Mineshaft Magazine
Encyclopedia
Mineshaft is an independent international art magazine launched in 1999 by Everett Rand and Gioia Palmieri in Guilford
, Vermont
. Initially focusing on poetry and literature, the magazine began to publish comics after Robert Crumb
became a contributor in 2000. The newsblog at The Guardian
refers to Mineshafts website as a source to find out more about Crumb's latest work.
, which featured contributions from Henry Miller
and Paul Bowles
. The name for the magazine came from Rand's favorite bar in La Paz
, Bolivia
where he and co-editor, Gioia Palmieri, lived in the early 1990s.
The first issue featured a drawing by Stettner. After issue #4, Rand wrote to Robert Crumb
who responded by sending a packet of sketchbook drawings. After issue #5, Crumb designed logos for the magazine which Mineshaft has been using ever since. Crumb's regular contributions include ten front covers, eleven back covers and a total to date of 160 pages of artwork and letters. After living and publishing Mineshaft in Vermont and West Virginia
, the editors, Rand and Palmieri, moved their operations to Durham
, North Carolina
.
The magazine currently publishes new or previously unpublished material from some of the major artists of the underground comix
movement, as well as other items which include poetry, photography and short essays. Since 2009, Mineshaft has been serializing "Excerpts from R. Crumb's Dream Diary" by Robert Crumb.
2009.
Guilford, Vermont
Guilford is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford. The population was 2,046 at the 2000 census.- Geography :...
, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
. Initially focusing on poetry and literature, the magazine began to publish comics after Robert Crumb
Robert Crumb
Robert Dennis Crumb —known as Robert Crumb and R. Crumb—is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded...
became a contributor in 2000. The newsblog at The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
refers to Mineshafts website as a source to find out more about Crumb's latest work.
History
Mineshaft was the idea of Everett Rand who was inspired by his friendship and correspondence with Irving Stettner, who published the legendary underground magazine, StrokerStroker
Stroker is a computer game for the Commodore 64, created by Magic Carpet Software in 1983.-Summary:Your mission in Stroker is to reach the ultimate orgasm....
, which featured contributions from Henry Miller
Henry Miller
Henry Valentine Miller was an American novelist and painter. He was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of 'novel' that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, one that is...
and Paul Bowles
Paul Bowles
Paul Frederic Bowles was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator.Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, Bowles pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making various trips to Paris...
. The name for the magazine came from Rand's favorite bar in La Paz
La Paz
Nuestra Señora de La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of the La Paz Department, and the second largest city in the country after Santa Cruz de la Sierra...
, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
where he and co-editor, Gioia Palmieri, lived in the early 1990s.
The first issue featured a drawing by Stettner. After issue #4, Rand wrote to Robert Crumb
Robert Crumb
Robert Dennis Crumb —known as Robert Crumb and R. Crumb—is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded...
who responded by sending a packet of sketchbook drawings. After issue #5, Crumb designed logos for the magazine which Mineshaft has been using ever since. Crumb's regular contributions include ten front covers, eleven back covers and a total to date of 160 pages of artwork and letters. After living and publishing Mineshaft in Vermont and West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, the editors, Rand and Palmieri, moved their operations to Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
The magazine currently publishes new or previously unpublished material from some of the major artists of the underground comix
Underground comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books which are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality and violence...
movement, as well as other items which include poetry, photography and short essays. Since 2009, Mineshaft has been serializing "Excerpts from R. Crumb's Dream Diary" by Robert Crumb.
Mineshaft contributors
- Robert Armstrong
- Ace BackwordsAce BackwordsAce Backwords is a former underground cartoonist based in the United States.Backwords published a punk rock tabloid from 1982 to 1984 featuring interviews with Johnny Rotten, Jello Biafra, Henry Rollins, Charles Bukowski, R. Crumb, and Charles Schulz. A collection of his comics, Twisted Image,...
- Peter BaggePeter BaggePeter Bagge is an American cartoonist. He is the creator of Buddy Bradley, Hate, Neat Stuff, Martini Baton, and Sweatshop, Apocalypse Nerd and Other Lives. His stories often use black humor and exaggerated cartooning to dramatize the reduced expectations of middle-class American youth...
- BrutalistsBrutalistsBrutalism is a literary movement formed in 2006 by three writers from the north of England , and may have been the first literary movement to be launched via the social networking site Myspace where it announced itself with the following manifesto:"Brutalism calls for writing that touches upon...
: Ben MyersBen MyersBen Myers is an English writer.His first novel The Book Of Fuck, a fictionalised account about a hapless music journalist, was published to underground acclaim in 2004 through Wrecking Ball Press. Myers claimed it was written in six days "as a joke"...
