RAW 503
After a 1978 trip to Europe during which they met many future RAW contributors,
Mouly and Spiegelman agreed at the beginning of 1980 to publish a magazine of comics,
graphics, and illustrated writing. Th ough RAW would explore the intersection between
comics and other visual and literary arts, its primary intent was, in Mouly’s words, “to
make it manifest how good comics could be.” Th e fi rst volume of RAW (issues #1–8)
focused on showing a wide range of visual work that had not been published before.
It drew some of its talent from veterans of underground comics, including Bill Grif-
fi th, Kim Deitch, Justin Green, and Robert Crumb , though RAW used their work
sparingly and went beyond the familiar underground content of sex, drugs, and vio-
lence. Moreover, RAW nurtured a new generation of alternative cartoonists, many of
whom were students, teachers, or alumni of New York’s School of Visual Arts, where
Spiegelman taught and which off ered considerable fi nancial support to the magazine.
Regular contributors included the post-apocalyptic punk artist Gary Panter, the poin-
tillist and caricaturist Drew Friedman, urban chronicler Ben Katchor , horror master
Charles Burns, and Spiegelman himself. RAW also introduced American readers to
prominent international cartoonists such as France’s Jacques Tardi, the Netherlands’
Joost Swarte, Argentina’s José Muñoz and Carlos Sampayo, and Japan’s Yoshiharu
Tsuge. By providing a common venue for cutting-edge cartoonists, RAW created a
virtual community of contemporary artists and became the center of an international
comics avant-garde. Moreover, throughout its run, RAW reprinted a judicious selection
of comics from the turn of the century through the 1940s, including work by Winsor
McCay, George Herriman, Milt Gross, Boody Rogers, and Basil Wolverton.
Th e early RAW presented contributors’ work to its best advantage through an in-
novative format and impressive production values. Establishing the format of the fi rst
eight issues, RAW #1 was oversized (10½'' × 14¼'') to showcase its artwork. As with
subsequent issues, the fi rst issue was prepared to exacting standards on quality paper;
according to a 1985 Village Voice article, Mouly approved just 3,500 of about 5,000 cop-
ies of RAW #1. Despite its relatively large printings, which reportedly ran as many as
7,500 copies, the fi rst volume became a hybrid of the mass-market and the handmade
with such features as a full-color image glued by hand onto the cover (#1) and a hand-
torn cover (#7). At a time when Tribeca’s Printed Matter was fi rst bringing widespread
attention to publications made by artists, RAW magazine emerged as an art object in
itself, with extras that included comics booklets, trading cards and bubble gum (#2), an
audio fl exi-disc (#4), and mail-in stickers (#5). Th e cover for #3 with a Panter illustra-
tion even won a 1981 Print magazine design certifi cate.
Th rough 1986, RAW ’s generous size and attractive presentation encouraged
experimentation over narratives and shorter over longer works; content followed for-
mat. Because most of RAW ’s early pieces were one or two pages, lengthier entries
tended to stand out. Some noteworthy examples from the fi rst volume include Muñoz
and Sampayo’s neo-noir “Mister Wilcox, Mister Conrad” (#3), Francis Masse’s topsy-
turvy “A Race of Racers” (#4), and Crumb’s biographical “Jelly Roll Morton’s Voodoo
Curse” (#7). However, by far the most important work to appear in RAW was
