Apex Novelties

Don Donahue (1942 – October 27, 2010) was a comic book publisher, operating under the name Apex Novelties, one of the instigators of the underground comix movement in the 1960s.

In San Francisco in 1968, Donahue traded his hi-fi tape player to poet Charles Plymell to publish the first issue of Robert Crumb's Zap Comix on his printing press. Donahue later purchased the equipment and founded Apex Novelties, which published numerous influential comics from that movement, including work by S. Clay Wilson, Kim Deitch, Shary Flenniken, Justin Green, Bill Griffiths, Spain Rodriguez, Gilbert Shelton, Art Spiegelman. He was known for publishing material by radicals, including the Symbionese Liberation Army (best known for kidnapping Patty Hearst).

The partner of cartoonist Dori Seda, he inherited the rights to her work following her death at the age of 37, and published Dori Stories, a compilation of her comics.

Donahue died of cancer on October 27, 2010.

Titles published

 * Best Buy Comics (Feb. 1979) – Consists primarily of R. Crumb material originally published in CoEvolution Quarterly
 * Black and White Comics (June 1973) – R. Crumb
 * Cunt Comics (1969)
 * Funny Aminals (1972) – anthology title featuring the Art Spiegelman three-page strip "Maus," the inspiration for Maus
 * Jiz (1969) – anthology featuring R. Crumb, S. Clay Wilson, Victor Moscoso, Rory Hayes, Spain Rodriguez, and Jay Lynch
 * King Bee (1969) – Anthology featuring several of the Zap Comix artists
 * Left-Field Funnies (1972) – anthology
 * Mr. Natural (1970) – R. Crumb
 * Snatch Comics (1968) – Principally by R. Crumb (using various pseudonyms) and S. Clay Wilson
 * Terminal Comics (1971)
 * Your Hytone Comics (Feb. 1971) – R. Crumb
 * Zap Comix (1968) – R. Crumb