Cat-Head Comics was an American alternative/underground comicspublisher that operated from 1980–1998. Founded by cartoonist Steve Lafler as a vehicle for his own work, Cat-Head was later joined by writer/poet/editor Stephen Beaupre. Cat-Head's longest-running title was the anthology Buzzard, which lasted 20 issues. In addition to Lafler and Beaupre, creators published by Cat-Head included R. L. Crabb, Lloyd Dangle, Krystine Kryttre, and J. R. Williams.
History
Lafler founded Cat-Head in 1980, shortly after graduating from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Cat-Head's first publication was BenB and Gerald, a collection of Lafler's strips published in The MassachusettsDaily Collegian. Cat-Head's first true ongoing series was Lafler's Dog Boy, which ran seven issues from 1983–1985. In 1984, Cat-Head moved headquarters from Eugene, Oregon to Portland, Oregon. In 1987, Cat-Head published its first non-Lafler title, releasing Out the Next, by Lafler's long-time friend Stephen Beaupre. The book featured Beaupre's text pieces, poems, photographs, and drawings, with some additional art by Lafler. In 1988–1989, Cat-Head published two issues of Lafler & Beaupre's Duck & Cover, featuring satirical comics and poetry by Beaupre and Lafler, parodying politics, religion, and big business. Beaupre became Cat-Head co-publisher in 1989, helping to finance much of the publisher's output from then on. Cat-Head moved its headquarters to Hudson, Massachusetts, in 1990, and expanded its line-up, launching the long-running Buzzard anthology, edited by Beaupre, with such contributors as Lloyd Dangle, Julie Doucet, Mary Fleener, Dave Gill, Phoebe Gloeckner, Gerald Jablonski, James Kochalka, Krystine Kryttre, Adrian Tomine, Tom Tomorrow, Steven Weissman, J. R. Williams, and Aleksandar Zograf. Over the next couple of years the publisher releasedone-shot titles by R. L. Crabb, Lloyd Dangle, Krystine Kryttre, and J. R. Williams. From 1993–1998, Cat-Head retrenched, focusing on Lafler solo titles like Bughouse and the ongoing Buzzard anthology. Critic Rob Clough described Bughouse as Lafler's All six issues of Bughouse were later collected into a trade paperback by Top Shelf Productions.
Femme Noir — Lafler's take on mystical crime fiction, starring a detective named Maria and her occasional boyfriend, BenB. Lafler's recurring character Dog Boy makes occasional appearances.
