Robert Dennis Crumb—known as
Robert Crumb and
R. Crumb—is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American
mainstreamMainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
.
Crumb was a founder of the
underground comixUnderground comix are small press or self-published comic books which are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality and violence...
movement and is regarded as its most prominent figure. Though one of the most celebrated of
comic bookA comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
artists, Crumb's entire career has unfolded outside the mainstream comic book publishing industry. One of his most recognized works is the "Keep on Truckin'" comic, which became a widely distributed fixture of pop culture in the 1970s. Others are the characters Devil Girl,
Fritz the CatFritz the Cat is a comic strip created by Robert Crumb. Set in a "supercity" of anthropomorphic animals, the strip focuses on Fritz, a feline con artist who frequently goes on wild adventures that sometimes involve sexcapades. Crumb began drawing this character in homemade comic books when he was a...
, and
Mr. NaturalMr. Natural is a comic book character created and drawn by 1960s counterculture and underground comix artist Robert Crumb. The character first appeared in the premiere issue of Yarrowstalks .-Characterization:...
.
He was inducted into the
comic bookA comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1991.
Life and career
Robert Crumb was born on August 30, 1943 in
Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. He is of
EnglishThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
and
ScottishThe Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
ancestry, and is related to former U.S. president
Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
on his mother's side. His father, Charles, was a career officer in the
United States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
; his mother, Beatrice, a housewife who reportedly
abusedSubstance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
diet pills and amphetamines. Their marriage was unhappy and the children—Robert,
CharlesCharles Vincent Crumb, Jr. was an American artist closely associated with his famous younger brother, the cartoonist Robert Crumb....
,
MaxonMaxon Crumb is an American artist and the younger brother of underground cartoonist Robert Crumb. He currently lives at the Windsor Hotel on Sixth Street in San Francisco and has lived there since about 1980....
, Sandra and Carol—were frequent witnesses to their parents' loud arguments. Crumb's first job as an artist was for the
ToppsThe Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...
company. He was hired by
Woody GelmanWoodrow Gelman , better known as Woody Gelman, was a publisher, a cartoonist, a novelist and an artist-writer for animation and comic books. As the publisher of Nostalgia Press, he pioneered the reprinting of vintage comic strips in quality hardcovers and trade paperbacks...
and drew illustrations for an internal publication that offered premiums to gum salesmen such as toasters and blenders.
Crumb's first major production was a hardcover
graphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
entitled
The Yum Yum Book which he drew in 1963. It is a "fractured fairy tale" concerning a frog named Oggie. Oggie climbs a magic beanstalk to escape the fools of earth and there in the clouds falls in love with a giant, silly, sexy girl named Guntra who wants only to devour the frog. This story also introduces the character of Fritz the Cat. As of 2011, the book is in print as a paperback retitled
Big Yum Yum Book: the Story of Oggie and the Beanstalk.
In the mid 1960s, Crumb left home and moved to
Cleveland, OhioCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, where he designed greeting cards for the
American GreetingsAmerican Greetings Corporation, Inc. is the world's largest publicly-traded greeting card company. It is based in Brooklyn, Ohio and sells paper greeting cards, electronic greeting cards, party products , and electronic expressive content...
corporation, and met a group of young bohemians including
Buzzy LinhartBuzzy Linhart is an American rock performer and musician.Born William Linhart in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he began honing his craft playing percussion for symphony at the age of seven, switching to vibraphone at ten...
, Liz Johnston, and others. Johnston introduced him to his future wife, Dana Morgan. In 1967, encouraged by the reaction to some drawings he had published in underground newspapers, including Philadelphia's
Yarrowstalks, Crumb moved to San Francisco,
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, the center of the
countercultureCounterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
movement. Crumb, with the backing of
Don DonahueDon Donahue was a comic book publisher, operating under the name Apex Novelties, one of the instigators of the underground comix movement in the 1960s....
