H. Bunch Associates, Ltd. was the British publisher of the infamous Oz underground magazine, which hit the skids in 1973 around the same time H. Bunch's most popular underground comic, Cozmic Comics, was nearing the end of its run. The "OZ" part of "Cozmic" was emphasized in the comic's title logo to honor (and capitalize on) the link to the groundbreaking magazine that preceded it. The (relative) success of Cozmic Comics led H. Bunch to churn out several additional titles under the Cozmic Comics imprint between 1973 and 1975, including Half Assed Funnies, Ogoth and Ugly Boot and Animal Weirdness.
Cozmic Comics followed closely on the heels of the other seminal British underground title from the early 1970s, Nasty Tales (Bloom Publications, Ltd.). Both series leveraged the popularity of American underground comics in Britain by publishing reprinted American cartoons, especially in their early issues, but they also provided British-born comic creators the opportunity to get into print and establish roots for a cartooning career (sometimes to the detriment of the comic book publication itself).
The third issue of Cozmic Comics is subtitled The Firm and is comprised entirely of cartoons and stories by British artist Mike Weller (a.k.a. Captain Stelling). The comic book pretty much sucked eggs, but it was an important landmark in British underground comic book history, as it was the first book that featured one British artist. The Firm led H. Bunch to publish four more comic books dedicated to single British creators in the next two years, and their success encouraged other publishers to feature British creators more prominently.
Overall, Cozmic Comics was a really solid underground title, featuring some great American underground comics and some of the best that Britain had to offer. The early issues were especially good from cover to cover, due in no small part to having a greater percentage of American artists than the later issues. But Cozmic did what it should have done by continuing to increase the number of native artists in its books.
It helped establish the careers of some accomplished British artists, including Edward Barker and Malcolm Livingstone. At the same time, it was critical to sustaining the popularity and exposure of American underground comic work in Britain. Cozmic Comics met its demise in 1974, though H. Bunch published several other titles under the Cozmic Comics imprint through 1975.
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