlet for the Krupp Crew was Mil­ their time and is often filled with clever satiric wit. preparing a book· on the history of the underground waukee's alternative weekly, the Bugle-American. These artists changed the role of the comic book from comix movement and a series of children's books, While working at the Bugle between 1970 and 1972, a form of popular entertainment into an important which he expects to publish in the near future. . Mitchell introduced a number of successful comic vehicle for artists to lend their voices to combat social Mitchell is essentially self-taught, with no formal strips and created cover images for the paper such as and political malfeasance. For a time; at least, some training except for a' semester at the Layton School the memorable "First Earth Day," published March of the artists believed that they might have a role in of Art. While majoring in journalism at Marquette 4, 1971. Collectors prize the images created for the changing the world. University in the late '60s, his cartoons and carica­ Bugle-American by Mitchell and others. Anyone who Curtis L. Carter is professor of aesthetics at Marquette tures in The Marquette Tribune and the school year­ saved copies of the Bugle may well benefit from the University's department of philosophy. FormlF'ly the book drew acclaim-including an invitation to increasing market for underground comix. founding director and chief curator of the Haggerty Muse­ paint a portrait of legendary basketball coach AI Mitchell's comix career led to'such projects as de­ um, he is currently the international curator and honorary McGuire-as well as controversy. signing the concert tour poster for British rock band director of the Beijing Museum of Contemporary Art and Denis Kitchen saw Mitchell's drawings and invit­ Deep Purple, creating what was perhaps the firSt rock president of the International Association for Aesthetics. ed him to work on an underground comix venture T-shirt for Peter Frampton's ·band Humble Pie, and For more A&E coverage, visit expressmilwaukee.com .• </p><p>20 I MARCH1. 2012 SHEPHERD EXPRESS t~ ~ r.... J .... ~,"q ... 1 r.11r.~'r </p><p>-~------</p>