, published the first issue of his
Zap ComixZap Comix is the best-known and one of the most popular of the underground comics that emerged as part of the youth counterculture of the late 1960s. While not believed to be the first underground comic to have been published, Zap is considered to mark the beginning of the "underground comix"...
on January 18, 1968, printed by
BeatThe Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
poet
Charles PlymellCharles Plymell is a poet, novelist, and small press publisher. Plymell has been published widely, collaborated with, and published many poets, writers, and artists, including principals of the Beat Generation....
. After years in California, and a second marriage to
Aline Kominsky-CrumbAline Kominsky-Crumb is an American underground comics artist best known as the wife of cartoonist R. Crumb....
, Crumb and family moved to a small village near
SauveSauve is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.-Population:-Personalities:In the mid-1990s American underground comic artist Robert Crumb traded six of his sketchbooks for a townhouse in Sauve...
in southern France in 1993, where he now resides. The artist is represented by
David ZwirnerDavid Zwirner is a gallerist and art dealer and owner of the David Zwirner Gallery in New York City. In 2010 Zwirner was listed at number four in the ArtReview annual "Power 100" list.-Early Life:...
, New York.
Publications
Crumb is a prolific artist and contributed to many of the seminal works of the underground comics movement in the 1960s, including being a founder of
Zap ComixZap Comix is the best-known and one of the most popular of the underground comics that emerged as part of the youth counterculture of the late 1960s. While not believed to be the first underground comic to have been published, Zap is considered to mark the beginning of the "underground comix"...
, contributing to all 16 issues, and additionally contributing to the
East Village OtherThe East Village Other , was an American underground newspaper in New York City, New York, published biweekly during the 1960s. EVO was among the first countercultural newspapers to emerge, following the Los Angeles Free Press, which had begun publishing a few months earlier...
and many other publications including a variety of one-off and anthology comics. During this time, inspired by psychedelics and cartoons from the 1920s and 1930s, he introduced a wide variety of characters that became extremely popular, including
Fritz the CatFritz the Cat is a comic strip created by Robert Crumb. Set in a "supercity" of anthropomorphic animals, the strip focuses on Fritz, a feline con artist who frequently goes on wild adventures that sometimes involve sexcapades. Crumb began drawing this character in homemade comic books when he was a...
and
Mr. NaturalMr. Natural is a comic book character created and drawn by 1960s counterculture and underground comix artist Robert Crumb. The character first appeared in the premiere issue of Yarrowstalks .-Characterization:...
. Sexual themes abounded in all these projects, often shading into scatological and pornographic comics. In the mid-1970s, he contributed to the
ArcadeArcade: The Comics Revue was a magazine-sized comics anthology created and edited by Art Spiegelman and Bill Griffith to showcase the work of underground artists. Published by the Print Mint, it ran for seven issues between 1975 to 1976...
anthology, and in the 1980s, to
Weirdo (which he created and co-edited).
As Crumb got older, his comic work became more autobiographical. He frequently collaborates with his wife,
Aline Kominsky-CrumbAline Kominsky-Crumb is an American underground comics artist best known as the wife of cartoonist R. Crumb....
, on comics. His
complete comicsThe Complete Crumb Comics was an award-winning series of collections from Fantagraphics Books which was intended to reproduce the entire body of American cartoonist and comic book artist/writer Robert Crumb's comics work in chronological order, beginning with his fanzine work from as early as...
and selections from his sketchbooks have been published by
FantagraphicsFantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint...
in seventeen volumes of comics and ten volumes of sketches to date. R. Crumb contributes regularly to
MineshaftMineshaft is an independent international art magazine launched in 1999 by Everett Rand and Gioia Palmieri in Guilford, Vermont. Initially focusing on poetry and literature, the magazine began to publish comics after Robert Crumb became a contributor in 2000...
magazine. Since 2009,
Mineshaft has been serializing "Excerpts From R. Crumb's Dream Diary".
The Book of Genesis
In 2009, he published his illustrated
graphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
version of the Book of Genesis. The book includes annotations explaining his reactions to Biblical stories. It was reported on
NPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
in October 2009, that it was a four-year effort and does not rewrite any part of the text. Crumb did extensive research in the earlier language versions of the text to support the interpretations. It contains all 50 chapters of Genesis and comes with a warning on its cover: "Adult Supervision Recommended for Minors."
