Product Description
Collecting his political drawings and another series of thematicanthologies from the Grand Master of modern comix. From the right-on60s and 70s to the bitterness and disillusion of the 80s and endingwith the futility of fighting the all powerful system, Crumb covers avariety of political attitudes while retaining his anti-Establishmentopinions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

R. Crumb reviews Amerika, Amerika
This book is a review of R.Crumb's opinion of the USA over a period of 35-odd years, going back to the Vietnam/Civil rights protest era. As such, it includes some of his most hilariously objectionable & outrageous strips, pieces and characters, e.g., Flakey Foont, Anglefood McSpade, Fatback, Whiteman, and Lenore Goldberg and her Girl Commandos. The chunks of Crumb narrative vary from recent (2000-2008) ecotopia-themed polemics to old-fashioned 8-pager-style cartoon pornography, including a personal favorite: "Hi-lites of Detroit", an unusually straightforward presentation of what I assume are R. Crumb's Motor city haunts(his home base is Cleveland).
The older sections are the more objectionable ones. I first started paying attention to him in 1971, with the appearance of Zap Comics, and, in my 20's, with the Sixties still fresh in everyone's mind, R. Crumb was the perfect pallate-cleanser; a strong dose of cynicism to counter the B.S. that the Nixon administration was calling "truth". Thirty-five years later, Crumb has shifted to a wider target, to wit, from American society and politics to society and politics in general. If you are interested in Crumb, warts and all, this will do him proud. If, on the other hand, you are new to his brand of humor, this may be a bit strong. Crumb has never found it necessary to prune his vocabulary to suit any audience, Jewish, hispanic, caucasianor African-American.

But the emperor has no clothes!
One of the finest features of Crumb's genius is his ability to poke fun at himself even as he's ranting and raving about a social system that he genuinely hates.His dismal self-appraisal doesn't negate the value of his social criticism--quite the contrary.It suggests a man who can recognize ranting and raving for the sometimes ludicrous exercise it is, but also recognize that there's good reason for the angry concern that grows into ranting and raving.Thus in this volume's wonderful "Point the Finger," a diatribe against unscrupulous fatcats such as Donald Trump, Crumb depicts himself as a spineless nerd who's good at dishing it out but not so good at taking it.Yet the point about fatcats is still taken.Similarly, in an untitled page that appears early on, Crumb makes fun of his paranoia about the U.S. government.But again, the point is taken:the government is an institution which it's not entirely unreasonable to be paranoid about.

R. Crumb's America collects some of his very best social satire, and it's even more devastatingly spot-on now than when he first inked it.He pillaries our throw-away society; the self-imposed burdens of uptight, white, middle-class males; institutionalized and freelance violence in our culture; the fakeness of high society; the American faith in technology; and racial stereotypes.It's all very funny, and sometimes sexy.But it's also all very serious.Curious, that a cartoonist is much better than talking heads or Ph.Ded suits at spotlighting the greed, narcissism, and fear that dominates our society.

I suspect that one of the things that makes Crumb such an astute social critic is the same fearlessness (or some might say insouciance) that allows him to draw and publish his sexual fantasies.Crumb, at least when he's inking paper, has no inhibitions.As a satirist, he's naked, unencumbered, unclothed.And that's exactly what's required to see that the emperor has no clothes on either.

IF you only have one of a CRUMB this is the one.
Any Crumb fan would want this collection.Lots of early stuff.If you are an art student you will get somthing out of this as well.Some really DARK stuff in here. However it also shows how ahead of his time he is(was) regarding Ecology and overpopulation. He actually is a GREEN CRUMB!

CERTAINLY worth buying
Like Daniel Clowes of "Eightball" fame, it could be fairly said that Robert Crumb's earlier work is his best work -- not to say his later stuff is poor -- far from it. But his earlier work has a raw cynicism, an aggression, a desperation, a sadness, and a hilarious sense of hysterical, neurotic humour which is self mocking and stops him from ever coming across as overtly judgemental, arrogant or holier than thou.

Most of this collection is from his 70's to early 80's work -- IMHO his best stage.

Regarding these packaged/themed collections/volumes of his work -- some of them are lukewarm, and padded out by his wife's ( imho not so great ) work, and assorted sketches and so on -- this is frustrating. There is nothing worse than shelling out good money for classic Crumb, getting home, ripping off the plastic wrapping -- only to find you can read the expensive volume in half an hour or less, because most of the damn book is made up of ( not always worthy ) sketches.

This book, however, is classic neurotic, disturbed, misanthropic, crazy Crumb in all his unique glory, from the 1st to the last page, and is NOT repeat NOT padded out by collector's filler sketches and ephemera for the obsessive fans.

It is an excellent misanthropic attack on humanity in general.

Don't miss it -- insightful, intelligent and stupidly funny.

For cynics, recluses,obsessives,weirdos,outsiders, the lonely, fools, mystics and misanthropes everywhere, prepared to laugh hard at themselves and their own views,opinions and certainties.


Crumb at his glorious, hateful , wittiest finest. ... Read more

Product Description
Randy Robert: Crumb's secret fantasies revealed

They have little to do with the standard procreative urge, Mr. Crumb admits. He has also said he finds nothing more boring than someone else's sexual obsessions, and yet through his long career the world's most famous underground cartoonist has felt compelled to include his own sex fantasies in his art. He explains it as a compulsive catharsis, while fans call R. Crumb's erotic fantasies the Master at his best.Now Crumb has selected his most intimately revealing comic strips and single page drawings to create a 256 page encyclopedic trip through his sexual psyche. All images were created between 1980 and 2006, and all strips are colored for a lush vibrancy never seen in his comic books. In total the book features 14 complete stories, including My Troubles With Women II, If I Were a King, A Bitchin' Bod and How To Have Fun With a Strong Girl, as well as 62 single page drawings.

This signed, slipcased, limited edition of 1,000 copies is a work of art in itself, with every part of the book--case, front and back covers, spine, introduction and pre-introduction pages--created for this project by Robert Crumb. Each book also comes with a print on mould-made age-resistant hahnemuehle paper pulled from an original watercolor by Robert Crumb.

The artist admits it's a little scary to see his most fevered obsessions collected and to end like this, but fans will find R. Crumb's Sex Obsessions a fascinating peek inside an often tortured, always brilliantly talented mind, as well as an unparalleled collector's item. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

crumb and taschen
Taschen and Robert Crumb together? Unbelievable, and that's exactly what this volume is, rich in color and otherwise unavailable stories. This is a massive compendium of one of the greatest artists of the last half a century. With a pulled, surprise print enclosed in it's own bound sleeve, this is truly a collector's item, but don't save for resale, open and enjoy. His work delves into not only his own obsessions and insecurities, but is one of the most insightful individuals rendering on paper the human condition. More often than not, it is right on cue and right on track. Slipcassed, signed, numbered and set in it's own private corrugated packaging, this is one volume absolutely not to be missed. But, you better hurry, only 1,000 copies were set for sale along with 200 artist's proofs set aside, so it won't be available long. The print enclosed, original art quality! Not a detail was missed. Thanks Taschen.

