Underground comix artist Ted Richards, who was part of a group of artists who defied the Disney corporation in court, is unable to work due to small-cell lung cancer and is raising funds to help with his medical and living costs.
On his GoFundMe page, Richards says that he has been getting immunotherapy treatment for over a year and that the results have been good, but he is short of breath and unable to walk very far. In addition to food, medical expenses, and support for him and his family, some of the funds will go toward updating his copyrights and assigning them to his family, archiving his original work, and paying medical and living costs.
In the early 1970s, Richards was a member of the Air Pirates collective and one of the contributors to Air Pirates Funnies, which depicted Disney characters engaged in adult activities. While Dan O’Neill, Bobby London, and Gary Hallgren targeted Mickey Mouse, Richards contributed his own spin on the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf and also drew the Beetle Bailey parody Dopin’ Dan. Underground press Last Gasp published two issues of Air Pirates Funnies, in July and August 1971. In October 1971, Disney sued the four creators as well as Last Gasp publisher Ron Turner, alleging trademark and copyright infringement. The lawsuit dragged on for years, with Disney winning most rounds but O’Neill continuing to draw the comics and refusing to pay the court-ordered damages. In the end, Disney settled.
Richards also drew The Forty Year Old Hippie, which ran in alternative newspapers and was eventually collected by Rip Off Press, as well E.Z. Wolf and Mellow Cat. He left comix in 1981 for a job at Atari and later went on to a career as a web developer.
Source: ICV2
