Armageddon is a 1972–1974 underground comic title published by Last Gasp, written and illustrated by Barney Steel. It ran for three issues and was the first title in the All New Underground Comix series, becoming the most commercially successful of that line.
Publication history
The first issue of Armageddon appeared as part of the All New Underground Comix series and was the only title from that series to continue as its own independent run. The comic ran for three issues, published between 1972 and 1974. The series presented an erotic tale set in a fantasy galaxy, according to the Lambiek Comiclopedia.
Themes and philosophy
The comic expressed an anarcho-capitalist philosophy, influenced by the writings of Ayn Rand, and explored sociopolitical themes including race relations, politics, eroticism, the cosmos, and betrayal. Issue #2 included a story that examined racism from an individualist perspective, depicting both white and black communities as equally racist. Steel's proposed "solution" was for people to forget race and drop out of society, returning to an economy based on gold and bartering.
The first issue contained a controversial image depicting civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. sodomizing segregationist Alabama Governor George Wallace.
Reception
Within underground comix circles, Steel's work was widely regarded as right-wing. However, critic M. Steven Fox of Comixjoint has argued that Steel's Objectivist influences place him closer to Robert Crumb than to right-wing pundits. Leonard Rifas, writing in Multicultural Comics: From Zap to Blue Beetle, described Steel's dialogue as "wooden." Cartoonist Charles Burns expressed admiration for Steel's work.