A TRUE QUALITY ITEM
WOW! I JUST PURCHASED THIS AND ALTHOUGH I WAS WARY OF THE HIGH PRICE, I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED! WITHOUT GOING INTO DETAIL I WILL SAY THAT ANYONE WHO ADMIRES ROBERT CRUMB SHOULD HAVE THIS. THE AUTOGRAPH ALONE IS WORTH IT AND THE SELECTED NUMBERED AND STAMPED PRINT IS ALSO WORTH IT BUT THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOK ARE THE REAL PLEASURE HERE. RARE AND COLORED STRIPS AND SKETCHES MAKE THIS A FANTASTIC READ. BEAUTIFULLY PUT TOGEHTER. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! ... Read more

Product Description
Vol. 14 covers 1980. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Crumb lays it all out for you, as usual
Crumb lays it all out for you, as usual

Robert Crumb's work beggars imagination and description. In these works from the early 1980s, he displays his usual wide range of eccentric tastes. My favorites: curmudgeonly Etoin Shrdlu lusts after the disco dancers on late night Japanese TV and is pulled into the action! Crumb illustrates a debauched slice of Boswell's London Journal! Former Catholic School girls Sharon and Karen experience a harrowing bar encounter with a scraggly Boz Scaggs!And in two separate strips, Crumb illustrates his and loner/loser George Murkoid's pathetic (and gymnastic) midlife crises and semi-flings!

Indescribable. Definitely NC-17 material if not borderline X.

Love it (even though I don't care much for the cover drawing)
I'm glad I finally ordered a copy of this book! I had put this one off not expecting I would care for it much and just wanted to complete my "Complete Crumb" set. Wow! I'm so glad I did...! Lots of good stuff in here! As usual, there is 5-15% that I don't care for at all -- and a whole lot of what excites me!

The book starts off slow and unexciting, like a slow-rolling ride at an amusement park, but not badly, with a not-terribly-titillating introduction by the artist and a four or six black and white comics he illustrated for Harvey Pekar which have a strange effect on me as if they are both great and underwhelming at the same time. Then the book steps up into the story from which the cover drawing came. Not my favorite Crumb character, that coneheaded fellow, but it began to wake me up. Ah. Then a faux 2-page advertisement, MAD magazine style, "Weirdo makeovers" which -- nah, it's not enjoyable to me either but only took up 2 pages,then we go into 6 or 10 pages of various and sundry stuff, some I like a lot, other things, eh. Then the comic about Sharon & Karen meeting the famous rock star Boz. (I guess that means Scaggs?) Interesting and strange! Then a weird comic one-pager I don't like the art enough to read yet, then a "klassic komic" where Crumb illustrates part of a diary of a guy that lived in London 1762-63, which I found somewhat fascinating, I'll skip the next section over to his 5-page remembrance of the Sixties. Great stuff! Oh, and I just LOVE the way he illustrated the lyrics to a few songs, showing what those songs made him think of. The one for the song "My Guy" had me laughing out loud!

There's a whole mixed bag of stuff in this book, and that's for sure! Later in the book is a story about his mid-life crisis when he almost gave up doing comics. (So glad he made it through that!!) That was interesting, sad and funny and delightful. One particularly cute part is when it shows him dumping the "doody" from a dirty diaper while his little daughter looks on with great interest as Crumb is singing, "Bye bye Mr. Doody," hahaha. Okay. I'm sick. Only sick people read this comics I guess! But I don't hate everybody as the Amazon reviewer suggested in characterizing Crumb's fans. It's a long comic, the part about his mid-life crisis, with him messing around with a girl other than his wife, talking to his wife in the house and in bed, talking with a neighbor, fantasizing, ruminating on his record collection that he holds so dear, and finally with the happy "ending" of his getting back to drawing (and his wife threatening to cry if he doesn't draw her to make her look nicer). Great stuff! There is more, but that's all I'll mention in this review except to say I have read most of the Complete Crumb series now and I give them ALL 5 stars, so YES, I guess I'm prejudiced -- and happily so! (smile) ... Read more

Product Description
Personally selected by the artist, these drawings include much material never seen before. Volume 5 covers 1967 and 1968, when Crumb was crowned King of the Undergrounds. See a world-famous artist at work, developing ideas."I'm anxious to see the Sketchbooks come out," sez R. Crumb. And all comics fans should be, too, for the R. Crumb Sketchbook series reprints Crumb's personal sketchbooks, the immediate products of Mr. Obsessive Sketcher's genius. Personally selected by the artist, the drawings in these volumes include much material never seen before, not even in the German "2001" editions of the sketchbooks (which are long out of print anyhow). Volume 5 covers 1967 and 1968 — the time when Crumb was crowned King of the Undergrounds — and includes drawings of "flower children" and strips with the famous characters such as Mr. Natural, Shuman the Human, and Eggs Ackley. (And not-so-famous characters such as Bob Dill, the Folk-Singing Pickle.) Unexpected gems and early versions of famous pieces leap out at you as you glance through the book. A case in point this time: remember the famous EVO "Mr. Natural as a vacuum-cleaner salesman" cover, which showed the sage/huckster alarming Mrs. Suburban Housewife? (Fantagraphics used the image on a t-shirt.) This characteristically Crumb-esque piece, symbol of mainstream America's confusion face-to-face with the explosion of the late '60s, appears in an early version here in Volume 5. Just rousted from the artist's imagination, Mrs. Housewife still sports curlers and a housedress, and looks like she hasn't had her first cup of coffee yet. See a world-famous artist at work, developing ideas. Cameo by Mickey Mouse. Black-and-white illustrations throughout ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

One of Crumb's three passions
Crumb has got to be one of the most confessional artists of all time, and certainly the most confessional artist ever in his chosen genre.In both interviews and art, he not only relates the external facts of his life but also turns his id inside-out.The three passions of his life, he's said, are sex, music, and his art, and all three of them get intertwined in both his personal life and his work.

My Troubles with Women is a collection that especially speaks to the first passion.Crumb fans know he's attracted to large, firm women, that he has what might be described as a foot and leg fetish (as a child he would latch himself onto the legs of his mother's friends), and an incredibly creative fantasy life that involves sexual attraction to such extravagances as vulture-women.(The interview in D.K. Holm's R. Crumb:Conversations entitled "Creme de la Crumb," pp. 141-57, is especially instructive.)But fans also know that Crumb's autobiographical art, while honestly portraying sexual fantasies, poke fun at the artist.

So in "If I Were King," Crumb goes on a fantasy spree, imagining all the women he could have as a powerful monarch--but the monarch is still nerdy, hollow-chested, creepy Crumb.In "Dirty Laundry Comics," he pokes fun at his aging body and its never-ceasing desire for sex, and also worries about the effects his comics will have on his daughter.In "Memories Are made of This" and "Footsey," Crumb recalls youthful bittersweet sexcapades:his sexual frustrations in high school, his rather predatory dating routines as a young man.And in the eponymous "My Troubles with Women," Crumb recounts more sexual adventures, but also highlights a period of impotence in his mid-30s.

As usual, the artwork is fantastic, and the storylines interesting and thoughtful (although the three stories done in collaboration with Aline Kominsky, as other reviewers have pointed out, aren't quite successful).Throughout, Crumb's honesty is both appealing and, for some, off-putting.What I find so fascinating and good about Crumb's work is his uninhibited ability to expose his deepest fantasies to the light of day.All of us have 'em.But almost none of us will own them.Wonder why that is?

