Newsstand Exposure
Barefootz regained access to a national audience when Marvel Comics hired Denis Kitchen to edit a newsstand magazine showcasing those of the underground cartoonists who wouldn't feel overly corrupted producing material that fell in the "R-Rated" rather than the "X-rated" range. Since Barefootz's humor was from the first of a gentler kind than was typical in underground comix, that was not a troubling compromise for me, and I was thrilled by the chance to reach a wider audience.

When Comix Book debuted in 1974 Denis began catching lots of flack from hardcore undergrounders who accused him and the artists associated with Comix Book with diluting everything that the underground comix "movement" stood for. Meanwhile, the experiment failed to meet Marvel's commercial goals and was kicked overboard after three issues. (Years later Denis arranged to publish issues 4 and 5 of Comix Book, which were already "in the can," himself.)