Aaron Cometbus Punk and Underground Press Collection

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 8107

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Flyers, posters, magazines, files, and zines relating to American punk and alternative culture collected or created by Aaron Cometbus, including his own work as a writer and musician. The archive contains hundreds of fanzines and small magazines, plus original manuscripts and paste-ups for Cometbus and related publishing and distribution records. Board games, business cards, set lists, and venue histories provide a personal, behind-the-scenes view of punk both as music and as a movement, from 1980 to the present. Also includes the production files, art work, and original pasteups for the zine Cometbus. This fanzine is edited, designed, laid out, distributed and mostly written by Aaron Elliot, although the work of other writers/artists is also sometimes included. The issues include artwork, interviews and other writings about bands, short stories, novels, and historical accounts and observations on punk, bookselling, and other subcultures, interspaced with graphics and illustrations. The Cometbus production archive covers the more than 59 issues of the zine created between 1981 and 2022, preserving the design process and physical construction of each issue.

Dates

ca. 1977-2023

Creator

Cometbus, Aaron, 1968- (Person)

Language of Materials

Collection material in English

Conditions Governing Use

Due to the fragility and potential degradation of moving image and sound recordings, viewing and listening is limited to items that have been digitized. If an item is in another media format, you may request to have the item digitized for access. Information on ordering access copies may be found on the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections webpage.

Conditions Governing Use

Audio visual media that has been digitized: TR-15991.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Aaron Elliott, better known as Aaron Cometbus, has published Cometbus magazine since 1981. He is also an accomplished novelist, lyricist, and drummer.

Extent

21.3 cubic feet. (21.3 cubic feet.)

Additional Description

Abstract

Flyers, posters, magazines, files, and zines relating to American punk and alternative culture collected or created by Aaron Cometbus, including his own work as a writer and musician.

SERIES LIST

Series I. Punk and Underground Press Materials

a. Bay Area 1. Titles A-O 2. Titles P-Z

b. Other Locations 1. Titles A-D 2. Titles E-O 3. Titles P-Z

c. Underground Newspapers 1. 1960s Underground Newspapers 2. High School Underground Newspapers

d. Other Zine Material

e. Cometbus and Related Materials 1. Cometbus Issues 2. Cometbus Drafts and Proofs 3. Cometbus Files

Series II. Event Flyers and Posters

a. Flyers 1. Assorted 2. Shows: Bay Area 3. Shows: Other Locations 4. Other Types of Flyers

b. Posters

Series III. Political Materials

Series IV. Venue Materials

Series V. Band Files and Related Materials

Series VI. Ephemera

a. Photographs b. Assorted Ephemera c. Board Games

Series VII. Sound Recordings

Series VIII. Letters to Cometbus Magazine

Physical Description

Flyers, printed material, posters, photographs, correspondence, and ephemera.

General

Contact Information:: Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections 2B Carl A. Kroch Library Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-3530 Fax: (607) 255-9524rareref@cornell.edu http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
Compiled by:: RMC Staff
Date completed:: January 2017
EAD encoding:: Marcie Farwell, December 2016
Date modified:: Ben Wrubel, October 2018