Pretty Good
This is a fun book for R. Crumb fans. Not a overall view of his work and most of this can be found in some of his other collections. But if you are a hardcore fan you should have this one as well.

hilariously revolting and splendidly non-PC
In the heart of every man, I suspect, lies at least a bit of adolescent misogyny.I grew up reading Crumb, who hit the scene right as my adolescence was beginning.Crumb gets the alienation that non-jock boys feel in this society of the young, and wraps absolutely wonderful and hilarious stories around these issues.And he graphically portrays sex in the most unsparing terms, verging on the truly grotesque.Then there is his taste for steatopaegic women!!

This collection is perhaps his best:his humor, his ongoing anger at women, and his strange (and ultimately supremely satisfied) tastes come through in a way no one else could do it.The first story is the best, long on autobiography and utterly hilarious.From an inhibited and unpopular boy, stardom in the underground comic revolution catapulted Crumb into the rank of superstar counter cultural artists.I believe that he deserves his fame, as his vision is dark and unique and perfectly realized in his work.SO with this fame, he goes about experimenting on the women who now fawn on him, after rejecting him.He loves them and despises them and mistreats them, all while realizing the emptiness of his game.The following stories really don't tell us anything new, but they are still awfully funny and outstandingly worth the read.

There are also the comics done in cooperation with his wife, which simply lack the tightness of his writing in the solo pieces.Her drawing style is seriously inferior to his, but there is no question that they share a vision and that this is a new departure in his work, more realistic but also satirical - it covers married life that is strange and "cute as a bug's ear".It is funny and playful, if not quite a 5-star performance.Moreover, some of the material is recycled from older Crumb, which fans would notice.

Needless to say, women do not appreciate his deliciously lascivious cynicism about their part of the species.They see him as pathetic and misogynous, and they are right in their own way.But men get what he is saying, in all its cruel detail.Sure, it is pretty adolescent, but as Hughes said in the film, he really is a modern-day Hieronymous Bosch.

Crumb!
I think it is useful to have seen the documentary "Crumb", to enjoy his work.He is an amazingly confessional artist who has turned his own obsessions and fantasies into a an amazing career.It doesn't get any better than that.

Great Introduction to Crumb
This was the first Crumb comic collection I have purchased. I had read about him for years, I always had it on the backburner to get some of his stuff, but never got around to it. I made a mistake in waiting, but it was worth the wait. Crumb is the rare combination of great storyteller and artist. I have the feeling I will read this collection several times, the first time to enjoy the stories, and the next several consecutive times to absorb the great artwork.
'My Troubles With Women' documents Crumbs sexual 'proclivities' from a young lad riding women's legs, high school crushes on Amazonian girls that other boys called 'fat', to comic groupies that Crumb lives out all his thick thighs/bubble butt fantasies with. It's all terribly interesting stuff.
The only low point in this collection is the inclusion of comics that were collaboration with his wife. His wife's forte is not comics, maybe she is an artist, but this is not her medium. Her drawings are flat and uninspired when compared to Crumb's style. Plus the dialog is ham handed and boring. It was a real chore trying to slog through these pages. I guess the "...troubles with Women" include the wife, but the husband and wife stuff seems out of place in this collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Your Vigor for Life Appalls Me
R. Crumb's Your Vigor for Life Appalls Me is an excellent look into the life of the adolescent underground comic.His letters to his two boyhood pals, Mike Britt and Marty Pahls, seethe with teen angst and the first hints of what would appear in his comics show up in these letters.

If one reads these letters carefully, and considers the autobiographical movie Crumb,the essence of the artist is really displayed for all to see.There is also an excellent book on Crumb interviews that helps to fill in the gaps; however, the interviews become repetitive after reading a few.

The one thing that stands out in Your Vigor... is how obsessed Robert was with drawing AND collecting comics and how he turned that obsession into a fine career as probably the most respected of the underground comic artists that came out of the 60s.

Two thumbs up...an excellent read.

5 Stars -- for Truly Dedicated Fans of R. Crumb Only
Since I AM a dedicated fan of R. Crumb, I give this book 5 stars -- but i'll also be the first to tell you that unless you are either over the top about Crumb (like me) or are a rapid comics book collector enthusiast (which I am becoming) then this book really won't offer you much of anything.

For people who enjoy the fine details and like to read about Crumb like you were studying a fine masterpiece of an artist, this book is very meaningful. I think also it would be a great book for anyone who feels they want to become a comic artist.

All that said, if I were NOT a Crumb fan and a comics book fan, I would have given this book 2 to 3 stars.

So much more than just lines on paper on folks..
Dedicated collectors of Crumb will appreciate this book for what it is - a genuine tribute to hope and youthful enthusiasm through the eyes of 'the first punk' (see "Confessions of..").

"Your Vigor for Life Appalls Me" adds a deeper layer of insight into Crumb's fascinating family life and his discovery in the 1950's of a world outside his closed Catholic existence.And fittingly, between the lines of Crumb's writing, so to are the rich lives of Marty Pahls, Mike Britt and Charles-Maxon-Sandra-Carol-Beatrice-Charles Snr Crumb.All people whose lives were one way or another turned inside-out by the works of Harvey Kurtzman, Charles Barks, and ultimatetly - one Robert "voice of countercultureMrSixtiessexpervertlovechildidealistonceinagenerationGENIUS" CRUMB.

I'm 27 and find Robert Crumb's comics to be the work a 'classic' modern artist.Yes I've suffered the appalled looks and barbs of many a dissident, but I maintain that even when his work is grotesque and repellent you can't help but be fascinated by this man's focus and tenacity.OK, does anyone not know that Crumb loves voluptuos, fleshy women and doesn't mind getting kinky with 'em?I mean is that pretty much absolutely VERY OBVIOUS BY NOW FOLKS??AND that he had the kind of troubled childhood that is vividly echoed in this (very endearing!) book of letters?

This is a chidhood/teenagehood that I think people of our time would be able to relate to.. particularly those who are creatively inclined or at an early age blankly questioned subjects such as religion, philosophy, art, 'fandom', what makes things 'good' or meaningful, family, the unknown.. Here we see Crumb asking these questions that at some stage in an artists life, just have to be asked.To paraphrase - "Could pretty much all of what I've been told is good and true be made up of lies? Would they actually do that just to make a buck?"

This book establishes that even in his early teens, Robert Crumb was an individual with talent, passion and an incredible focus. And the letters are hardly 'tedious'..Knowing full-well what Crumb would become is half the joy of reading this book, which if you've read this far you know you must purhcase.ESSENTIAL for the Crumb collector.

Probably for completists , mostly...
This collection of letters focuses primarily on R. Crumb's life from age 16 to about age 21.It's particularly useful in its presentation of how the budding artist formulated his views while he was still in such an impressionable stage of life.All 50 of the letters printed in this volume are addressed to one or the other of his youthful friends (Mike Britt and Marty Pahls), with whom he shared the primary interests of comic-book collecting (fandom) and collecting records from the 1920s.A lot of the content of these letters consists of lists of comics and records with the accompanying minutiae relating to them.While this makes for tedious reading at times, it demonstrates the obsessive passion Crumb had for the worlds of these particular collectibles.Sprinkled among the letters are incompletely formed philosophical tracts about isolation, religion, the commercialism of American society, and personal relations. It also includes some examples of early artwork which Crumb included within his letters to his friends. While this collection does not present Crumb's evolution past his early-20s, it does give the reader a sense of an idealistic, youthful, and sometimes sweet R. Crumb that his fans are unlikely to find elsewhere. So while I would recommend this to Crumb completists, I would suggest that those less knowledgable about the artist start with Zwigoff's documentary, "Crumb", or "The R.Crumb Coffee Table Art Book".

