The Comics of R. Crumb

Abstract

The Comics of R. Crumb: Underground in the Art Museum is a ground-breaking collection on the work of a pioneer of underground comix and a fixture of comics culture. Crumb’s work is widely known—he has created the iconic characters Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural, and the Snoid, has collaborated on influential autobiographical comics with Aline Kominsky-Crumb and Harvey Pekar, has drawn album covers like Big Brother & the Holding Company’s Cheap Thrills, has created popular images like the “Keep on Truckin” illustrations widely reproduced on posters and T-shirts, and has been the subject of a major documentary film, Terry Zwigoff’s Crumb. From his work on underground comix like Zap and Weirdo through the 1960s through the 2000s, to his cultural prominence, Crumb is one of the most renowned comics artists in the medium’s history. And, through his involvement in music, animation, and documentary film projects, Crumb is a widely recognized persona, an artist who has defined the vocation of the cartoonist. This volume contains essays from a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives that reflect the breadth of Crumb's work. Ranging from art history and literary studies, to environmental studies and religious history, the essays cast Crumb's work as formally sophisticated and complex in its representations of gender, sexuality, race, politics, and history, while also charting Crumb’s role in underground comix and the ways in which his work has circulated in the art museum. No other comics artist has garnered as much acclaim and controversy as R. Crumb, and this book offers a range of new approaches to the artist’s work.