Influences and critical response
A peer in the underground comics field,
Victor MoscosoVictor Moscoso is an artist best known for producing psychedelic rock posters/advertisements and underground comix in San Francisco during the 1960s and '70s....
, commented about his first impression of Crumb's work, in the mid-1960s, before meeting Crumb in person: "I couldn't tell if it was an old man drawing young, or a young man drawing old." Robert Crumb’s cartooning style has drawn on the work of cartoon artists from earlier generations, including
Billy De BeckWilliam Morgan DeBeck was a popular cartoonist who was widely known as Billy DeBeck. He created some of the memorable comic strip characters of the 1920s and 1930s, including Barney Google, Bunky, Snuffy Smith and the racehorse Spark Plug...
(
Barney GoogleBarney Google and Snuffy Smith, originally Barney Google, is a long-running American comic strip created by cartoonist Billy DeBeck . Since its debut on June 17, 1919, the strip has gained a huge international readership, appearing in 900 newspapers in 21 countries...
), C.E. Brock (an old story book illustrator),
Gene AhernEugene Leslie Ahern was a cartoonist best known for his bombastic Major Hoople, a pompous character who appeared in the long-run syndicated gag panel Our Boarding House...
’s comic strips,
George BakerGeorge Baker was a cartoonist who became prominent during World War II as the creator of the popular comic strip, The Sad Sack.-Early life and education:...
(
Sad SackThe Sad Sack is an American fictional comic strip and comic book character created by Sgt. George Baker during World War II. Set in the United States Army, Sad Sack depicted an otherwise unnamed, lowly private experiencing some of the absurdities and humiliations of military life. The title was a...
), Isadore Freleng's drawings for the early
Merrie MelodiesMerrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
and
Looney TunesLooney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
of the 1930s, Sidney Smith (
The GumpsThe Gumps, a popular comic strip about a middle-class family, was created by Sidney Smith in 1917, launching a 42-year run in newspapers from February 12, 1917 until October 17, 1959....
),
Rube GoldbergReuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer and inventor.He is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complex gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. These devices, now known as Rube Goldberg machines, are similar to...
, E.C. Segar (
PopeyePopeye the Sailor is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and animated cartoons in the cinema as well as on television. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929...
) and
Bud FisherHarry Conway "Bud" Fisher was an American cartoonist who created Mutt and Jeff, the first successful daily comic strip in the United States....
(Mutt and Jeff). Crumb has cited
Carl BarksCarl Barks was an American Disney Studio illustrator and comic book creator, who invented Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck , Gladstone Gander , the Beagle Boys , The Junior Woodchucks , Gyro Gearloose , Cornelius Coot , Flintheart Glomgold , John D...
, who illustrated Disney's "Donald Duck" comic books and
John StanleyJohn Stanley was a comic book creator, best known for writing Little Lulu from 1945 to 1959. While mostly known for scripting, Stanley also was an accomplished artist who drew many of his stories, including the earliest Little Lulu issues. His specialty was humorous stories, both with licensed...
(
Little Lulu"Little Lulu" is the nickname for Lulu Moppett, a comic strip character created in the mid-1930s by Marjorie Henderson Buell. The character debuted in The Saturday Evening Post on February 23, 1935 in a single panel, appearing as a flower girl at a wedding and strewing the aisle with banana peels...
) as formative influences on his narrative approach, as well as
Harvey KurtzmanHarvey Kurtzman was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic books and magazines. Kurtzman often signed his name H. Kurtz, followed by a stick figure Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924, Brooklyn, New York – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic...
.
Crumb has also cited his extensive LSD use as a factor that led him to develop his unique style.
Crumb's comic artwork has elicited harsh commentary from critics. He frequently draws pictures of overly sexualized women in subservient roles, as well as "darky" afro-Americans among other stereotypes. Numerous critics cite his overly sexualized women, calling him "the chief
sexistSexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
of underground comics." Other critics, such as African American cartoonist and author Charles Johnson, claim that Crumb's comics are inherently
racistRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
because of their racially stereotyped portrayals of minorities.
