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MickeyRat Comic #2, 1980, Only Printing, 36 pages,Last Gasp, Robert Armstrong, High Grade, Underground Comic, Near Mint Condition
1972-1982 / Los AngelesComic Book - Kitchen Sink - Last Gasp Hestarted as a t-shirt design. Nothing but a crude rip-off of Mickey Mouse, notso close in design to Disney\'s character that he\'d get in trouble, but closeenough to be obvious. His name was Mickey Rat. Note: Has a $.75 Sticker oncover. (see photo)
The Mickey Rat t-shirt solda lot of cotton at the dawn of the \'70s. Sales were so good that when ChesterCrill, member of the psychedelic rock band Kaleidoscope, suggested to ratcreator Robert Armstrong that Mickey Rat would be great in a comic strip, theidea was instantly embraced. And so in 1971, Mickey Rat appeared in L.A.Comix #1, in a seven-page story appropriately titled \"The King ofRotten Stuff.\"
The persona of Mickey Ratfit perfectly with his appearance: rough at the edges and leering at objects ofhis desire through a stubborn hangover. In 1972, L.A. Comic Book Companyfeatured Mickey in his own comic book, which apparently failed to sell out. ButDenis Kitchen at Kitchen Sink believed in the uncouth rat and published thesecond issue in the series. Both issues featured stories written by Crill, buthe was not impressed by the financial rewards of comic book publishing and soonstopped writing for them. After the second issue there was an eight-year gapbetween issues before Armstrong ended up with Last Gasp, which published thefinal two issues of the series in 1980 and 1982.
By those last two issuesMickey Rat\'s exploits were even more reprehensible than before, as he addedpedophilia to his arsenal of lowdness. Mickey is usually hung-over, on drugs orotherwise incapacitated and lost in his own world. For someone who never seemsto get much done he manages to sustain quite a superiority complex, alwaysconveyed with a wickedly rude sense of humor. He is crass and tacky; capable ofperforming any act of firth. His mind is seemingly always on one track andincapable of growth or sustained contemplation. Mickey Rat seems entirelyunmotivated to accomplish anything but chase down his next piece of a or adecent-size roach.
Mickey Rat\'s appeal stillendures some 40 years after his inception and his book remain popular amongunderground enthusiasts, though he has now come full circle and appears mostlyon t-shirts. Of course, today he has more of an excuse to exist than justripping off Mickey Mouse. He\'s a nostalgia item in his own right, who once hadhis own comic book.
Mickey Rat was Robert Armstrong’s amoral, beer-swillingantihero whose adventures comprised the bulk of the issues. The first two areentertaining enough, though lacking in focus, but by #3 Armstrong had maturedinto a fine satirist and the writing is much sharper. Mickey Rat’s exploits areutterly reprehensible, but thoroughly compelling at the same time, never moreso than when shared with the Couch Potatoes. This TV-addicted group of losersproved popular enough for their own feature in #4, and The Official CouchPotato Handbook was published in 1983. Another backup strip, the jazz-basedDizzy Ratstein, never quite comes to life, but overall the last two issues makefine reading.
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Check out ourother Underground Comics inour sister store for an even biggerselection of comics.Minowtcomic class=\"MsoNormal\" class=\"MsoNoSpacing\" style=\"text-align:justify\">OUR STORY - While living inGreenwichVillage in the sixties. There was alittle store off Bleecker that specialized in underground comics. EveryFriday afternoon after work, I’d go there to see what was the latest versionjust hitting the shelves. With several of my hippy friends grooving, andlaughing over Comics, we’d sit around that smoke-filled room, sometimes lateinto the night.Fast forward, some fifty years later–my wife and I discovered some old cardboard boxes hidden behind junk in theback of our storage locker. It was a dry, cool place and the hundreds ofunderground comics that had only been read once, were in beautifulcondition. It felt like we discovered a pot of gold. We wrote todozens of book and comic stores with a list of our inventory. They said,there was no interest, no market and offered us little to nothing for thecollection. We explained to them that these were complete sets, first editions.To the retail outlets they were worthless, but to us they were priceless.Now we offer them on E-Bay and the collectors are grabbing them up, at our morethan fair and reasonable prices. Many we had universally certified withCGC, so you’ll know we’re trustworthy, reliable and have the best ofservice. Just check the response and reviews to know we’re honest andresponsible. We are happy to answer any questions you may have and hopeyou buy them now while they still are available. First come, firstserve. Thank you again for your time and interest.
