The Far Out Green Super Cool

Frank Thorne wrote and drew all four issues of The Far Out Green Super Cool, a short-lived comic published by the Social Welfare Research Foundation from 1971 to 1974. A curious artifact of early-1970s counterculture, the series used a psychedelic, superhero-tinged narrative to deliver prosocial messages about environmentalism and personal responsibility. Thorne’s distinctive, energetic artwork—a prelude to his later, more famous work on Red Sonja and Ghita of Alizarr—gives the series a raw, underground-comix energy despite its educational publishing origins. It stands as a fascinating example of how mainstream comic conventions were repurposed for social advocacy during the era.