Crumb remains a prominent figure, as both artist and influence, within the
alternative comicsAlternative comics defines a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to "mainstream" superhero comics which in the past have dominated the US comic book industry...
milieu. He is hailed as a genius by such
comic bookA comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
talents as
Jaime HernandezJaime Hernandez is the co-creator of the black & white independent comic book Love and Rockets .-Early life:...
,
Daniel ClowesDaniel Gillespie Clowes is an American author, screenwriter and cartoonist of alternative comic books....
, and
Chris WareFranklin Christenson Ware , is an American comic book artist and cartoonist, widely known for his Acme Novelty Library series and the graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he resides in the Chicago area, Illinois...
. In the fall of 2008, the
Institute of Contemporary ArtThe Institute of Contemporary Art or ICA is a contemporary art museum located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The museum is associated with the University of Pennsylvania, and is located on its campus. The Institute is one of the country's leading museums dedicated to exhibiting the innovative...
in Philadelphia hosted a major exhibition of his work, which was favorably reviewed in the
New York Times and in the
Philadelphia Inquirer.
Professional collaborations
In the early 1980s, Crumb collaborated with writer
Charles BukowskiHenry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles...
on a series of comic books, featuring Crumb's art and Bukowski's writing.
Among his less sexuality and satire-oriented, comparably highbrow works since the 1990s, especially Crumb's collaboration with
David Zane MairowitzDavid Zane Mairowitz , is a writer. He studied English Literature and Philosophy at Hunter College, New York, and Drama at the University of California, Berkeley.In 1966 he emigrated to England, where he worked as a freelance writer...
, the illustrated, part-comic biography and bibliography
Introducing KafkaIntroducing Kafka, also known as Kafka for Beginners, is an illustrated biography of Franz Kafka by David Zane Mairowitz and Robert Crumb...
, aka
Kafka for beginners, is well-known and favorably received, which, due to its popularity, was republished as
R. Crumb's Kafka.
A friend of
Harvey PekarHarvey Lawrence Pekar was an American underground comic book writer, music critic and media personality, best known for his autobiographical American Splendor comic series. In 2003, the series inspired a critically acclaimed film adaptation of the same name.Pekar described American Splendor as "an...
, Crumb illustrated many of the award winning
American SplendorAmerican Splendor is a series of autobiographical comic books written by the late Harvey Pekar and drawn by a variety of artists. The first issue was published in 1976 and the most recent in September 2008, with publication occurring at irregular intervals...
comics by Pekar including the first issues (1976).
Crumb collaborates with his wife,
Aline Kominsky-CrumbAline Kominsky-Crumb is an American underground comics artist best known as the wife of cartoonist R. Crumb....
, on many strips and comics, including Self-Loathing Comics and work published in
The New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
.
Crumb's work also appeared in "Nasty Tales", a 1970s British underground comic. The publishers were acquitted in a celebrated 1972 obscenity trial at the
Old BaileyThe Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
in London; the first such case involving a comic. Giving evidence at the trial, one of the defendants said of Crumb: "He is the most outstanding, certainly the most interesting, artist to appear from the underground, and this (Dirty Dog) is
RabelaisianFrançois Rabelais was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He has historically been regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes and songs...
satire of a very high order. He is using coarseness quite deliberately in order to get across a view of social hypocrisy."
Crumb has created several sets of trading cards. His full-color, pen & ink portraits of 36 early great blues singers and musicians is entitled "Heroes of the Blues Trading Cards". In the fashion of baseball cards, the back of each card contains a short bio written by Stephen Calt. Crumb's portraits capture the humanity and individuality of each performer. This set of 36 3"x4" cards was originally published by Eclipse Books in 1995. Other similar sets of cards published since that time are entitled, "Early Jazz Greats" and "Pioneers of Country Music". In 2006, all 3 sets of cards were collected together in a 240 page book entitled, "R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz and Country", which included a 21-song CD of songs by many of those depicted in the trading cards. Terry Zwigoff, the film maker, and Dave Jasen, the ragtime pianist and pop archivist, contributed to the written text. Another set of 36 cards published in 2010 is entitled "R. Crumb Trading Cards" (Denis Kitchen Publishing Co.) and features short stories on the back of each card about Crumb's familiar comic book characters: Mr. Natural, Fritz the Cat, etc. As of 2011, all 4 of these decks of trading cards are still in print.