Glimpses into the psyche of a comix genius
It is easy to deconstruct the graphic ouvre of R. Crumb.This does notmean that understanding his creative mind is an easy task.This collectionof his letters from the early years of his career gives the reader aglimpse into the passions and motivations of America's formost culturaliconoclast.

This book is not for the Politically Correct crowd, which isa blessing.Crumb is not only honest in his creative work, but indescribing his attitudes about American popular culture--the more obscurethe expression, the more he appreciates it.

A must-have for any scholarof pop culture. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review
Robert Crumb is one of America's most radical, incisive, andtalented cartoonists. The Complete Crumb Comics: The Early Years ofBitter Struggle is the first of a multivolume series, and includespreviously unpublished strips created from 1958 to 1962. Crumb'searliest works, some written when he was as young as 15, range from anencounter with Dracula ("I didn't try to escape Dracula, my mindwas consentrated [sic] on one thing . . . I was thirsty . . . verythirsty") to Nikita Khrushchev's 1958 visit to theU.S. ("Ever watchful guards stay with Khruschev during arefreshing hot bath."). Crumb aficionados and neophytes alikeshould rejoice in this classic collection of comic strips;sketchbooks; underground comics; dramatic and autobiographical strips;classic cartoon creations Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural; and a pithy,biographical preface by Crumb's friend Marty Pahls. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

I liked this book much more than I expected to like it!
The reviewer that said this comics artist was the child to the man hit the nail on the head. I personally found this background and art to be fascinating. Maybe I would not feel this way if I were not already a big Crumb fan (and had not also seen the Zwigoff film CRUMB).

It is true that the drawings are less professional, and sometimes the pencil is rather light, etc., but I am really, really glad I got this volume. I'll said it again: I liked this volume MUCH more than I expected to like it!

However, if you or the person you are buying for is unfamiliar with or new to R. Crumb comics, I'd say start with Vol. 3 or Vol. 4. Once a person becomes a big fan they are probably going to want this down the road however.

before crumb found his style (this comic is boring)
it has a boring intro by some guy who isn't even robert crumb. if it was by robert crumb it would be more interesting probably. then there is a bunch of crappy comics by robert crumb that really suck. this is defenitly for the more hardcore crumb fan and not someone who is looking to check out robert crumb's work to see if they like it like I did. honestly I didn't even read the whole thing yet cuz I thought it sucked. only get this if you are already a fan of robert crumb and don't get it if you are just starting out. that is my only advice.

The child is father to the man
This first volume of the collected works of Robert Crumb focuses on the comix he drew between 1958 and 1962.Still a teenager during this time (he was born in 1943), Crumb entered the comix world by collaborating with his older brother Charles.The two knocked out a monthly called "Foo" which they tried to hawk at their high school--there were no takers--and then desperately peddled from door-to-door, telling reluctant housewives that the mag was a "school project."But thanks to a good network system that connected aspiring comix authors, Robert (by this time Charles had lost interest and dropped out of the comix scene) managed to touch base with like-minded folks outside of his Philadelphia/Delaware area.One of them was Marty Pahls, a student in Ohio, who encouraged Crumb and eventually married one of Crumb's sisters.The truly excellent introduction to this volume is written by Pahls.

As one would expect, the art and storylines in Crumb's earliest work are uneven.But what stands out are the precocious sophistication of the work--it's hard to imagine that it's done by a teenage kid--and the fact that certain trademark Crumbian themes can be discerned even this early.The obvious differences between Robert's and Charles' talents also come through.The two brothers collaborated for a time in writing "two man comics," each drawing separate panels and challenging the other to respond and continue the story ("Treasure Island Days," pp. 21-42, is a two man comic).Charles' drawings look like they came straight out of the Disney factory that so impressed him.They're great from a technical perspective, but there's little imagination and no originality obvious to them.Robert's stuff, on the other hand, is already breaking molds.

In this early material, Crumb experiments with different drawing styles--although his characteristic cross-hatching is already obvious--and his story lines, even while not always successful, almost always contain some quirkily funny panels.In the 1958 "My Encounter with Dracula," for example, the famous vampire has a portrait of Bela Lugosi on the wall of his castle.It's captioned "Father" (p. 12).In the 1960 "Robin Hood," Crumb has the Sheriff of Nottingham, a duck, trying to figure out where a fake villain's mustache ought to go on his beak (p. 63).And the entire 1958 "Khrushchev Visits U.S." (pp. 14-15) is hilarious as well as containing incredible visual detailing.

Fritz the Cat makes an early appearance in the 1960 "A Christmas Tale" (pp. 91-91), predictably trying to seduce a friend's wife.But Fritz's efforts are unsuccessful, and he winds up spending Christmas alone and forlorn--two themes that reappear in several pieces in this volume.Alienation and sexual frustration are trademarks in Crumb's work, but they're heartbreakingly painful in such early material, especially in "A Sad Comic Strip," the 1962 piece that ends this volume.It, along with several other selections (pp. 95-105), has a Jules Feiffer feel, but it also clearly has Crumb's thumbprint on it.

This inaugural volume into Crumb's collected works offers a fascinating insight into the early days of a true genius.Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (5)

Just a mouthful (but that's better than nothing)
It amazes (and dismays) me that there's no serious secondary work on the art of R. Crumb.He's one of the most important artistic voices to come out of late twentieth-century America.His satiric comix offer social criticism, invite us to rethink sexual and racial taboos, and delight us with their skillful and beautiful artwork.Crumb's influence on a whole generation of artists, literati, musicians, cultural commentators, and ordinary guys like me is undisputed.Yet the scholars insist on ignoring him, and this is bothersome.

That's why D.K. Holm's little book is refreshing, even though inadequate.It's relatively up to date, appearing merely five years ago, and ends with a 2002 interview with Crumb (which is also reprinted in Holm's R. Crumb:Conversations, University of Mississippi Press).Moreover, the book provides a decent overview of Crumb's life and career, although curiously the biographical chapters get thinner as the book progresses and Crumb ages; you'd think just the opposite ought to happen.Finally, Holm offers pretty good synopses of some of Crumb's most pivotal work, including (somewhat uncritical) evaluations of it.Along the way, Holm briefly discusses some of the influences on Crumb, a few of the themes in his work, and the phases his work has gone through:from greeting card stuff to the LSD-inspired breakthrough to the years of despair, to the move toward realism to the latest (although only mentioned) "mystic" stage.

All this is to the good, and Holm is to be thanked.But it's all too brief, too impressionistic, too sketchy.What we really need is someone (Robert Hughes, perhaps?) either to put together a collection of critical essays on Crumb the artist/thinker/iconoclast, or to write a booklength critical examination of him.But until that time comes, Holm's little book is at least something.

Curiously Formless
Mr. Holm really needed an editor for this shapeless mess.It dabbles in biography and bibliography and manages to gradually become a series of reviews of several Crumb publications (seemingly randomly selected), but if you know anything about Crumb to begin with, you don't need this book.I found it slapdash and frustrating-- but it did drive me back to the Crumb comix and collections in my basement, so I guess I should be forgiving....

