Anthology of three comics series by Spain Rodriguez, & two essays about Spain Rodriguez & his milieu. It’s easy to see Spain was a huge influence on Derf.
The Trashman comics can be read as an underground history of the USA from the late 60s- the 80s told through the medium of a post-apocalyptic socialist superhero comic. Also lots of ultraviolence & enough sex to keep the readers coming back for more. While Trashman maintains a 70s revolutionary vibe throughout the 60s-80s, many of the cultural references reflected their time. The early comics had communes and black revolutionaries, while the last ones, in the 80s featured christian cultists & even a battle over Reagan's corpse. Must have been an influence on the whole 70s & 80s futuristic-post-apocalyptic genre. The Trashman stuff is my favorite in the anthology.
The Road Vultures comics are pretty much all ultraviolence & weird sex stuff. Less ideological and more sociological than the Trashman or Manning comics.
The noir/police procedural Manning comics are a great send-up of the genre & copaganda in general. I especially liked the one with the evil cult & the Puerto Rican kids and how it was based on the actual apartment that Spain & his friend (and fellow cartoonist) Kim Deitch lived in.
The two Rosenkranz essays were illuminating. I especially liked “Arm the Vagrants”, which gave a run down of Spain’s days in the New York Underground Comix scene, & gave insights into some of the jokes in the Manning Comics.