A theatrical production based on his work was produced at
Duke UniversityDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
in the early 1990s. Directed by Johnny Simons, and co-starring Avner Eisenberg and
Nicholas de WolffNicholas Adams de Wolff is a writer, business strategist and marketing executive, and longtime Media and Entertainment industry pioneer. His career spans multiple creative and business platforms, including theatrical, film, fashion, retail, TV, and New Media...
, the development of the play was supervised by Crumb, who also served as set designer, drawing larger-than-life representations of some of his most famous characters all over the floors and walls of the set.
Devil Girl Choco-Bars
In 1994, Kitchen Sink Konfections, a branch of comic-book publisher
Kitchen Sink EnterprisesKitchen Sink Press was a comic book publishing company founded by Denis Kitchen in 1970. Kitchen owned and operated Kitchen Sink Press until 1999. Kitchen Sink Press was a pioneering publisher of underground comics, and was also responsible for numerous republications of classic comic strips in...
, used Crumb's character Devil Girl to promote chocolate candy bars named Devil Girl Choco-Bar. Kitchen Sink went out of business and the candy bars went out of production. A second product, Devil Girl Hot Kisses, a hot cinnamon flavored candy, was also produced. It later went back into production, under Cheesy Products.
Musical projects
Crumb has frequently drawn comics about his musical interests in
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
,
countryCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
,
bluegrassBluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
,
cajunCajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
, French
Bal-musetteBal-musette is a style of French music and dance that first became popular in Paris in the 1880s.Auvergnats settled in large numbers in the 5th, 11th, and 12th districts of Paris during the 19th century, opening cafés and bars where patrons danced the bourrée to the accompaniment of musette de...
,
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
,
big bandA big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
and swing music from the 1920s and 30's, and they also heavily influenced the soundtrack choices for his band mate Zwigoff's 1994
Crumb documentary.
Crumb was the leader of the band
R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit SerenadersR. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders are a string band playing songs from, and in the style of, the 1920s. Their three 33⅓ rpm albums, all recorded in the 1970s on the Blue Goose label, were titled R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders , R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders No. 2 , and R....
, for which he sang lead vocals, wrote several songs and played banjo and other instruments. Crumb often plays mandolin with
Eden and John's East River String BandEden and John's East River String Band are a New York City based duo who play country blues from the 1920s and 1930s. Members are John Heneghan and Eden Brower...
and has drawn three covers for them: 2009's "Drunken Barrel House Blues," 2008's "Some Cold Rainy Day," and 2011's "Be Kind To A Man When He's Down" which he also plays mandolin on. He has also been a member of Les Primitifs du Futur and played on (and drew the cover of) that band's 2000 album "World Musette".
Crumb has also released CDs anthologizing old original performances gleaned from collectible 78 RPM phonograph records. His "That's What I Call Sweet Music" was released in 1999. His "Hot Women: Women Singers from the Torrid Regions" was released in 2009. Naturally, Crumb drew the cover art for these CDs as well.
Album covers
Crumb has illustrated many album covers, including most prominently
Cheap Thrills by
Big Brother and the Holding CompanyBig Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane. They are best known as the band that featured Janis Joplin as their...
and the
compilation albumA compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead- Credits :*Produced by Henry Kaiser and David Gans*Mastered by Paul Stubblebine*Notes by Blair Jackson*Front cover design by R. Crumb*Art direction by Joan Pelosi- References :*Strauss, Neil. , The New York Times, October 19, 1995...
.
