Originally Cruse had reservations about editing the anthology. Gay Comix aimed to get the gay and lesbian contributors to write about things that had happened to them, and experiences they had had. A call was put out for artists through comics magazine Cascade Comix Monthly. The two had worked together previously Cruse’s comic Barefootz was published through Kitchen Sink Press. In 1979, after realizing underground cartoonist Howard Cruse was gay, Kitchen asked him to edit an anthology of gay comic artists. The idea for Gay Comix came from Denis Kitchen, a publisher of underground comics through the company he founded, Kitchen Sink Press. Andy Mangels edited issues #14 to #25 and a special issue featuring Barela Mangels changed the title to Gay Comics starting with issue #15, in part to divest it of the ' underground' implications of 'comix'.Įxcerpts from Gay Comix were included in a 1989 anthology titled Gay Comics. The first four issues were edited by Cruse issues #5 through #13 were edited by Robert Triptow. Kitchen Sink Press published the first five issues of Gay Comix thereafter it was published by Bob Ross, publisher of the Bay Area Reporter gay newspaper.