'Hyman Glick' (Tits & Clits #2).
Lyn Chevli was a pioneer in underground comix as the creator and publisher of the first fully professional feminist comic book Tits & Clits (1972), together with Joyce Farmer. This was also the second feminist underground comix book after 'It Ain't Me, Babe' (1971). Chevli and Farmer further wrote comic history with the controversial comic book 'Abortion Eve' (1973), the first comic book to deal with abortion from a didactic viewpoint.
Early life and career
Lyn Chevli was born in 1931 as Marilyn Keith in Milford, Connecticut, but was later mainly known under her married name Lyn Chevli. She has also worked under the pen name Chin Lyvely, and she is often referred to as Lyn Chevely, although she has never used this alternate spelling of her name. Chevli graduated with a bachelor's degree in art from Skidmore College in New York, and was initially making silver jewelry and bronze sculptures with a welding torch. Originally she lived in Mumbai, India, with her first husband, but their two daughters were born in the U.S.
Chevli moved to California in 1961. With her second husband Dennis Madison, she ran the bookstore Fahrenheit 451 Books in Lagnuna Beach from 1968 to 1972. The store regularly got into legal battles with the City of Laguna Beach for selling obscene literature, including underground comix by Robert Crumb. In 1972, Chevli and her husband divorced. The store was 20,000 dollars in debt. As she had previously toyed with the idea of making an underground comic book herself if she would ever have to sell their store, Chevli knew the time was ripe.
'Fonda Peters' Vaginal Drip' (Tits & Clits #1).
Tits & Clits
The anarchic nature of underground comix like Zap Comix inspired Chevi to create similar books, though she felt many were quite women unfriendly. Therefore she wanted to take a more feminist approach, without toning down the pornographic content. According to Chevli, she put an ad in her shop window, asking for artists. One of their neigbors, Joyce Farmer, applied, but was unfamiliar with the underground comix phenomenon. After making a few test drawings, she was accepted and they started collaborating. According to Farmer, though, she met Chevli through a mutual friend.
Chevli and Farmer established the publishing company Nanny Goat Productions and a comic book series, titled Tits 'n' Clits (sometimes spelled as 'Tits & Clits'), launched in July 1972. Tits 'n' Clits hit the market only a few weeks before the other all-female underground comic book series Wimmen's Comix was released. While seemingly similar, Wimmen's Comix put more emphasis on female empowerment and featured input by several artists. Tits 'n' Clits was literally a two-women project for its first two issues. It addressed topics that were rarely to never dealt with in comics before, like menstruation, birth control, chin hair and discrimination towards women. From this viewpoint, it was a bit sleazier and more pornographic than Wimmen's Comix.
'The End of the World' (Tits & Clits #1).
The publication of Tits & Clits wasn't without controversy. When Chevli went to publisher Bob Rita, who distributed underground comix in Los Angeles, he doubted whether any women in their right mind would buy it. The rather bold title kept it from being reviewed in mainstream magazines. The authors also faced the prospect of being arrested for publishing and distributing pornography. Their second comic book was therefore published under the title Pandora's Box Comix. Nevertheless, when Pandora's Box Comix was set for release on 4 December 1973, her former book store, Fahrenheit 451, refused to carry her and Farmer's comics out of fear of being prosecuted under the new national obscenity laws. Chevli and Farmer therefore packed up Nanny Goat Productions in one night, hiding all copies in friends' home across Orange County and moving their content to Los Angeles later. In one of her private letters, Chevli wrote: “I… suspect that it blows a few minds when readers discover that Joyce and I are 33 and 40 years old, the mothers of teen aged kids, pillars of society, attractive, charming, and heterosexual. We are also responsible citizens and produced this disgusting work from a sense of frustration and a deep philosophical base.”
Tits 'n' Clits nevertheless sold out in eight months and returned in 1976. A total of seven issues was published until 1987. The first two were created solely by Chevli and Farmer. From the third issue on, other authors joined, such as Dot Bucher, Roberta Gregory, Ruth Lynn, Trina Robbins, Shelby Sampson, Chris Powers, Jennifer Malik, Michelle Jurris, Paula Gray, Miriam Flambe, Rocky Trout, Terry Richards, Beverly Hilliard and Sharon Rudahl. Chevli dropped most of her drawing activities after three issues, and then focused on writing and editing. By then, the title was published by Last Gasp.
Abortion Eve
Chevli and Farmer were also active as pregnancy counselors at Laguna's Free Clinic. To inform readers, Chevli and Farmer published the educational comic book 'Abortion Eve' (1973), an educational comic in favor of the legalisation of abortion. Farmer herself had an abortion in 1970, because she already had a 12-year old son and couldn't financially afford to raise another child. Although abortion was illegal in the U.S. at the time, there was an exception. In California, women could receive abortions under the Therapeutic Abortion Act. But it was still not an easy procedure, since they needed recommendations on behalf of a gynecologist and two 'specialists in the field', which had to be reviewed by a committee, who could still deny it. If approved, women still needed to be able to afford the procedure. Farmer was denied permission at first, but told the doctor outright that she would do it herself if she didn't receive medical help. The doctor regarded this a a suicide threat and thus obliged. Farmer recalled: "I was astounded that I had to prove to the state that I was suicidal, when all I wanted was an abortion, clean and safe."
When Farmer and Chevli started working on 'Abortion Eve', at the suggestion of a doctor, it suddenly became very topical. In January 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion, after the groundbreaking 'Roe vs. Wade' case. Nevertheless, it remained a very divisive issue in the country, which motivated them to finish and still release their book, published in June 1973. 'Abortion Eve' features five women who choose abortion and all have variations of the name Eve. One is a professor, the other a hippie, another a Roman Catholic, one is black, another Latina. Three of the women are portrayed as married. Each has her own reasons to want an abortion. The book not only explains the medical procedure and information about the emotional stress of an unwanted pregnancy, but also provides counter arguments to people who oppose abortion. The back cover spoofs Mad Magazine mascot Alfred E. Neuman as a pregant Virgin Mary, saying his catchphrase: "What, me worry?"
Still, 'Abortion Eve' was a radical and controversial release. Even in the independent press, they received many complaints from people that such a book was released. When they went to a pro-abortion rally in Anaheim in December 1973, outside the American Medical Association, they were met by a large crowd of anti-abortion activists. In a letter to a friend, Chevli recalled: "It was exhausting. It was exciting. (...) I have rarely experienced hate to such a massive extent."
Later career and death
From the 1980s on, Chevli was mainly active as a writer and a sculptor. She made her debut with 'Alida' (1981), an erotic novel aimed at women, which she published under the pseudonym Edna McBrayne. She also wrote for The Blade, a local magazine for the gay community, and wrote essays for 'Words in Our Pockets: The Feminist Writers Guild Handbook' (1981) and 'Herotica' (1988).
Lynn Chevli passed away on 8 October 2016, at the age of 84.
Comic art by Lyn Chevli.