Between 1974 and 1984, Crumb drew at least 17 album covers for Yazoo Records/Blue Goose Records, including those of the Cheap Suit Serenaders. He also created the revised logo and record label designs of Blue Goose Records that were used from 1974 onward.
Also in 2009, he drew the artwork for a 10-CD anthology of French traditional music (compiled by Guillaume Veillet for Frémeaux & Associés).
In 2011 he drew his third album cover for
Eden and John's East River String BandEden and John's East River String Band are a New York City based duo who play country blues from the 1920s and 1930s. Members are John Heneghan and Eden Brower...
"Be Kind To A Man When He's Down", on which he also plays mandolin.
Crumb in the media
At least three television or theatrical documentaries are dedicated to Crumb, not counting numerous reports running 10 minutes and below:
- Prior to the 1972 release of Fritz the Cat
Fritz the Cat is a 1972 American animated comedy film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi as his feature film debut. Based on the comic strip of the same name by Robert Crumb, the film was the first animated feature film to receive an X rating in the United States...
, Austrian journalist Georg Stefan Troller (see German Wikipedia) interviewed Crumb for a 30-minute documentary entitled Comics und Katerideen on Crumb's life and art, as an episode of Troller's Personenbeschreibung ("Personality account") documentary format broadcast on German ZDFZweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
. The documentary also included a making-of the upcoming Fritz movie with production background interviews of Ralph BakshiRalph Bakshi is an Israeli-American director of animated and live-action films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, five of which he wrote...
. In this documentary, Troller called Crumb's work "the epitome of contemporary white North America's popular art". As part of Troller's Personenbeschreibung series, it can still be seen on rotation on ZDF-owned digital specialty channelA specialty channel can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted television market at a specific demographic....
ZDFdokukanal dedicated to highclass documentaries.
- The Confessions of Robert Crumb (1987)
- Crumb
Crumb is a 1994 documentary film about the noted underground comic artist Robert Crumb and his family. Directed by Terry Zwigoff and produced by Lynn O'Donnell and David Lynch, it won widespread acclaim, including both the Grand Jury Prize and best cinematography prize at the Sundance Film Festival...
(1994) by Terry ZwigoffTerry Zwigoff is an American filmmaker whose work often deals with misfits, antiheros, and themes of alienation. His fiction films are the features Ghost World , Bad Santa , and Art School Confidential...
In 2006, Crumb brought legal action against Amazon.com after the web site used a version of his widely recognizable "Keep On Truckin'" character. The case is expected to be settled out of court.
Also in 2006, Sirius Radio host
Howard SternHoward Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
revealed that Crumb had contacted his show, offering to swap some of his art prints in exchange for a subscription to Sirius that he could listen to in France. However, it was not Robert Crumb who contacted the Howard Stern Show. Crumb is not a listener of the show and claims that he has never even heard it. The actual caller was his brother-in-law Alex, who moved to France from New York and deals in R. Crumb prints.
R. Crumb's Sex Obsessions, a collection of his most personally revealing sexually-oriented drawings and comic strips, was released from
TASCHEN publishingTaschen is an art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. It began as Taschen Comics publishing Benedikt's extensive comic collection...
in November 2007. In August 2011 Crumb cancelled plans to visit Graphic 2011 festival in Sydney, Australia after a tabloid labeled him a "self-confessed sex pervert" in an article headlined "Cult genius or filthy weirdo".
Awards and honors
Crumb has received several accolades for his work, including a nomination for the
Harvey Special Award for HumorThe Harvey Awards, named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman and founded by Gary Groth, President of the publisher Fantagraphics, are given for achievement in comic books. The Harveys were created as part of a successor to the Kirby Awards which were discontinued after 1987.The Harvey Awards are...
in 1990 and the
Angoulême Grand PrixEvery year, the Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême is awarded during the Angoulême International Comics Festival to an author for his body of work and/or for his achievement in the evolution of comics....
in 1999.
With
Jack KirbyJack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
,
Will EisnerWilliam Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
,
Harvey KurtzmanHarvey Kurtzman was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic books and magazines. Kurtzman often signed his name H. Kurtz, followed by a stick figure Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924, Brooklyn, New York – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic...
