Synopsis
The R. Crumb Handbook Limited Edition contains the first etching of R. Crumb's that has ever been available, a CD of Crumb's original songs, and a linen bound un-jacketed hardcover version of The R. Crumb Handbook. The etching, which is a first from R. Crumb, is signed and numbered. The book contains a bookplate that has a stamped signature and self portrait.
The R. Crumb Handbook is divided into the four enemies of man: FEAR, CLARITY, POWER, OLD AGE. He is the only underground cartoonist to be accepted by the fine art world. Working with his old drinking buddy and co-author Pete Poplaski, the four chapters are easily digested. With over 400 pages of cartoons and photographs, Crumb's often controversially-regarded views toward Disneyland, growing up in America, hippie love, art galleries, and turning 60 are revealed. By tracing his development as a cartoonist from his tormented childhood in the 1940s through to his coming of age as an artist in the psychedelic revolution of the 1960s, Robert Crumb visually treats us to the pressures and influences that the modern mass media has on human consciousness, and includes over 80 personal photographs, and 300 images taken from personal sketchbooks and comic books, as well as fine art from museums. For the serious student of late capitalist culture and the thousands of Crumb enthusiasts everywhere this book is indispensable.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
From the mountains of Southern France where he currently lives and works, pop artist R. Crumb makes a grand entrance back to the publishing world with The R. Crumb Handbook. Part biography, part comic book, and part media critique, the latest Crumb book is a feast indeed. In addition to numerous reprints of Crumb comic hits like Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural, the book also features new works by Crumb, including a hilarious dialogue between the artist and his wife. (Both Crumb's wife and daughter are comic book artists.) Fans already familiar with Crumb’s comic book work will rejoice at the glossy reprints of Crumb oil paintings and sculptures, complete with gallery-owner narratives about working with the artist. There are also record covers reprints that Crumb has drawn over the years, as well as a CD of songs by the artist’s traditional band, R. Crumb and the Cheap Suit Serenaders. But more important, the Handbook helps provide a window into the man himself.
In fact the more you read The R. Crumb Handbook the more you start to understand Crumb is really a political cartoonist, challenging stereotypes, cultural norms, and the media. U.S. media in particular has had a powerful and profound impact on Crumb. Readers will learn what TV shows and books inspired Crumb, the state of comics in the 1960s versus today, the media’s effect on day-to-day life, and what other comics served as models for Crumb in his own work. Artists like Jack Davis, John Stanley, Carl Barks, and the late Will Eisner made powerful impressions on Crumb about what comics could achieve. Crumb offers up some interesting insight into comics during the Great Depression (e.g., Dick Tracy and Superman) and explains how many of these comics mirrored the era and encouraged readers to "fight on" even during tough times. The R. Crumb Handbook is a solid piece of work, not only giving us a glimpse into the artist, but serving as a great read for old and new fans alike. --Pat Kearney
Exclusive Images from the R.Crumb Handbook
Spoiler Alert: View at Your Own Risk!
|
|
|
|
Build Your R. Crumb Library
The Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 19 | Complete Crumb Comics | Your Vigor for Life Appalls Me: Robert Crumb Letters 1958-1977 |
The Life and Death of Fritz the Cat | The R. Crumb Sketchbook Vol. 8: Early 1971 to Mid 1972 | R. Crumb's Kafka |
Crumb in Other Universes
Crumb (DVD) | The Confessions of Robert Crumb (DVD) | The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book |
About the Author
Now internationally recongnized as an artist, cartoonist Robert Crumb once proclaimed, "I am not a STAR! I am just...half a STAR!" Two award-winning documentries have been made about his life and career. He hides with his wife and muse Aline in the South of France.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
