Bijou Funnies


Bijou Funnies was an American underground comix magazine which published eight issues between 1968 and 1973. Edited by Chicago-based cartoonist Jay Lynch, Bijou Funnies featured strong work by the core group of Lynch, Skip Williamson, Robert Crumb, and Jay Kinney, as well as Art Spiegelman, Gilbert Shelton, Justin Green, and Kim Deitch. Bijou Funnies was heavily influenced by Mad magazine, and, along with Zap Comix, is considered one of the titles to launch the underground comix movement.

Publication history

Bijou Funnies evolved from The Chicago Mirror, an underground newspaper co-produced by Jay Lynch and Skip Williamson, which published three issues in 1967–1968. After seeing Robert Crumb's Zap Comix #1, Lynch immediately converted the Mirror from a newspaper to a comic book and, under his own Bijou Publishing Empire produced the first issue of Bijou Funnies in summer 1968. Bijou Funnies was produced slightly smaller than standard comics size, measuring 6-1/2" x 8-1/2".
Bay Area publisher the Print Mint published issues #2-4 of the title from 1969–1970. The midwestern underground publisher Kitchen Sink Press took over Bijou Funnies with issue #5, publishing the title from 1970–1973.
ComixJoint's M. Steven Fox details what led to Bijou Funnies cancellation:
Bijou Funnies #8 is notable for a number of reasons. The inside front page contained an editorial from Lynch condemning the Supreme Court obscenity ruling. The cover was by Harvey Kurtzman, paying homage to his early work for Mad, and the stories inside were all parodies by the title's regular cartoonists of each other's characters. In addition, the entire comic was in full-color, which was rare for underground comix of that era.
The British underground publisher Cozmic Comics/H. Bunch Associates reprinted issue #6 of Bijou Funnies in 1974.
Quick Fox/Links Books published a collection titled The Best of Bijou Funnies in 1975, which included work by Lynch, Williamson, Kinney, Green, Crumb, Shelton, Spiegelman, Deitch, Dan Clyne, Jim Osborne, Evert Geradts, and Rory Hayes. In the afterword of the 1975 collection, editor Lynch hints at future issues of Bijou Funnies, noting that "we only do an issue of Bijou Funnies when we feel like doing one," but no further issues of the title were published after November 1973. Eight issues of Bijou Funnies were published in all.

Characters and contributors

Lynch's Nard n' Pat, a human-cat duo, were featured characters in Bijou Funnies. Williamson's Snappy Sammy Smoot made his debut in Bijou Funnies #1 and was a recurring character throughout the title's run. Williamson's Bozo Rebebo made frequent appearances as well. Crumb's Mr. Natural and Joey Tissue were recurring features; Shelton's The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers appeared in issues #1 and #2.

Issues

  1. — contributors: Skip Williamson, Jay Lynch, Robert Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, Jay Kinney, Dave Herring
  2. — contributors: Williamson, Lynch, Crumb, Kinney, Art Spiegelman, Jim Osborne, Shelton, John Thompson, Rory Hayes, Paul David Simon, Kim Deitch
  3. — contributors: Lynch, Williamson, Roger Brand, Deitch, Kinney, Hayes, Dan Clyne, Crumb, Justin Green
  4. — contributors: Crumb, Williamson, Lynch, Deitch, Kinney, Clyne, Green
  5. — contributors: Williamson, Lynch, Osborne, Crumb, Green
  6. — contributors: Crumb, Lynch, Green, Williamson
  7. — contributors: Williamson, Spiegelman, Lynch, Crumb, Evert Geradts, Green, Clyne
  8. — contributors: Harvey Kurtzman, Lynch, Don Stout, Williamson, Dennis Kitchen, Pat Daley, Crumb, Bill Griffith, Deitch, Green, Willy Murphy, Kinney, Ralph Reese