L.A. Funnies #1
L.A. Funnies #1 (cover-dated November 16, 1983) is historically significant as the debut issue of one of the few free, tabloid-format underground comics newspapers produced in the early 1980s outside the traditional direct-market or newsstand systems, distributed exclusively across Los Angeles. It matters to Gumby collectors specifically because it marks the beginning of a new comic-strip run featuring Gumby and Pokey produced by Art Clokey himself (with Jim Williams), bringing the claymation franchise into the underground/alternative comics space at the precise moment Gumby was undergoing a major cultural resurgence — driven in part by Eddie Murphy's Saturday Night Live parodies. Placing Gumby alongside underground titans like Bill Griffith's Zippy the Pinhead in the same publication is a genuinely unusual crossover of children's-media IP and adult alternative comics sensibility.
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Cartoonist and graphic designer Jerry Leibowitz launched L.A. Funnies in 1983, driven by frustration with the politics of the comic-strip syndication industry, intending it as a free showcase for both experimental and conventional strip artists distributed throughout Los Angeles at a print run of approximately 50,000 copies per week. The tabloid format — printed and folded like a newspaper insert — was an intentional nod to the pre-comic-book newspaper Sunday section tradition, and gave the publication an identity distinct from both the pamphlet direct-market comics and the traditional underground 'comix' of the prior decade. Securing a Gumby strip produced by franchise creator Art Clokey and writer Jim Williams was a significant editorial coup for the debut issue, lending mainstream-recognizable IP to what was otherwise an underground-adjacent anthology.
Trivia · 8 facts
- L.A. Funnies #1 is cover-dated November 16, 1983, and was published by Jerry Leibowitz.
- The publication was a free, tabloid-format newspaper distributed only in Los Angeles, California, with a stated print run of approximately 50,000 copies per week.
- Issue #1 features Gumby and Pokey in a comic strip produced by Gumby franchise creator Art Clokey and writer Jim Williams — the same creative team that continued the strip throughout the run.
- The anthology also included Zippy the Pinhead by underground cartoonist Bill Griffith, establishing an unusual mix of all-ages licensed IP and adult alternative comics under one masthead.
- Later issues (beginning at least by #3) added the strip 'Hey Coach,' Roach Condo by John Rizzo, and Duck Bros Comix by Al West, indicating the roster expanded from the debut.
- The series ran at least into early 1984, with confirmed issues numbered #1 through at least a January 11, 1984 issue, suggesting roughly a weekly publication schedule.
- Gumby (created by Art Clokey) is a stop-motion clay-animated character whose television debut dates to 1955; his pony companion Pokey was introduced in the 1956 episode 'The Little Lost Pony,' meaning both characters were nearly 30 years old at the time of this publication.
- Leibowitz was a published underground cartoonist before founding L.A. Funnies, with early work appearing in Berkeley's Yellow Dog Comics beginning around 1968.
Cast · 2 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Gumby imitates Eddie Murphy onstage after spending time undecided on what to do in front of the audience.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).