I'm a liberal pagan living in West, Texas. Yes. That West, Texas.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008




The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers
Original Medium: Comic books
Published by:
Rip Off Press
First Appeared:
1968
Creator:
Gilbert Shelton
image: © Rip Off Press.
More Cartoons by Rip Off Press
The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers — a bunch of establishment-hating, drug-using, draft-dodging hippies — are definitely a product of their time, the late 1960s and early '70s. But somehow, they've managed to survive beyond that time, and remain in print even today.
Gilbert Shelton, already known for
Wonder Warthog, created the Freak Brothers (Fat Freddy, Freewheelin' Franklin, and Phineas Phreak) in 1968, when he was living in Austin, Texas. Their first adventure appeared in Feds 'n' Heads, a counter-culture publication that is still reprinted from time to time. Later, the trio turned up in Yellow Dog, Radical America Komiks, Zap Comix, and other underground comix, as well as in the Los Angeles Free Press, the East Village Other, and various other underground newspapers.
In 1969, Shelton and three college buddies, Jack Jackson, Dave Moriarty and Fred Todd, moved to San Francisco and founded Rip Off Press, which became one of the major comix publishers — and which is today one of the few still producing new comic books. Most of Shelton's subsequent work has been published by Rip Off Press.
In 1971, Rip Off Press brought out the first collection of Freak Brothers adventures, gathering together stories and pages from over a dozen different sources and putting them between two covers for the first time. Another collection appeared a year later, and a third in 1973. That took care of most of the reprintable material, so the fourth issue, which came out in 1975, contained new stories. That's when the series started to evolve from what has been called a "hippie sitcom" into fabulous, world-spanning, epic adventures.
By then, Shelton had begun collaborating with other underground cartoonists, Paul Mavrides (Anarchy Comix, Young Lust) and the late Dave Sheridan (Dopin' Dan, Dealer McDope). With them on board, the series continued, a new issue coming out every two or three years, then every three or four — but still coming out. The 12th issue appeared in 1992 and the 13th in '97. Early issues are now available in album form, and later ones are still in print.
In 1977, Rip Off Press started an anthology series, Rip Off Comix, where the Freak Brothers were a regular feature. That same year, Fat Freddy's Cat, one of the comics medium's more obnoxious felines, was spun off into a title of his own.
In 1979, Universal Studios bought an option on producing a Freak Brothers movie. That option — as well as several subsequent movie options — was allowed to lapse. To date, no film version has ever been produced.
The secret of the Freak Brothers' longevity is simple. Perhaps not everyone likes their lifestyle; in fact, some may actively abhor everything they stand for — and for that matter, probably nobody at all would consider them role models. But there is one thing on which most people who have read them agree: Gilbert Shelton tells a story very well, and his stories are very, very funny.
I fecking love the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers...so did all 3 of my kids..My personal favorite was Fat Freddy's cat who was always shitting in his shoes or sleeping bag...I miss them...I wish they would make a movie...I see Will Ferrell playing all three of them...or one of them and Jack Black playing Fat Freddy...who else???? hmmm....
Going to watch letterman tonight and see if I'm on...


16 comments:

Big Pissy said...

OMG!

I'm watching Letterman as I type this!!!!!!!

Freaky! lol

Heidi said...

I've never heard of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. I miss comic books. I wonder why kids stopped reading them.

sageweb said...

wow I have never heard of them..Oh letterman...I cant wait

Anonymous said...

Hearing about the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers brings back some memories. I remember when we were living out at Granny Red's house years ago, that Junior had a collection of underground comics (and a pretty large stash of porn, too, but that's a different story). The ones I remember are the Freak Bros. and another one called Dealer McDope, and I thought they were both pretty damn funny.

Apparently there are (or at least were) plans to make a Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers movie - not live action but animated. Don't know if the project is still alive or not, but it got at least far enough that they made a pilot for the movie. It's posted here on YouTube.

Nit Wit said...

I think I heard of them once but I don't think they ever made it onto the Air Force bases I spent most of that time on.
I missed Letterman. :( I was busy taking movies back and getting the truck filled up. I always miss him as I usually am at work and can't watch it.
Kids still read comic books but they are almost all on the web now.
Hope you got the number one reason for whatever.
Now I know why you say Babs is a pussy.

Cie Cheesemeister said...

The Freak Brothers--my true loves! These guys crack me up so much!

yellowdoggranny said...

bp:dont think that was the one i entered....i was washing the dishes and forgot to watch..will check on line to see...
hmhh:oh they were so funny...always getting high, drunk and he cat shitting in their sleeping bags..
sage:yeh i love old dave..never liked leno and never will...letterman's the man...
bigtex:i bet your grandma would have laughed over the fffb's...i will have to check out the movie...
nitwit:yeah, i'll be doing other things and watching him too and usually miss the best part..i like to skip around and see what im missing..you would love the fffb's...
yah, even though i tease her about it..i really understand why she doesn't want to do it..big brother and all that..

Nit Wit said...

I've led a deprived life.

billy pilgrim said...

i remember the freak brothers. they were role models for me.

yellowdoggranny said...

nitwit:ahh, man..you missed them?...sigh*..you would have loved them..
pillybilgrim:yeah, my sons wanted to grow up to be them...one of them succeeded...

Allan said...

Those are great! I still have almost all of them...I ran a comix stand from 1990-1997, lotsa undergrounds...
sad that they are forgotten...I wonder if kids today know who Cheech and Chong were...tsk.

Anonymous said...

I loved the cat, too. My favorites was the time the cat was in a room with no cat box, no dirt, no shoes, nothing. . . but there was a potted plant hanging on the wall. Fat Freddy comes in later and is wondering why he keeps smelling cat shit but can't seem to find it anywhere.

Josh said...

San Francisco... Austin... it all makes sense.

Jan said...

I've never heard of them. I feel culturally deprived, but now I want a movie made.

yellowdoggranny said...

allan:oh how cool..would love to get the full set and give to the boys..I doubt if they still have theirs...my granddaughters sure know who cheech and chong are...we sat out in the car once at christmas time listening to the one about santa going to the barrio...they were falling out of their seats laughing..
nan:oh yeah, I remember that one..he always reminded me of all my cats...

josh:yeah, one is as good as the other..

jan:oh man...you need to google them and see if you can find one and buy it..it's worth it...

Cie Cheesemeister said...

It's a funny thing but outside of the Scottish/Aussie accent, I could just picture the late Bon Scott (lead singer for AC/DC) as Phineas Phreak. I think that Phineas is Bon's true inner self!