,
Gary PanterGary Panter is an illustrator, painter, designer and part-time musician. Panter's work is representative of the post-underground, new wave comics movement that began with the end of Arcade: The Comics Revue and the initiation of RAW, one of the second generation in American underground comix...
, and
Chris WareFranklin Christenson Ware , is an American comic book artist and cartoonist, widely known for his Acme Novelty Library series and the graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he resides in the Chicago area, Illinois...
, Crumb was among the artists honored in the exhibition "Masters of American Comics" at the
Jewish MuseumThe Jewish Museum of New York, an art museum and repository of cultural artifacts, is the leading Jewish museum in the United States. With over 26,000 objects, it contains the largest collection of art and Jewish culture outside of museums in Israel. The museum is housed at 1109 Fifth Avenue, in...
in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, from September 16, 2006 to January 28, 2007.
Further reading
- Crumb Family Comics. Trade Paperback Collection of stories by each member of the R Crumb family
- The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book. (ISBN 0-316-16306-6, 1997).
- The R. Crumb Handbook, Published by MQ Publications, London, 2005, ISBN 1-84072-716-0
- The Captain Is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship (1998) written by Charles Bukowski
Henry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles...
and illustrated by Robert Crumb.
- Busted! Drug War Survival Skills (2005) written by [M. Chris Fabricant] and illustrated by Robert Crumb.
- Robert Crumb, written by [D. K. Holm], published by Pocket Essentials, 2003 (revised edition 2005), 13 digit ISBN 978-1-904048-51-0.
- R. Crumb: Conversations, edited by [D. K. Holm], published by the University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, MS, 2004, ISBN 1-57806-637-9.
- R. Crumb and Mineshaft. A brief history, with letters and art, of Robert Crumb's ongoing collaboration with Mineshaft magazine.
External links
- Mineshaft Magazine regularly publishing R. Crumb's sketchbook drawings. Currently serializing Excerpts from R. Crumb's Dream Diary.
- Crumb and East River String Band in The Wall Street Journal
- Kim Deitch reviews Robert Crumb's GENESIS from Mineshaft magazine
Mineshaft is an independent international art magazine launched in 1999 by Everett Rand and Gioia Palmieri in Guilford, Vermont. Initially focusing on poetry and literature, the magazine began to publish comics after Robert Crumb became a contributor in 2000...
, issue #25 (Spring, 2010)
- Page Six New York Post
- Les Primitifs du Futur (review)
- Eden & John's East River String Band (official site)
- Robert Crumb's Underground
- Robert Crumb Illustrated Biography
- Lovece, Frank
Frank Lovece is an American journalist, author, comedy performer and comic book writer. He was additionally one of the first professional Web journalists, becoming an editor of a Silicon Alley start-up in 1996....
. "R. Crumb's Family Circus", Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
#277, June 2, 1995.
- "Monsieur Naturel: R. Crumb in France" by Brendan Bernhard, LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
, April 29, 1998.
- "R. Crumb" by Steve Burgess, Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, May 2, 2000.
- G2 In Crumbland (article series), The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, March 7–25, 2005.
- "Mr. Natural" by Ian Buruma, The New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...
53(6), April 6, 2006. – Review of The R. Crumb Handbook
- "No Girls Allowed!: Crumb and the Comix Counterculture" by Claire Litton, PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
, January 24, 2007.
- The Crumbs' Underground Comics NPR Fresh Air interview with R. Crumb and wife Aline Kominsky Crumb
- Biblical Sex Row Over Explicit Illustrated Book of Genesis, The Telegraph, October 18, 2009
- Zap Comix's first printer on R. Crumb: Curled in Character by outlaw poet Charley Plymell
- In Conversation with Francoise Mouly
Françoise Mouly is a Paris-born French artist and designer best known for her work with RAW, a showcase publication for cutting edge comic art, and as art editor of The New Yorker, a position she has held since 1993...
at Barnes & NobleBarnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...
, October 2009