Zap Comix #1 - First Appearance of Mr. Natural, Printings and Contents

Identification plate

Series: Zap Comix (Apex Novelties, 1967 series)
Issue: #1
Publication date: November 1967 [February 1968]
Key date: November 1967
On-sale date: February 25, 1968
Price: $0.25
Pages: 24
Rating: For Adult Intellectuals Only!

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

From the editorial file Robert Crumb's Zap, 1967, sold from a pushcart in San Francisco. The underground comix movement's founding document, published entirely outside the Code and the newsstand system.

First appearance (cover) of Mr. Natural - the earliest appearance on record is a cover, not an interior story.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	-	cover	1	script: Robert Crumb; pencils: Robert Crumb; inks: Robert Crumb; colors: Robert Crumb; letters: Robert Crumb	Mr. Natural First
1	Definitely A Case of Derangement!	illustration	1	script: R. Crumb; pencils: R. Crumb; inks: R. Crumb; letters: R. Crumb	Robert Crumb; Wife
2	Whiteman	comic story	4	script: Robert Crumb; pencils: Robert Crumb; inks: Robert Crumb; letters: Robert Crumb	Whiteman; Madame Too Too
3	I'm A Ding Dong Daddy	comic story	2	script: R. Crumb; pencils: R. Crumb; inks: R. Crumb; letters: R. Crumb
10	Abstract Expressionist Ultra Super Modernistic Comics	comic story	3	script: Robert Crumb; pencils: Robert Crumb; inks: Robert Crumb; letters: Robert Crumb
11	Kitchen Kut-Outs!	activity	2	script: Robert Crumb; pencils: Robert Crumb; inks: Robert Crumb; letters: Robert Crumb	Bob Dill; Hotshot Manny Mustard; Clever Mr. Ketchup; Ed Egg; Solly Salt Shaker; Dick Tater; Beatrice Bread Slice; Sneezy Pete Pepper Shaker; Sammy Saucer; Conrad C. Cup; Bad Guy Billy Beercan
12	Mr. Natural "Visits The City"	comic story	6	script: Robert Crumb; pencils: Robert Crumb; inks: Robert Crumb; letters: Robert Crumb	Mr. Natural; Flakey Foont
13	Keep On Truckin'...	comic story	1	script: Robert Crumb; pencils: Robert Crumb; inks: Robert Crumb; letters: Robert Crumb
14	Just Us Kids!!	comic story	2	script: Robert Crumb; pencils: Robert Crumb; inks: Robert Crumb; letters: Robert Crumb	Bobby Trimble; Chuckie
16	Schuman the Human	comic story	1	script: Robert Crumb; pencils: Robert Crumb; inks: Robert Crumb; letters: Robert Crumb	Schuman the Human
20	Just Look at the Amazing Results	illustration	1	script: Robert Crumb; letters: Robert Crumb	Betty Doxie; Joel Deutsch; E. E. Pnakov

Printings and variants

Edition	How to tell
British	price 2/6 [0-2-6 GBP]
2nd print- 0.35 "Don Donahue" edition	price 0.35 USD

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Mr. Sixties! ISBN 0930193792	1989	On eBay ›
The Book of Mr. Natural #[nn] ISBN 1-56097-194-0	1995	On eBay ›
R. Crumb's America #[nn] ISBN 0-86719-430-8	1995	On eBay ›
R. Crumb's Head Comix: Twenty Years Later #[nn] ISBN 978-0671661533	1988	On eBay ›
R. Crumb's Head Comix #[nn] ISBN 670018996	1968	On eBay ›
The Book of Mr. Natural #[nn] ISBN 978-1-60699-352-1	2010	On eBay ›
The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book #[nn] ISBN 0316163066	1997	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Check spine ticks and cover gloss in the photos; silver-age Marvels chip at the edges easily.
Look for tanning at the page edges and transfer stains on the inside covers.
Confirm the cover price against the plate; higher prices can mean a later or foreign printing.

Series context

1 of 3#2 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com