, Tony O'NeillTony O'NeillTony O'Neill is a New York-based author. A one time musician with Kenickie , Marc Almond , The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Kelli Ali , O'Neill is also the author of several books including Digging The Vein 2006, Down and Out on Murder Mile 2008 and Sick City 2010.Digging the Vein was a novel...
, Adelle StripeAdelle StripeAdelle Stripe is a poet from Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. In 2006, alongside Tony O'Neill and Ben Myers she formed possibly the first literary movement spawned via a social networking site, The Brutalists, who the BBC described as a 'group of young writers with a back-to-basics approach to... - Charles BukowskiCharles BukowskiHenry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles...
- Nina Bunjevac
- Billy ChildishBilly ChildishBilly Childish is an English artist, painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist...
- Andrei CodrescuAndrei CodrescuAndrei Codrescu is a Romanian-born American poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and commentator for National Public Radio. He was Mac Curdy Distinguished Professor of English at Louisiana State University from 1984 until his retirement in 2009....
- David CollierDavid Collier (cartoonist)David Collier is a Canadian alternative cartoonist best known for his fact-based "comic strip essays."- Biography :As a child, Collier was introduced to the work of Robert Crumb, whose work has been a significant influence...
- William Crook, Jr.
- Robert CrumbRobert CrumbRobert Dennis Crumb —known as Robert Crumb and R. Crumb—is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded...
- Aline Kominsky Crumb
- Sophie Crumb
- Kim DeitchKim Deitch-Sources:* at Lambiek's Comiclopedia-External links:* Ford, Jeffrey. *Heller, Steven. **...
- Simon Deitch
- Diane di PrimaDiane di PrimaDiane Di Prima is an American poet.-Early life:Di Prima was born in Brooklyn. She attended Hunter College High School and Swarthmore College before dropping out to be a poet in Manhattan...
- Dennis EichhornDennis EichhornDennis P. Eichhorn is an award-winning American writer best known for his adult-oriented autobiographical comic book series Real Stuff...
- Mary FleenerMary FleenerMary Fleener is an American alternative comics artist, writer and musician from Los Angeles. Fleener's drawing style, which she calls cubismo, derives from the cubist aesthetic and other artistic traditions...
- Justin Green
- Bill Griffith
- J.R. Helton
- Jay KinneyJay KinneyJay Kinney is an American author, editor, and former underground cartoonist. A member, along with Skip Williamson, Jay Lynch and R. Crumb, of the original Bijou Funnies crew, Kinney also edited Young Lust, a satire of romance comics, in the early 1970s with Bill Griffith...
- Aaron Lange
- Jay LynchJay LynchJay Lynch is an American cartoonist who played a key role in the underground comix movement with his Bijou Funnies and other titles. His work is sometimes signed Jayzey Lynch. He has contributed to Mad, and in 2008, he expanded into the children's book field.-Early life and career:Born in Orange,...
- Pat Moriarity
- Christoph Mueller
- James G. Mundie
- Harvey PekarHarvey PekarHarvey Lawrence Pekar was an American underground comic book writer, music critic and media personality, best known for his autobiographical American Splendor comic series. In 2003, the series inspired a critically acclaimed film adaptation of the same name.Pekar described American Splendor as "an...
- Ed PiskorEd PiskorEd Piskor is an alternative comics artist operating out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a former student of The Kubert School and is best known for his artistic collaborations with underground comics pioneers Harvey Pekar of American Splendor fame, and Jay Lynch who illustrates Garbage Pail Kids...
- Peter Poplaski
- Jeremy ReedJeremy Reed (writer)Jeremy Reed is a Jersey-born writer, poet and prose stylist. Reed has published 50 major works in 25 years. He has written more than two dozen books of poetry, 12 novels, and volumes of literary and music criticism. He has also published translations of Montale, Cocteau, Nasrallah, Adonis, Bogary...
- Spain RodriguezSpain RodriguezManuel Rodriguez , better known as Spain or Spain Rodriguez, is an American underground cartoonist who created the character Trashman. His experiences on the road with the biker gang, the Road Vultures, provided inspiration for his work, as did his left-wing politics.-Biography:Born in Buffalo, New...
- Tara SeibelTara SeibelTara Seibel is an American alternative cartoonist, graphic designer and illustrator from Cleveland. Best known for her collaborations with underground comix book writer Harvey Pekar...
- Bruce Simon
- Art SpiegelmanArt SpiegelmanArt Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
- Frank StackFrank StackFrank Huntington Stack is an American underground cartoonist. Working under the name Foolbert Sturgeon to avoid persecution for his work while living in the bible belt, Stack published what is considered by many to be the first underground comic book, The Adventures of Jesus, in 1962.He graduated...
