“When
we started out, [underground comics]
were brand new, ” founder Ron Turner told PW Comics Week about the birth
of Last Gasp in 1970 during the years of the Underground Comix movement in San
Francisco. “There
was nothing like it. So
we had to create our own rules.” Everything
from pricing structure to distribution had to be built or negotiated. At first,
retailers balked at the floppy, stapled, comic book format of the Underground Comics that had a price point of 50 cents, and
Turner found himself selling or trading his books to other publishers who had
established distribution networks. Turner also found himself becoming his own
distributor, selling the stock he had from trading books with other publishers
to retail outlets in the Bay Area. “I sold at tattoo parlors, custom auto
shops, mostly within the ‘lowbrow' art area.”
From
there, two arms of the company, Last Gasp Publishing and Last Gasp
Distribution, emerged as separate but co-dependent entities. “It's hard to which supports
the other,” Turner
said. Last Gasp Distribution currently purchases from 500
vendors including Random House, Chronicle Books and Perseus, down to medium size independent
publishers and self-published books. Last Gasp also imports from publishers in
Europe, Australia, and Asia.
According
to Colin Turner, Ron Turner's son, who
has taken over the
management of the two companies, the model confuses some. “You to people
in publishing and they think you are either a publisher or a distributor,” he said.
Indeed, Last Gasp is a pioneer in combining publishing and distribution and
over the years, many more distributors now combine the two businesses. Being both a publisher and a
distributor has driven Last Gasp's growth and development over the past 40
years.
“It's part of what's
made Last Gasp successful and able to do unusual and interesting things.”
Later
this fall, Last Gasp will publish 12 books led by a collection of Mark Ryden's
snow yak paintings in The Snow Yak Show,
a second volume of art work from the magazine Hi-Fructose, and a third volume of the Erotic Comics which
includes artwork by R.Crumb and Molly Crabapple. Suehiro Maru's oppulent manga
adaptation, Strange Tale of Panorama
Island will also be published this fall. Last Gasp plans to publish 16-18
books in 2011 and the following year.
The
publisher's success
with artbooks stems from the growing popularity of so-called lowbrow art which has moved into
the contemporary and commercial art realms ala artists like Ed Hardy. “Young hipsters now are likely
to have three to four original [pieces of art] in their houses, and three to
four on their bodies-as
well as signature sneakers, and various things,” Ron Turner explained. ”If
they're demanding this kind of art, they are going to want to see books about
it.”
Ron
Turner also sees publishing art books as an extension of curating. Last Gasp
has built and continues to develop ties with museums and art galleries in San
Francisco and New York, including The Grand Central Art Center. “You make relationships with
these artists and it becomes a special thing. It's not just a business, it's a
vast intertwined social network where promoting the creativity of these
people.” Last Gasp
will celebrate 40 years in
publishing at the Minna Gallery in San Francisco on April 1st, and the house will exhibiting at this year's
WonderCon, held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, April 2-4.
Painting World War II is an historic first examination of paintings by California Style watercolor artists on the subject of WWII. 55 paintings depicting scenes of California mobilizing for the war as well as images of the war overseas will be on view. Featured artists include Arthur Beaumont, Rex Brandt, Hardie Gramatky, Dong Kingman, Barse Miller, Phil Paradise, Charles Payzant, Ed Reep, Millard Sheets, and Milford Zornes. The exhibition will be on view April 18 through October 3, 2010.
Forged in the Great Depression, California Style watercolors form an important West Coast chapter of American Scene and American Regionalist art. As a group these artists a broad survey of life in California and create memorable artistic accounts of the unfolding local history of California from 1930 through the 1970’s. Each painting in the exhibition tells an intimate and dramatic story offering viewers an opportunity to experience WWII from the artist’s perspective. Many aspects of WWII are analyzed in this exhibition. War efforts on the home front by private citizens and the Red Cross are profiled. Regionalist images of the military presence in California gearing up for the Pacific Theatre will be on view, as well as paintings of soldiers on leave, soldiers guarding military installations and the delivery of tanks on trains.
Oceanside Museum of Art is located at 704 Pier View Way in downtown Oceanside, California within walking distance from the Oceanside Transit Center with Amtrak, Sprinter and NCTD Coaster stops. Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Sunday 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. General admission is $8; seniors 65 and over $5; students, active military and their families are free. For information about current exhibitions or other museum programs call 760-435-3720 or visit the web site www.oma-online.org.
Fine aint that ? 
Ivan Montgomery