Essentially Crumb
Reading about this notoriously "sexist" and "racist" comic book artist, I was gratified by Holm's unpacking of these controversies in terse prose, while supplying abundant facts in fleshing out Crumb's work and fascinating story. This thin paperback gets a lot covered and defends Crumb's artistic and life choices without suffering from sycophantic dribbling. Bravo!

Whet my Appetite for More
I can't imagine a better book for becoming acquainted with one of our national treasures. I'd read others of the Pocket Essentials series, and this is one of the best. For those looking for fully-illustrated narratives, they'd best look elsewhere. But bang-for-the-buck'ers (like me) are well served. Especially liked the interview.

Not So Essential!
Having liked other volumes in this series pertaining to films, I held out hope that this tome would be a useful one in defining the career of Robert Crumb...Alas, I cannot recommend this book.Basically, my main problem with this book is the lack of illustrations.Without them the reviews of the various strips Crumb has created come off as something akin to a book report on comics...What's the point?Just go out and find the comic.All of the comics reviewed are in print, and frankly the $6.95 would be better spent on the works themselves.There are many typos within the book making some sentences read awkward and hard to figure out...Dates for publications are not always correct, and the book feels as if it could have used a proofreader.On a positive note, it does include a new interview with R. Crumb conducted by mail which does shine some new light on what he's been up to, but if you've seen the Crumb Documentary and read the R. Crumb Coffee table book, then this book is pretty redundant...If you haven't done the above, put the money you'd spend on this thin volume towards those two items for a much better overview of "The Works Of Crumb".Sorry Mr. Holm, but I do look forward to your anthology of Crumb Interviews mentioned on the back cover...That will probably be more worth it. ... Read more

Product Description
So is he a misogynist or isn't he? This might be the place to find out, with "The Many Faces of R. Crumb" and the nasty title story. Plus Crumb's weird funny-animal stories, illustrations from the cookbook "Eat It," and more!Robert Crumb's long day's journey into the '70s continues with this volume of classic material from 1972 and 1973. The sunny psychedelic era is a fading memory for the counterculture, and Crumb's work of that period reflects a darker, more introspective artist at work. This volume includes Crumb's first collaboration with Harvey Pekar—a long partnership that would help turn Pekar into an alternative comics star. This politically incorrect volume spotlights some of Crumb's most outrageous strips, including the complete contents of XYZ Comics, plus selections from Zap #6, Tales from the Leather Nun, San Francisco, and others. This volume also includes the ultra-rare drawings from the 1972 cookbook Eat It written by Crumb's ex-wife (20 pages' worth—a bonanza for Crumb lovers), rare and unpublished album cover art, and (in full color) Crumb's funny spoof of fellow undergrounder Jay Lynch's Nard 'n' Pat. All this, plus an all-new cover and introduction by the ol' Pooperoo himself—is it any wonder this is one of the most highly acclaimed and best-selling collections of classic comics ever released? 16 color, 128 black & white illustrations ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Momentary Lapse Of Focus
It is difficult- if not impossible- for an artist to hide signs ofburn-out. The evidence is there in black & white, on the paper for allto see. When that artist is Robert Crumb, normally accustomed to puttinghis soul into his work, the result is painful to observe. Crumb demandsthat we witness his anxieties, refusing to quit working even in the face ofphysical & mental exhaustion (1972 & 73 were pretty heavy years forR.C.!). The results, though damn good, are still not up to the snuff of hisprevious period. In this volume you'll find Crumb's work on 'XYZ Comics','ZAP #6', 'BLACK AND WHITE' (featuring the classic male fantasy response tofeminist criticisms: 'R. Crumb Versus The Sisterhood'), 'EAT IT!' (acookbook by Dana Crumb that Robert illustrated) and 'FUNNY AMINALS'(containing 'What A World!': one of the sickest pieces Crumb has everundertaken!). So, after all the naysaying, why the four star rating?Because lesser Crumb is still a helluva lot better than most undergroundartists at their peak! 'Nuff said.

Crumb in Your Face
This book collects some of comic artist R. Crumb's most infamous work.His dark vision of sexual relations (which crosses, at times, the border of misogyny), is at its most extreme in this volume. Angered by feministattacks on his work, the intent of these stories and drawings seems to beto bait his critics, embodying every object of their scorn.What shinesthrough on every page is Crumb's fundemental honesty, and his brillance atdepicting these raw emotions and frustrations.

Not for all tastes, to besure, but essential for an understanding of Crumb's work. ... Read more

Product Description
WAITING FOR FOOD, Volume 1: Limited S&N edition of 250 by ROBERT CRUMB. This signed & numbered edition includes a special bookplate signed and numbered by Crumb. This is the first of several volumes reproducing the famous French restaurant place mats on which Crumb drew while literally Waiting for Food. The original illustrated place mats (especially the ones with wine and gravy stains) routinely sell in galleries for around $5,000 and more each. This 1995 Kitchen Sink Press first printing is the only one of the Waiting for Food series (by several publishers) to sport a dust jacket and this is also the ONLY signed edition. The cover features daughter Sophie Crumb and also eating spaghetti on the bookplate is Crumb s close friend Pete Poplaski (see also Sketchbook Adventures of Peter Poplaski ). The drawings inside often portray his wife Aline Kominsky-Crumb, self-portraits, numerous café customers and the expected Crumb fantasy elements. Limited to just 250 signed and numbered copies, published in 1995, this is the last of the publisher s private stash set aside over a decade ago! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Product billed as "signed" copy
I bought this book on Amazon.com mainly because it was a "signed" edition.It wasn't signed.

great
absolutly great for every sketch artist ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The best alternative comic ops comix ;-)
Very good product.
Arrived just in time.
Good conditions.
I am happy ;-)

Till next time.
Renato ... Read more

Product Description
comic strips and stories ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

makes you proud to be an American
Kurt Vonnegut said that. Makes me proud to be an American. And Crumb will make you feel good about America too. This collection of Crumb's treatment of the Blues is about American music. True, Crumb hates music produced by the music industry and so I suppose most music I love and you probably do too. His favorite music was made a long time ago and he loves it because it was music made by real people living in communities for their communities. It wasn't produced by an "industry" for the main purpose of making money. I feel where Crumb is coming from on that, but, imo, he goes too far. I like a lot of music produced by the music industry. A blurb describes Crumb as a moralist with a blown mind. In this collection the Charlie Patton strip is my favorite and like the other reviewer said is worth the price alone. I also dug the trippy stuff at the back and "The Repudiation of Keep On Trucking" was interesting and is about his feelings on this modern music "Dance of Death".

Must be jelly 'cause jam don't shake like that...
R. Crumb is not only a graphic genius.He's also an afficionado of "old music"--blues, jazz, and blue grass--and has been collecting '78s since he was a teenager.His love for the music of the 1920s and '30s is paralleled by his disdain--and sometimes active hatred--of things contemporary:fastfood culture, faddish art, loud electric music, the American ethos (which he forsook for the life of an expatriot in France in the mid 1990s).For Crumb, the "old music's" attraction isn't just because it sounds better than the newer stuff.Its appeal lies also in the fact that it's a craft, a reflection and builder of community, not the latest product from an industry whose bottom line is profit and whose identity changes almost daily.

