THE COMICS

Last Gasp, a San Francisco-based alternative comics publisher, has issued Strip AIDS USA, a 140-page collection of cartoons, to raise money for Shanti Project, a group providing support services for people with AIDS. Edited by feminist cartoonist Trina Robbins, the collection is modelled after Strip AIDS, a British anthology published in 1987. Garry Trudeau (“Doonesbury”), Bill Griffith (“Zippy the Pinhead”), Will Eisner (“The Spirit”), Jules Feiffer and Sergio Aragones are among the artists who contributed drawings about AIDS, condoms, homophobia and safe sex. Shanti has provided training videotapes and assistance to facilities in cities throughout the United States and Europe, including Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Houston.