Helix Vol. II No. 3 October, 1967 Double Cover: Walt Crowley and Gary Eagle, Respectively
Seattle: Helix, 1967. Walt Crowley Gary Eagle John Cunnick. First Printing. Tabloid Newspaper. Tabloid printed on newsprint measuring 11.5 x 17.5 inches. Pp. 12 including covers. Front and rear covers printed in color. Age toning to edges; lower fore-edge corner a tad crimped. Very Good. Item #8481 In late spring 1967, Helix joined a burgeoning underground press then including groundbreaking alternative papers the East Village Other, the Los Angeles Free Press, the Fifth Estate and the Berkeley Barb. Founded by Paul Sawyer, Paul Dorpat and Lorenzo Milam, it sprang from their intellectual fervor at the Free University, an alternative thinktank they also founded. Eventually star-illustrator Walt Crowley assumed editorship. A pebble in the shoe of the Seattle establishment, Helix brought attention to civic injustice by rallying its youthful readership to activism. The apogee of that effort followed the 1970 killing of students at Kent State: over the course of May 5-8, Helix organized protests that blocked US Interstate 5 while marching between the city's University District and rallies at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Seattle. Early issues are increasingly scarce. This copy is housed in a removable, clear sleeve with an acid-free backing.
An early issue of Seattle's underground hippie rag featuring a Walt Crowley color illustration with a mushroom cloud, a screaming child on a TV set and a dystopian rubble; on the dos-a-dos cover by Gary Eagle is a bare-breasted hippie chick sitting in a blissful state. With an article on the recent Grateful Dead drug bust, an upcoming Lightnin' Hopkins show at the Seattle Folklore Society and an article on Seattle's fresh crop of young junkies. Ads include one for Chrome Syrcus, Magic Fern opening, at Eagles Auditorium.
Price: $80.00