R. Crumb Draws the Blues pulls together some of the artist's best music-themed work, reflecting both his love of the old stuff and his contempt for the new.Three of the pieces are dramatic biographies of blues greats Charley Patton (1891-1934), Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941), and Kansas City Frank Melrose (1907-1941).Each of the biographies, especially Patton's and Jelly Roll's, are drawn in dark, ominous tones--only appropriate, since all three of their subjects led unsettled, torturous lives (Jelly Roll was convinced he was voodoo-cursed), and all three died young (Melrose was beaten to death).

Crumb's love for the "old music" is expressed in "That's Life," a wonderful story about an unknown black sharecropper who travels to Memphis, cuts a record, is killed in a honky-tonk shortly afterwards, and gets rediscovered by a Crumb-like collector forty-odd years later.Good music lives on."Where Has It All Gone, All the Beautiful Music of Our Grandparents?" is a piece that Crumb calls his "diatribe on modern music."It's funny, but it's also a poignant lamentation for an age that's gone forever.

Crumb being Crumb, though, no collection of his work would be complete without a few of his deliciously outrageous rants.R. Crumb Draws the Blues doesn't disappoint in this department."The Old Songs Are the Best" and "Boppin' and Jivin'" are his opportunities to scream in frustration at noise that masquerades as sound."Cubist Bee-Bop Comics" is a (LSD-inspired?) psychedelic romp that at times waxes furious, but at other times seems utterly celebratory.Who knows how to classify it?

All in all, a fantastic collection for Crumb fans.And if you're an "old music" fan, even better!

the crumb bum does it again
this is a must for any crumb and/or blues fan. the charlie patton story is worth the price alone. great stuff! ... Read more

Product Description
Illustrative book of record covers that were produced by Robert Crumb. Bound in illustrative paperwraps. Beautiful color photographs show the record covers that Robert Crumb produced along with a short history of the cover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

This is an incredible biography of Kafka
This is a complete, full-length graphic novel biography of Kafka.In less than 180 pages, the life of this complex & very influential writer to later generations, is told with a completeness that satisfies this reader.His family life, his upbringing, the loves & unrequited loves of his life, his daily work, his influences,his fears, his loves, & his beliefs are all within these covers.His novels are reprised in just a few pages for each one.Aspects of his own life are used to mirror his novels.This is one incredible biography & should already be considered a classic of the graphic novel genre.

Fascinating and funny
I read "The Metamorphosis" in high school, and found Kafka too weird. Having read this book, I now appreciate his weirdness a little better. As always, Crumb's drawings are highly amusing, right down to the authors' self-portraits on page 175.

Crumb's art MAKES this book
I only got this because of Crumb and Igot an unexpected and enlightening education. Kafka could be a difficult and obtuse subject, but the insightful writing and Crumb's amazing art work make it understandable and fascinating. Only R Crumb could pull this off so well.

An Interesting Biography with nice comic book interpretation of Kafka's works.
This book is a biography of Franz Kafka. Throughout the book we get summaries of Kafka's important works and we get to see Crumb's visual interpretation of these stories. That is the best part of the book for me. The biographical side is also very good, explaining a bit of why Kafka wrote like that.

While reading the book, I felt like it is hard to call most of it a comic book, because it has a lot of prose. The parts of the book where we get to see Crumb interpret Kafka's stories definitely feel like a comic book, but the biography section doesn't. However, I thinks this works very well in the book, it makes the stories more alive when the images tell more than just being a drawing.

I enjoyed the book, it is worth reading.

Crumb Fan Must Have
If you are A Crumb Fan or Collect Crumb this is a must have.I bought it used from an approved Amazon seller and received it quickly and in very good condition!I had no idea who KAFKA was but once I picked it up I could not put it down. ... Read more

Product Description
The R. Crumb Handbook Limited Edition contains the first etching ofR. Crumb's that has ever been available, a CD of Crumb's originalsongs, and a linen bound un-jacketed hardcover version of The R. CrumbHandbook.The etching, which is a first from R. Crumb, is signed andnumbered. The book contains a bookplate that has a stamped signatureand self portrait.

The R. Crumb Handbook is divided into the four enemies of man:FEAR, CLARITY, POWER, OLD AGE. He is the only underground cartoonistto be accepted by the fine art world. Working with his old drinkingbuddy and co-author Pete Poplaski, the four chapters are easilydigested. With over 400 pages of cartoons and photographs, Crumb'soften controversially-regarded views toward Disneyland, growing up inAmerica, hippie love, art galleries, and turning 60 are revealed. Bytracing his development as a cartoonist from his tormented childhoodin the 1940s through to his coming of age as an artist in thepsychedelic revolution of the 1960s, Robert Crumb visually treats usto the pressures and influences that the modern mass media has onhuman consciousness, and includes over 80 personal photographs, and300 images taken from personal sketchbooks and comic books, as well asfine art from museums. For the serious student of late capitalistculture and the thousands of Crumb enthusiasts everywhere this book isindispensable.Amazon.com 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

Product Description
A perennial classic: the twelfth volume of the complete cartoon work of the underground cartoonist.Back in print after a several-year absence, the twelfth volume of The Complete Crumb Comics spotlights Crumb’s first collaborations with writer Harvey Pekar, which appeared in Pekar’s magazine American Splendor. This collection also includes a skeptical report-in-comics on an aerospace symposium (commissioned by CoEvolution Quarterly, it comes off like a forerunner of Michael Moore’s cocky documentary films), Crumb’s encounter with a pot-smoking interviewer from High Times magazine, an evocative period piece featuring 1930s jazz musicians, another of Crumb’s collaborative “jams” with wife Aline Kominsky, and other pieces. 8 color, 128 b&w illustrationsAmazon.com Review
Many things have been said recently about artist Robert Crumb, arguably the only creative force from the American 1960s who not only continues to produce work, but also continues to get better and better. The Complete Crumb Comics traces that progress. Volume 12 encompasses work from the late 1970s that Crumb did with autobiographical comics writer Harvey Pekar, as well as comics from CoEvolution Quarterly and Winds of Change. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A Qualified 5 Stars for Volume 12 in this Series
The "qualified" means the book itself is in my opinion a 5-star book. However, those who are either (a) not fans of Harvey Pekar, whose stories Crumb illustrated in much of this volume, or (b) fans of Harvey's who already have these works will be disappointed.

An awful lot of Crumb's work in this volume could be termed as "under the influence of others." That's not usually a bad thing, but die hard Crumb fans that want Crumb and only Crumb might be dissatisfied with this volume, as not only are there a LOT of Pekar stories illustrated by Crumb but also work he did for "Winds of Change," a group in Davis, California trying to fend off agribusiness and promoting alternative energy, as well as a little bit of work done with his wife Aline (where he drew himself and his words and she drew herself and her words) are included in this book. Work that was done by Crumb and Crumb alone is in the minority in this volume -- so much so that I am surprised at the choice of cover illustrations, which had me ready for lots of Crumb childhood nostalgia. And there IS a little bit of that, not not a whole lot.

I should add that Crumb only did and does work with or for those he WANTS to be "under the influence" of -- and the stories he illustrated for Harvey, according to various readings, are only those he personally chose out of a variety of stories. Thus, it IS representative of Crumb for the most part -- and his wife? Well, he married her, didn't he? So whatever she says and does represents him a little bit too. (Although - don't get me wrong - there is not a lot of Aline's work in this volume.)

