Grass Green facts for kids

Richard Edward "Grass" Green (born May 7, 1939 – died August 5, 2002) was an African American cartoonist. He was important because he was one of the first black artists to be part of two big movements in comics. These were the "fan art" movement in the 1960s and the "underground comics" movement in the 1970s. Grass Green was known for his funny, action-packed comic parodies. These appeared in fan magazines called fanzines. Later, his "underground" comics used humor to talk about racism and unfairness in America.

Early Life and Career

Grass Green was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His childhood friend, Ronn Foss, gave him the nickname "Grass." Later, they worked together to edit two issues of the magazine Alter Ego.

Starting in 1964, Green's fan art was published in many fanzines. Some of these included Alter Ego, Star-Studded Comics, and Rocket's Blast Comicollector.

In 1967, Green began working in professional comics. He teamed up with Roy Thomas on a story called "The Shape." It appeared in Charlton Premiere #1. In the late 1960s, Green drew more funny comic strips for Charlton Comics. Most of these were in Go-Go Comics.

He then became involved in the underground comix movement. His work was published in Super Soul Comix by Kitchen Sink Press. He also created a series called Wildman and Rubberroy. Super Soul Comix #1, released in 1972, sold 200,000 copies. In the 1990s, Green also created work for Eros Comics.

Xal-Kor the Human Cat

One of Green's most famous creations was Xal-Kor the Human Cat. This character was a classic superhero, like those from the Golden Age of Comic Books. Xal-Kor was sent from the planet Felis by the Great White Cat. His mission was to fight the Rat People.

Xal-Kor used his Dimension Belt to change forms. He could go from a common house cat to a half-man, half-cat creature. He could also become fully human. When he was human, his secret identity was Colin Chambers, a photojournalist.

Xal-Kor first appeared in 1964. He was often voted the most popular fan creation in the fanzine Star-Studded Comics. The character appeared again many times over the years. A collection of his adventures was released in May 2002 by TwoMorrows Publishing. Green was working on new Xal-Kor stories when he passed away in August 2002.

Holiday Out Series

Green worked for many years with writer Michael Vance. They collaborated for four years on a comic strip called Holiday Out. This series featured characters named Plastic Mam and Rok.

The Holiday Out stories were collected in Holiday Out #1-3, published by Renegade Press. They also appeared in books like Comico Primer by Comico and Mangazine by Antarctic Press. Much of this work was re-released in June 2002 by Blue Moon Comics.

REGCo Company

In the 1960s, Green started his own company called REGCo. This name was short for his full name, Richard Edward Green. REGCo offered special art boards to comic book artists and newspaper cartoonists. These boards had borders and panels already drawn on them in a special blue ink that wouldn't show up when copied.

Green thought this would save artists a lot of time. Drawing out pages by hand was a long and boring task. While it was a good idea, his business was only somewhat successful. Many comic artists preferred to use their own specific types of art boards.

Personal Life

Grass Green was also a talented musician. When he was young, he appeared on Ted Mack's The Original Amateur Hour. On this TV show, Green won talent contests with his singing, guitar playing, and comedy. For a short time, he became a local celebrity. This gave him the chance to perform professionally at different clubs around the Fort Wayne area.

Green passed away from lung cancer in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on August 5, 2002. He was survived by his wife, Janice.

Awards

Green received a 1966 Alley Award. This award was for Best Fan Comic Strip for his work on "Xal-Kor."