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"7 FOOT COMIC COVERS" POSTER by R. CRUMB & PETER POPLASKI (1972).
[ note:
Poster was too large for scan bed. Image above was taken with
a grainy digital camera and is a bit fuzzy. Acutal poster is
very crisp and colorful. ]
Before the dreaded "Underground Crash
of '73," Krupp Comic Works (Kitchen
Sink Press) was riding high. Underground comic book sales
were rapidly accelerating and the market was expanding. Partners
Denis
Kitchen and Tyler Lantzy were printing their comix
"guts" at one printer, and their glossy color covers
at a second Milwaukee printer to shave costs. The latter had
a press that could simultaneously print six or eight covers on
large sheets of paper measuring 68 inches x 89 inches. In 1972
Kitchen got the bright idea to publish single "giant
comic book cover" images that would fill the entire sheet.
He thought that for $9.95 retail they'd make great "wall
covers" in college dorms and hippie pads across America.
Lantzy was more fiscally conservative and convinced Kitchen
that they should first solicit the product to determine demand
before investing thousands of dollars on an untested item.
R. Crumb agreed
to let two of his covers, Home Grown Funnies and XYZ
Comics, be the guinea pigs. Peter
Poplaski designed the poster offered here, and Kitchen
wrote the florid hype. Crumb's covers are depicted as
7-foot high billboards admired by passersby. The two older people
on the left and right clearly don't "get it." The long-haired
hippie sitting on the floor and thinking "Keen!" is
Kitchen. The "POP" comic book he is reading
could be construed as "Pop Art," but that was Poplaski's
shorthand signature. The group of Siamese cats allude to the
fact that Kitchen's first wife Irene bred Siamese
cats. This drove Kitchen crazy, so Poplaski, as
another in-joke, had cats invade his two-dimensional space
as well. The long-haired hippie standing up is Denis' brother
Jim, who briefly worked for Krupp at that time. He is
holding the hand of his then-girlfriend Jan Sichi, whose
left leg was actually in a cast. Poplaski, "from
the old school," drew exactly what his models looked
like, even when a broken leg would seem to be a distraction from
the product.
A mailing of this promotional poster was
sent to head shops across America, but the response was disappointing.
Lantzy concluded that the giant comix coivers venture
was too risky, and Kitchen turned his attention to other
crazy products, like Crumb's 78 rpm record, a "Libido"
puzzle and Kruppcards. All that survives the aborted giant cover
project are a small number of the original promotional posters.
It isn't nearly as big as the wallcovers
advertised, but still measures a good size: 16.75" x 21.5".
This 1972 hippie antique is in NM/Mint
condition. Price: $50.00
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