Genius In The Age Of Dilbert
A unique genius like Crumb is ill suited to collaborative work, the Pekar series is not representative Crumb.

Crumb at it's semi-best
I thought that this book was medioker. It can be better, but for what it was, it was good for the readin' but it's all up to you readers out there! happy crumbin'!

Not top class Crumb.
The best things in this collection were done by Crumb alone.I cannot understand why he chose to illustrate the Pekar stories-they are exceptionally dull .There is little of the uniqueview of the world that Ilove from Crumbs own tales Completistswill want it but its not value formoney.. ... Read more

Product Description
R. Crumb's Zap Comix launched the underground comic book back in 1968, and his signature characters--Keep on Truckin', Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural-went on the become instantly recognizable icons of the hippie era. Now for the first time, Crumb has collected the best of his work in a lavish hardcover volume that everyone interested in pop culture over the last half century will want to own. Illustrations throughout, many in color.Amazon.com Review
Robert Crumb, world-famous illustrator and definite pervert, got his start inthe underground comics scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book is acollection of his best work from the last 50 years (it'sgot 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, utterlyoriginal artist. He artistically embodies a certain segment of the'60s, and as that fades even further into history, Crumb's material becomes moreimportant. Is The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book funny? Yes, certainly, in acoarse, 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 youfall into, the lovers or the haters. The lovers will find this book a wonderful treat. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

R. Crumb has a few demons he'd like you to know about...
He's been called a modern-day Breughel by at least one art critic, and as overblown and preposterous as it might seem to compare a venerated old master to an underground comik artist best known for creating big-footed and big-butted cartoon characters it may well prove to be the case. Something surely happened in art after Abstract Expressionism and Pop besides the usual ebb-tide of fakers and followers who turn innovation into hackwork and leave a lot of smelly flotsam on the scenic shore.

Did we really come to the end? Did we really witness the death of Art, as the postmoderns proclaimed, along with the death of history, and the death of humanity, and the death of everything else? Was there really nothing new, nothing left to do but repeat what had been done, stuffing whatever was left-over into the blender and hitting the puree button?

Maybe. Still-something happened. We just havent recognized yet what it was. Maybe it was R. Crumb.

Surely there are few original artists who can claim to have chronicled his life and times in the late 20th/early 21st century with as much gritty accuracy and critical irony as Crumb. His massive self-retrospective R. Crumb Coffee Table Book brings the arc of his work from the very beginning to when it was published in the mid-90s. Unlike most coffee table books which are meant to sit unread on a coffee table, opened only occassionally to kill time before one must leave for an appointment, or to fill an uncomfortable silence in a difficult conversation, Crumb's coffee table book is actually meant to be read. Filled as it is with his work, the combination of drawing and text can be read and looked at without requiring the sustained concentration that makes reading the fine print that usually comprises the text of large unwieldy coffee table books virtually unreadable; therefore, Crumb's book can be read in its entirety just as it was meant to be. Who would have thought it? Comix are the perfect content for a coffee table book!

What's more, Crumb's autobiographical artwork, introduced at the beginning of each chapter with a chatty page of personal observations, deserves to be read. Most autobiographies are self-justifying mea culpas. Its difficult to look ourselves in the mirror, even more difficult to really see whats there, and very nearly impossible to tell anyone what we saw. Crumb spares himself nothing, or very little--well, let's put it this way. Whatever skeletons he may have kept in his closet he shows us enough bones to make it impossible for us to mistake him as a "nice" guy.

But he does strike one as an honest guy--a brutally honest guy--and that makes him worth knowing and his autobiography worth reading. His artwork (yes lets say it, "art" work) has always been worth seeing. And in addition to everything else, this book makes it clear if it hadn't been before, just how serious Crumb is about his art--a lot more serious, in fact, than a great many painters the art establishment takes seriously today.

An ideal introduction
This is more or less a career encompassing anthology of Crumbs work. You get a taste of every faze he went through. From the early cutesy fuzzy bunny work, the LSD influenced stuff, his sexual fetishs and hangups, the neurotic self loathing introspection, his "counterculture" parody and satire, etc. There is some of every facet of Crumbs work in this along with several interesting handwritten pages where he reflects on his art and comic influences and how he evolved as an artist. He also talks about his love of music and the stages in life that he went through. Overall this would be an ideal introductory book to pick up to check out Crumb.

Just passing thru
Robert Crumb probably despises this book, but he can't deny the quality of the contents and layout. I have always loved the demented artwork and philosophy of R. Crumb,ever since I was a long-haired freak(not a hippie)back in the 60's and 70's. His "comix" captured the insanity of that era with razor sharp wit and insight and since I have no originals to cherish, this book comes as close as I will ever get.
Its oversize pages, allow the details of Crumb's work to stand out, and no effort is spared to showcase the color graphics and psychedelia of that genre. I love the book and am forever grateful the publishers took the time to do it right.

Great collection for the crumb novice OR fanatic.
Back in the mid-90's, when I was but a wee impressionable lad, I thumbed through a copy of this tome at my local Paperback Booksmith (long since defunct). It frightened and excited my young self, and stayed on the back burner of my mind. Fast forward a few years to 2001. Now 13, I begged my parents to order this from Amazon for me. It comes in shrink wrap bearing an 'adults only!' sticker. I tore the plastic off, started reading, and thus began my adulation of Robert Crumb. There are some great stories in here, and while some of crumb's best and most perverted work (Joe Blow, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Mode Oday) is missing, this is still a great, career spanning collection. There's enough rare and unseen stuff to keep hardcore fans happy, and enough background info and 'greatest hits' to keep someone unfamiliar with crumb enthralled. This definitely qualifies under the classic definition of a coffee table book, there's no way you could fit this one on your shelf (vertically, at lest). Due to the size and weight of this book, I would recommend the hardcover binding over the paperback if you want it to last.

Excellent!
I just picked up the hardcover edition yesterday at the bargain section of my local bookstore.Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. It's in chronological order of R. Crumb's work broken into chapters. Each chapter starts with a write up by him telling about what was going on in his life at that time, and how some of the drawings came to be.I find him to be a fascinating artist. He bares his soul in his work, not really caring how he appears or what people think. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (129)

the unholy bible
Why there are people who insist on calling the Bible the "good book" is beyond me. R. Crumb's illustrative "Book of Genesis" illustrates my point literally! I am a student of the Tanakh and read it with a critical eye and I am always surprised by the level of violence, misogyny and outright xenophobia that exists within its pages. I recommend this work to anyone with not only an interest in the Bible but a profound sense of humor as well.

ENCHANTING, DELIGHTFUL AND UNIQUE...Quite an undertaking by Crumb here.
Having been a long time Crumb fan, and I will admit that in many ways, he is an acquired taste, I have wanted to read/own this particular work for some time now.A good Amazon friend, knowing my desire for this thing and knowing my almost legendary tightness with a dollar, and knowing I was having difficulties acquiring this through our local library service, had pity on me and gave me his copy.For that I am truly grateful.This friend most certainly knows what love of books and literature is all about...it is the sharing.My thanks!

Well, after I got my hands on this work and got over the shock of it not being what I expected, I have to say that I am absolutely delighted; delighted cover to cover and through four readings in the short time I have had the book in my hands.This work is rather amazing.

