Optimism of Youth collects 14 of Jackson's short comix tales from the early 1970s underground comics scene.  These comics originally appeared in title such as Skull, Slow Death, Grim Wit and Tales of the Leather Nun.  Jackson was there at the birth of the underground comix scene and had actually self-published a collection of his college comics strips as God Nose in 1964, before taking a hiatus from cartooning, diving back in with the stories that fill this colllection.  

Published in 1991, with an informative introdcution by Gary Groth and Kim Thompson that provides plenty of background to put these strips in context, this book is now out of print, but we still have a few, and are selling them for less than their original 30 year-old retail price!  While supplies last...