The Bible of L.A./Westcoast punk. "In its brief run, Slash defined the punk subculture in Los Angeles and beyond with the comic strip Jimbo by Gary Panter and photographs by Melanie Nissen, the cofounding publisher and longtime photo editor. Writing by Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Chris D., Pleasant Gehman and Claude "Kickboy Face" Bessy explored reggae, blues and rockabilly in addition to punk and new wave. Slash diagnosed the nascent punk scene's challenge to the music industry and established its own oppositional voice in the editorial of its very first issue, staking a position against disco, Elvis and concept albums, and declaring: "Enough is enough, partner! About time we squeezed the pus out and sent the filthy rich old farts of rock 'n' roll to retirement homes in Florida where they belong." An incredibly well put together, and very well art directed newspaper by people who really were fans, back in a time when the wider world was completely disinterested in what they were doing. From hosting the first gig of The Screamers to covering Black Flag, The Ramones, The Cramps, The Damned, Fear, The Germs, Nervous Gender and everybody else making a racket in L.A. Really special.
