Keith Green (c. 1951Keith Green entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Accessed Dec. 27, 2016.–1996) was an American publisher, distributor, and art dealer. Starting out in the late 1960s as an underground comix distributor, in the early 1970s, he published comics, and by the mid-1970s he had become a New York City art dealer. He was the younger brother of cartoonist Justin Green.
Biography Underground comix Based in San Francisco as a teenager, Green distributed underground comix starting in circa 1969. He published comics during 1971–1977, with the bulk coming in 1975–1976, under such names as Keith Green / Industrial Realities and the imprint Saving Grace.
Green started out by doing later printings of comics published by other publishers. Around 1971, he produced the fourth through eighth printings of Robert Crumb's Big Ass Comics, originally published by Rip Off Press in 1969.Big Ass Comics, Grand Comics Database. Accessed Dec. 28, 2016. Around the same time, Green reprinted Robert Williams' Coochy Cooty Men's Comics, originally published by the Print Mint in 1970. In 1976, he produced new printings of Ted Richards' Dopin' Dan #1-2, originally published by Last Gasp in 1972–1973.
When the self-publishing cooperative Cartoonists Co-Op Press started up in 1973, Green acted as salesman/distributor.Griffith, Bill. Lost and Found: Comics 1969–2003 (Fantagraphics Books, 2012), p. 11. In 1974, Green interviewed Robert Crumb for Inside Comics.Green, Keith. "What's a Nice Counter-Culture Visionary Like Robert Crumb Doing on a Secluded Farm in Northern California?" Inside Comics vol. 1 (Galaxy News Service, Spring 1974). Thanks to his visit to Crumb and his girlfriend, fellow cartoonist Aline Kominsky, Green helped finance their collaborative work, Dirty Laundry Comics #1, published by Cartoonists Co-Op Press in summer 1974.Fox, M. Steven. "Dirty Laundry Comics," ComixJoint. Accessed Dec. 28, 2016.
The bulk of Green's publishing output was in 1975–1976, when he produced original comics by S. Clay Wilson, Jim Osborne, Willy Murphy, Ted Richards, Jerry Lane, and Spain Rodriguez. (Spain later said that Green was "quirky" and that publishing with him "was a mistake.")Rosenkranz, Patrick. "Unpublished Interview with Spain Rodriguez," The Comics Journal Library: Zap – The Interviews (Fantagraphics, 2015).
Green's final publishing venture was The Snatch Sampler (1977), a 164-page book that reprinted material from Snatch Comics #1–3 (Apex Novelties/Print Mint) featuring Crumb, Wilson, Osborne, Victor Moscoso, Robert Williams, and Rory Hayes.
Art dealer Green relocated to New York City around 1975, eventually operating the Keith Green Gallery on Park Avenue in New York City in the late 1980s. Artists he represented included Shaoul Smira, Marina Karella, Dragan Malešević Tapi, Anders Bertil Knutsson, Ivonne Baki, Basil Alkazzi, and a group of late-Soviet-period avant-garde Russian artists.Tomasson, Robert E. "SOCIAL EVENTS; May Day to May 7," New York Times (May 1, 1988).Dubin, Zan. "ART NEWS: Chris Burden Retrospective at Newport," Los Angeles Times (April 17, 1988).
Death Keith Green died of a heart attack on July 1, 1996.Arsenault, Marc. "Underground Distributor Keith Green Dies," The Comics Journal #189 (Aug. 1996), p. 34.
Titles published Dirty Laundry Comics (co-published with Cartoonists Co-Op Press, Summer 1974) – Robert Crumb and Aline Kominsky-Crumb D.O.A. Comics #1 (Oct. 1976) – Jim Osborne Felch Cumics (Aug. 1975) – Robert Williams, S. Clay Wilson, Jim Osborne, William Stout and other contributors Flamed-Out Funnies #1 (Summer 1975) – Willy Murphy; later continued by Rip Off Press Middle Class Fantasies #2 (Oct. 1976) – Jerry Lane; continued from Cartoonists Co-Op Press (also reprinted issue #1) The Snatch Sampler (1977) – reprints material from Snatch Comics #1–3 (Apex Novelties/Print Mint) featuring Robert Crumb, S. Clay Wilson, Victor Moscoso, Robert Williams, Rory Hayes, and Jim Osborne Subvert Comics #3 (1976)Rodriguez, Spain. Trashman Lives! (Fanatagraphics Books, 1997), p. iv. – Spain Rodriguez; continued from Rip Off Press 2 (2 issues, 1975–1976) – S. Clay Wilson; second issue called "Two Squared" Two Fools (1976) – Ted Richards and Willy Murphy
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