Grass Green

Richard Edward "Grass" Green (May 7, 1939^[1] – August 5, 2002) was an African American cartoonist notable for being the first black participant in both the 1960s fan art movement and the 1970s underground comics movement.^[2] In the 1960s, Green's Harvey Kurtzman-like^[3] zany, action-packed, humorous comics parodies appeared in numerous fanzines. His "outrageous" 1970s and 1980s underground work used searing humor to expose America's racism and bigotry.^[4]

Biography[]

Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Green was given the nickname "Grass" by his childhood friend , with whom he later collaborated in editing two issues of the magazine Alter Ego.^[3] Beginning in 1964, Green's fan art appeared in such fanzines as Alter Ego, Star-Studded Comics, Fantasy Illustrated, The Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom, Rocket's Blast Comicollector, Komix Illustrated, Super-Hero, and Masquerader.

In 1967, Green broke into the professional comics world, collaborating with Roy Thomas on "The Shape" in Charlton Premiere #1. In the late 1960s, Green drew several more humorous strips for Charlton Comics, mostly in Go-Go Comics. (He also had work published in Bill Pearson's witzend.) He then became involved in the underground comix movement, where his work was published in (Kitchen Sink Press) and a Wildman and Rubberroy series. Super Soul Comix #1 (1972) sold 200,000 copies.^[5] In the 1990s, Green produced work for, among other places, Eros Comics.

Xal-Kor the Human Cat[]

Green's Xal-Kor the Human Cat is a classic Golden Age-type superhero. Sent from the planet Felis by the Great White Cat, Xal-Kor fights the Rat People with his Dimension Belt, which enables him to change form from a common house cat to a hybrid man-cat form, and then into a fully human form. As a human, his alter ego is photojournalist Colin Chambers.^[5]

Xal-Kor (who first appeared in 1964) was often voted the most popular fan creation in the fanzine Star-Studded Comics. The character returned several times over the years, most recently in May 2002 in a collection from TwoMorrows Publishing. Green was working on a new series of Xal-Kor adventures when he died in August 2002.^[3]

Holiday Out[]

Green collaborated for many years with writer , including for four years on the comic book strip , featuring the characters Plastic Mam and Rok. Holiday Out stories were collected in Holiday Out #1-3, from Renegade Press, as well as books like Comico Primer (Comico), and Mangazine (Antarctic Press); much of it was re-released in June 2002 from .

REGCo[]

In the 1960s, Green founded the company REGCo, an acronym for his name, Richard Edward Green, which offered comic book artists and newspaper cartoonists ready-to-use layout art boards with borders and panels pre-drafted, delineated with non-repro blue ink. Green promoted this as a major time-saver for fellow artists, recognizing the time and tedium required for repeatedly laying out pages by hand. Although this was a practical idea, his business was only modestly successful, as many comic artists tend(ed) to be very particular about which type of art board they penciled and inked on.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life and death[]

Green was also a musician, who as a young man appeared on Ted Mack's The Original Amateur Hour. On the Ted Mack show, Green won the talent contests with his singing, guitar-playing, and comedy performances, and, for a short time, he became a local celebrity, which offered him an opportunity to perform professionally at various clubs around the Fort Wayne area.^[3]

Green died of lung cancer in Fort Wayne, Indiana,^[1] on August 5, 2002. He was survived by his wife, Janice.

Awards[]

Green won a 1966 Alley Award for Best Fan Comic Strip for "Xal-Kor."

Notes[]

References[]

• Obituary, The Comics Journal #247 (Oct. 2002)