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Fifty Freakin’ Years of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers? Party on, at GOSH, with Gilbert Shelton

By John Freeman on November 2, 2017

Counter culture hero Gilbert Shelton will be at London’s GOSH Comics on Saturday 25th November, signing his work to celebrate fifty freakin’ years since the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers first debuted,

For those who’ve been in a green haze since 1960, Gilbert Shelton might be considered one of the godfather’s of stoner comics, starting with the Superman parody strips Wonder Wart Hog, in 1961 followed by the equally iconic Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and the spin off Fat Freddy’s Cat in 1977.

He never made it to Vietnam (as was considered unfit after admitting to having taken LSD), but his cartoon creations did, becoming a significant part of the cultural and emotional resistance that defined the era. He was also active in San Francisco music scene, after moving to the city in 1978, designing LP covers, for the Grateful Dead’s 1978 Shakedown Street among others.

Knockabout‘s Fifty Freakin’ Years of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers comes out on the 23rd November, and takes a look back over Gilbert Shelton’s pioneering work as well as brand new strips, including: “Phineas becomes a Suicide Bomber” (so, no pulling punches anytime soon, then…); “Franklin got his Gun”; “Fat Freddy gets Religion”; and more Freak Brothers short strips, illustrations and advertisements.

The book also includes an up to date interview with Gilbert Shelton, a gallery of Freak Brothers parody strips by Robert Crumb, Hunt Emerson and more.

So get your buzz on and head to GOSH to meet the man Alan Moore called “as near as comics have come to producing a natural comedic genius.”

If you can’t make it along but would like to get something signed, drop GOSH an email to info@goshlondon.com to arrange a reservation or a mail order.

• Gilbert Shelton: Fifty Freakin’ Years of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers 1-2pm Saturday 25th November 2017, GOSH Comics, 1 Berwick Street, Soho, London | Web: www.goshlondon.com

• Knockabout Comics: http://knockabout.com

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.