Rick Griffin

Rick Griffin was a central figure in the psychedelic poster and underground comix movements of the 1960s. Born Richard Alden Griffin on June 18, 1944, in the United States, he was a founding member of the *Zap Comix* collective and became closely associated with the Grateful Dead, designing some of their most recognizable posters and the album cover for *Aoxomoxoa*. His work also extended into the surfing subculture, where he created film posters and the comic strip *Murphy*. Over a career spanning from 1961 to 1975, Griffin contributed to 28 issues as an artist, colorist, inker, letterer, and writer. His most credited titles include *The Surfer*, *Surfer Magazine*, *Promethean Enterprises*, and collections like *Surfer Cartoons: The Best of Surfer Cartoons Plus Great New Cartoons* and *Surfer Toons: A Collection of New Un-Published Rick Griffin Cartoons*. He died on August 18, 1991. Griffin's legacy remains tied to his vibrant, hallucinatory imagery that defined a countercultural era, though specific major awards are not recorded in his catalog.