- Carol TylerCarol TylerCarol Tyler aka C. Tyler is an award-winning American painter, educator, comedian, and Eisner nominated cartoonist known for her autobiographical stories.-Background:...
- Skip WilliamsonSkip WilliamsonSkip Williamson is an American underground cartoonist and central figure in the underground comix movement.Williamson is known for being the most political and satirical cartoonist of the underground comix movement.- Childhood :...
- Aleksandar ZografAleksandar ZografSasa Rakezic is a Serbian cartoonist, author of such works as Life Under Sanctions, Psychonaut, Dream Watcher, and Bulletins from Serbia....
Mineshaft cover artists
- Mineshaft #1 Irving Stettner
- Mineshaft #3 Tommy Trantino
- Mineshaft #5, #6, #7, #9, #10, #11, #13, #15, #21 Robert CrumbRobert CrumbRobert Dennis Crumb —known as Robert Crumb and R. Crumb—is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded...
- Mineshaft #12 Kim DeitchKim Deitch-Sources:* at Lambiek's Comiclopedia-External links:* Ford, Jeffrey. *Heller, Steven. **...
- Mineshaft #12 Phoebe GloecknerPhoebe GloecknerPhoebe Louise Adams Gloeckner is an American cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and novelist.-Background:Gloeckner was born in 1960 in Philadelphia, and spent most of her later childhood and young adult life in San Francisco, where her family moved in the early 1970s...
- Mineshaft #16 Robert Armstrong
- Mineshaft #17 Frank StackFrank StackFrank Huntington Stack is an American underground cartoonist. Working under the name Foolbert Sturgeon to avoid persecution for his work while living in the bible belt, Stack published what is considered by many to be the first underground comic book, The Adventures of Jesus, in 1962.He graduated...
- Mineshaft #18 Simon Deitch
- Mineshaft #19 Peter BaggePeter BaggePeter Bagge is an American cartoonist. He is the creator of Buddy Bradley, Hate, Neat Stuff, Martini Baton, and Sweatshop, Apocalypse Nerd and Other Lives. His stories often use black humor and exaggerated cartooning to dramatize the reduced expectations of middle-class American youth...
- Mineshaft #20 Billy ChildishBilly ChildishBilly Childish is an English artist, painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist...
- Mineshaft #22 Robert Armstrong and Orrin J. Heller
- Mineshaft #23 Jay LynchJay LynchJay Lynch is an American cartoonist who played a key role in the underground comix movement with his Bijou Funnies and other titles. His work is sometimes signed Jayzey Lynch. He has contributed to Mad, and in 2008, he expanded into the children's book field.-Early life and career:Born in Orange,...
- Mineshaft #24 Mary FleenerMary FleenerMary Fleener is an American alternative comics artist, writer and musician from Los Angeles. Fleener's drawing style, which she calls cubismo, derives from the cubist aesthetic and other artistic traditions...
- Mineshaft #25 Sophie Crumb with Robert CrumbRobert CrumbRobert Dennis Crumb —known as Robert Crumb and R. Crumb—is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded...
- Mineshaft #26 Pat Moriarity
- Mineshaft #27 Nina Bunjevac
Awards
In June, 2009, Mineshaft #23 and Jay Lynch were nominated under the category "Best Cover Artist" for a Harvey AwardHarvey Award
The Harvey Awards, named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman and founded by Gary Groth, President of the publisher Fantagraphics, are given for achievement in comic books. The Harveys were created as part of a successor to the Kirby Awards which were discontinued after 1987.The Harvey Awards are...
2009.
See also
- http://www.tcj.com/alternative/past-and-future-mineshaft26/"Past and Future: Mineshaft #26" Review by Rob Clough for Fantagraphics & The Comics JournalThe Comics JournalThe Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels...
] - http://www.tcj.com/alternative/letters-from-old-friends-mineshaft-25/"Letters From Old Friends: Mineshaft #25" Review by Rob Clough for Fantagraphics and The Comics JournalThe Comics JournalThe Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels...
] - "Midnight Snack: Mineshaft #23" Review by Tom Spurgeon in The Comics Reporter
- "Sweeping The Underground: Mineshaft #24" Review by Rob Clough in his "High-Low" comics column
- The Comics Reporter: Tom Spurgeon reviews Mineshaft #21
- WFMUWFMUWFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, broadcasting at 91.1 MHz FM, presenting a freeform radio format...
Beware of the Blog reviews Mineshaft #18