The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book - Hardcover

Crumb, R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316163066 ISBN 13: 9780316163064

Publisher: Little, Brown, 1997

Synopsis

This first-ever hardcover retrospective of the legendary underground artist's work features his characters Keep on Truckin', Fritz the Cat, Devil Girl, and Mr. Natural, as well as unpublished rarities and personal reflections from the artist himself. Original.

About this title

Review:

Robert Crumb, world-famous illustrator and definite pervert, got his start in the underground comics scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book is a collection of his best work from the last 50 years (it's got kids stuff, too, which is pretty fascinating). The volume is a welcome reminder that, screwed up as Crumb may be, he's also a tremendously talented, utterly original artist. He artistically embodies a certain segment of the '60s, and as that fades even further into history, Crumb's material becomes more important. Is The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book funny? Yes, certainly, in a coarse, Rabelaisian way; you'll either find it a hoot, or horribly racist and sexist. And it's not for the kiddies, obviously. But R. Crumb is so well known by now, that you probably know which group you fall into, the lovers or the haters. The lovers will find this book a wonderful treat.

About the Author:

Robert Crumb was born in 1943 in Philadelphia. After a period drawing greeting cards, he began to work with MAD creator Harvey Kurtzman on his new humor magazine, Help! After Help! folded, Crumb heard the siren song of the Summer of Love and moved to San Francisco in 1967. He began drawing LSD-influenced comics for various underground newspapers, including The East Village Other and Yarrowstalks. In 1968, the first issue of Zap Comix was published and Crumb hawked copies from a baby carriage in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. Zap Comix was a success and attracted the attention of other artists, including S. Clay Wilson, Victor Moscoso, and Rick Griffin, all of whom joined Zap with issue 2. Crumb's comics mixed a nostalgia for comics' rich history with a psychedelic exuberance. Crumb produced many more comics in the late sixties and early seventies, including Despair, Motor City, Big Ass Comics, Home Grown Funnies, People's Comix, and Your Hytone Comics, as well as the books Head Comix and Fritz the Cat. Pursued by hustling businessmen who wanted to merchandise his characters Mr. Natural and Fritz the Cat, Crumb retreated to rural California. In 1981, Crumb started Weirdo, a new anthology magazine featuring his own new work, the comics of a new generation of young cartoonists, and intriguingly strange work by certifiable "outsider" cartoonists. At the same time, Crumb drew several issues of a new solo comic book, Hup. In 1995, Crumb was the subject of an award-winning film biography, Crumb. Recent books and comics include Kafka, Waiting for Food, and Self-Loathing. Crumb lives in France with his wife, the artist Aline Kominsky-Crumb, and their daughter.

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0316163066
• ISBN 13: 9780316163064
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 250