US: A Paperback Magazine, Issue #1 (June 1969)
Combining an underground press outlook and aesthetic with mass market distribution, US: A Paperback Magazine, was edited by Richard Goldstein and published by Bantam Books. US provided “all the news that’s fit to eat” over a three-issue run from June 1969 through May 1970.
Issue 1, June 1969
The inaugural issue begins with a selection of pull-quotes and free verse poems, one of which reads: “One generation’s meat is another’s bullion cube. Welcome to—the broth.” What follows is an artfully edited hodgepodge of pattern poems by Richard Kostelanetz, informed and informal left-wing essays, comic spreads by R. Crumb, copious amounts of clipart and short fiction. A concluding contributors page reveals the magazine’s editor and writers to be no older than age 27 (don’t trust anyone over 30!).
US: A Paperback Magazine, Issue #2 (October 1969)
US: A Paperback Magazine, Issue #3 (May 1970)
Issue 2, October 1969
The magazine’s sophomore “Back to School Issue” pictures a cover of rifle-bearing youths. A related flip-book sequence by Duane Michals occupies the upper-right corner for the full extent of the issue, depicting a long-haired gentleman locking and loading a rifle. Several spreads are set in a rotated landscape orientation throughout, and a set of political features include a conversation on military resistance between war activist Fred Gardner and “Dean of American Rock Critics” Robert Christgau; excerpts from a feminist journal by Ellen Willis; and an essay on racial identity.
Issue 3, May 1970
The third and final issue of US claims, “WARNING: Possession of this issue may constitute evidence of a conspiracy with the intent to riot,” though the energy within seems to have dimmed in comparison to issues 1 and 2. Though visibly less experimental in graphic approach (marking the transition from art director John Ger to Bill Skurski), the issue is supplemented by pop collage and a 12-page “TZ Glide” satire of television programming by rock critic Richard Meltzer, complete with spoofed cut-and-paste advertisements and show descriptions such as, “sure as hell a kid show with all the stupid cretin kids who are suckers for the specific official instance of stupid hood….”
The third and final issue of US claims, “WARNING: Possession of this issue may constitute evidence of a conspiracy with the intent to riot,” though the energy within seems to have dimmed in comparison to issues 1 and 2. Though visibly less experimental in graphic approach (marking the transition from art director John Ger to Bill Skurski), the issue is supplemented by pop collage and a 12-page “TZ Glide” satire of television programming by rock critic Richard Meltzer, complete with spoofed cut-and-paste advertisements and show descriptions such as, “sure as hell a kid show with all the stupid cretin kids who are suckers for the specific official instance of stupid hood….”
