Monday, December 11, 2017

FIFTY FREAKIN' YEARS of the FABULOUS FURRY FREAK BROTHERS

Published by Knockabout Comics
                                                           
Almost certainly the best-selling  underground comics books in the world, The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers are back and celebrating their 50th Anniversary. Conceived in Austin, Texas intially to promote a short film, now lost, the Freak Bros along with Fat Freddy's Cat have since amused and delighted generations of hippies, dope fiends and ne'er do wells with their wacky ways and adventures. This new compendium of fresh stories that highlight Phineas, Franklin' and Fat Freddy in turn, are accompanied by Parodies, a collection of posters, ephemera and  Official (ish) merchandise + the Authorised History by the man himself Gilbert Shelton. We learn, amongst other things, that the Brothers were inspired by the Marx Brothers and The Three Stooges. THE GENERALIST is hoping to bring you much more about Mr Shelton in the near future. Watch this space.

Knockabout Comics which has been run by Tony Bennett since the 1970s are now the sole English language publishers of the Freak Bros. According to Forbidden Planet International:
Knockabout Comics is a UK publisher of the finest underground and alternative comics. Founded in 1975 to publish Gilbert Shelton’s hippy-slacker masterwork The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Knockabout has carried on publishing legendary comic talents such as Alan Moore, Hunt Emerson, Robert Crumb, Eddie Campbell, Brian Bolland, and many more, as well as translations of some of the best award-winning European creators.“Not only has Knockabout been instrumental in pioneering the market for challenging underground material, it has also been at the forefront of legal battles over censorship; it is probably no exaggeration to say that the increased leeway enjoyed in the medium today is thanks in no small part to the cases Knockabout has fought out with The Man so we could have the right to decide what we wanted to read for ourselves.” 

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