This was one of the last comic books published by H. Bunch, but there is no logo or indicia anywhere in the book. It is notable for being one of the earliest British undergrounds to feature a single British artist, in this case Joe (J.J.) Petagno.

It's Only Rock & Roll provides a series of parodies of major rock stars in the '70s, including Alice Cooper, Elton John, David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Lou Reed. Each parody consists of an adaptation of one of the rock star's hit songs, changing the lyrics to make fun of the star, who is caricatured in the ugliest manner possible. The first two, featuring Alice Cooper and Elton John, ridicule the artists for making a lot of money. That's followed by portraying David Bowie as an egotistical flaming queer with a fatal case of syphillis. Mick Jagger is literally "the Midnite Flasher," a sex-crazed maniac flashing his giant cock at everyone. Finally, Lou Reed is depicted as a vile homosexual monster with an STD.

Despite Petagno's illustration skills, which deliver a few deft caricatures (despite several different stars looking kind of the same), the whole affair grows rather tiresome pretty quickly. Okay, we get it, Alice Cooper and Elton John made a lot of money. Was money really the only driving force in their creative careers? Yes, Bowie and Jagger leveraged sexuality to create a rock star persona, and Lou Reed...well, I guess one should ridicule his drug use, but Petagno seems to want to attack his sexuality instead, as well as his association with Andy Warhol.

Whatever, the spirit of the comic is apparently to be as mean as possible to mega-rock stars. I guess Petagno just hates people who create all-time great rock music. If Robert Crumb had tackled this task, at least it would have been interesting and funny, but Petagno just makes it one-dimensional and laborious. And of course, Crumb would scarcely consider the topic of rock stars worth his time and effort. Petagno should have made the same consideration before wasting his.



HISTORICAL FOOTNOTES:
It is currently unknown how many copies of this comic book were printed. It has not been reprinted.

COMIC CREATOR:
Joe "J.J." Petagno - 1-33, 35-36