As has been noted, Crumb has fully illustrated the entire book of Genesis. From chapter 1 through 50, the man has not missed a word, nor might I add, has done any fiddling around with the text.I understand that it took the author, Crumb, over five years of very steady work to produce the book and the reader will merely have to glance through it to understand why.Each frame is meticulously drawn, each frame flows flawlessly into the next.I am not sure how many characters have been reproduced via drawing here, but each and every one of them is unique.This fact alone is rather astonishing.

Now before we go farther, it must be noted that the author has placed a tag on the front of the dust jacket which specifically states "Adult Supervision Recommended for Minors."This may or may not be advisable, depending upon your view, beliefs and attitude.I will say that the few scenes depicting nudity and "love making" are pretty mild by today's standards.I can well remember reading these "juicy" parts when I was a "minor," and I can assure you that my imagination was far, far more x-rated than anything Crumb came up with here.I also feel that of the many books in the Bible, this book, Genesis, should be first read with the young child, with or without adult supervision.There are just too many issues of violence, rape, murder, sex, incest, etc. to be dealt with and many of our young need some explanation; guidance to put everything into prospective.

I have had the pleasure of teaching bible classes over the last 40 years or so in the various churches we have attended over the years.My specialty has been the Old Testament.I would not have hesitated for a minute using this work as a supplemental text.As a matter of fact, looking back, I wish I had had access to it years ago.

There is something in this work for everyone.For those that that consider Genesis as a part of our Christian Mythology, and every major and minor religion in the world has one, then this work will fit right in. (I myself fall into this category).For those who are literalist, I find nothing in this work that should offend in the least.For diehard Crumb fans, the work is (from an artistic view), pure Crumb.

On the other hand....

There will be readers who will be disappointed.Some will fall into the camp of wanting Crumbs biting sarcasm to be present and not finding it.Those folks will indeed be disappointed. Some will be looking for a through trashing of the Bible.They will be disappointed.I can see, due to the "imagery" belief, where some Jewish folks may quite well be offended, not by the words certainly, but by the fact that God is indeed depicted.

Another aspect of this work which certainly should not be overlooked is the fact that it makes the reading or rereading of Genesis a true pleasure.As many times (and it has been many) that I have read this chapter, I was delighted in the new take and prospective this work gave to the old, old story.


Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

God works in mysterious ways
I must admit I did a double take when I saw that this illustrated version of the Book of Genesis sprang from the pen of R. Crumb.For those who aren't familiar with Crumb's work, he's pretty much the father of underground comics, an artist whose provocative work has earned him great notoriety and more than a few charges of racism, sexism, and misogyny from his harshest critics.The women in his artwork tend to be rather buxom, overly sexual, and submissive to the men around them, while his depiction of blacks and other minorities oftentimes seem to be rooted in stereotypes.Of course, any great artist is going to have his detractors, and it must be said that Crumb's true genius lies in his satirical and sometimes subversive take on popular culture.Eschewing mainstream comic book culture and the publishing industry that drives it, he has more than earned his place as a cult hero and countercultural icon of the twentieth - and now the twenty-first - century.

Simply put, R. Crumb was one of the last artists I would ever have expected to take on the illustration of a significant portion of the Bible.Even more surprising is the fact that his approach to this illustrated version of the Book of Genesis is not of a satirical or hypercritical nature.This book was a serious effort that involved four years of effort, a great deal of research, and surprisingly serious reflection on Crumb's part.As an agnostic, he approached the Book of Genesis as a work of literature with deep roots in the public consciousness, and he strove to provide a literal presentation of the story (including all of the "begots").I find a great deal of irony in that last point.At a time when many self-professed Christians and Bible translators are busy molding the words of the Bible to fit their own modern-day beliefs, this man who does not consider the Bible to be the inspired word of God set out to base his work as closely as possible on the original text of the Genesis story.

Will this work offend some readers, especially Christians?Obviously, it will - and Crumb knows that.Many probably won't get past the "Adult supervision recommended for minors" label on the front cover.This is unfortunate because I - as a Christian myself - believe that this book holds great benefit to the faithful.What you get here is an amazingly visual, literal presentation of the first book of the Bible, free of the spin and reinterpretation of modern scholars seeking to reshape the story into something in line with their own personal thoughts and ideas.This is nothing less than an invaluable look at the story of Genesis as it was written.Those who get their panties in a bunch over the inclusion of some "graphic scenes" are obviously unaware that the Book of Genesis is a surprisingly graphic text - teeming with sex and violence - to begin with.

I can only marvel at what R. Crumb has accomplished with this unprecedented work, and I must say that I found his several pages of commentary regarding his own thoughts on the story of Genesis quite fascinating and thought-provoking.If nothing else, I believe The Book of Genesis Illustrated truly confirms Crumb's place in the modern-day pantheon of the world's most serious artists. I highly recommend the documentary film Crumb (Special Edition)to those interested in learning more about the life and work of this uniquely fascinating artist.

To read slowly
The most valuable aspect of Crumb's illustration of "Genesis" is that the format requires that the text be read more slowly than if there were no illustrations.I found myself pausing often to contemplate what was taking place in the narrative - more so than I have in prior readings with no illustrations.I noticed things that I had glossed over earlier, such as Jacob repeatedly raising stone monuments - what's that about?None of the other characters do it, yet he seems comparatively obsessed with this activity.

It's clear that "Genesis" was composed from a collection of earlier stories, including two separate, contradictory creation myths, and numerous tales of heroic characters, edited and expurgated over the years until reaching its present form.It's therefore surprising how much negative and even depraved material survived.

I'm grateful to Crumb for the insights he has provided with this, what must have been a monumental work and ultimately a labor of love.

Review of Crumb's 'Genesis'
I don't expect Crumb to carry on and complete an illustrated version of the entire bible, but I would certainly like to see him do so. He offers a livid, revealing edition of Genesis, refusing to shy from any oddities, gore or sexuality. The work is also thorough--he even took the time to illustrate the genealogies present in the book, and offers a unique face to every obscure ancestor of the patriarchs. ... Read more

Product Description
Gathered here are the collected works of the titans of adults comics--legendary underground cartoonist R. Crumb and the "high priest of comic-book naturalism" (Newsweek) Harvey Pekar. The comic collision of these underground luminaries is funny, obsessive, ever-so-slightly neurotic, but always biting and honest. Illustrations throughout. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

rad!
a perfect journey deep down a hellova raw reality... simple stories, straight dialogs, nude thoughts.
Those two deserve a statue in each city of this sad planet !

Much of this is available elsewhere, BUT....
I am directing this message specifically to collectors who are looking for a comprehensive collection:while it is true that much of what has been reproduced here is available elsewhere, there are some things to consider when purchasing this.For starters, 2 of the stories ("Vox Populi" and "Hospital Fun") are unavailable in any of the American Splendor anthologies.Moreover, while they were previously available in "The Complete Crumb Comics, v. 13", that volume is CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT and is commanding high (well over $100) prices online (for a used book which originally sold new for $20).So, as of November 2009, this is the only publication containing the 2 works.I have never read either story and, being a Pekar and Crumb nut, find that this alone warrants a purchase.

However, there are 3 stories WHICH ARE NOT REPRINTED HERE.What I believe to be Crumb's earliest collaboration with Pekar - "Brilliant American Maniacs Series #1: Crazy Ed" - is conspicuously absent.Why omit their FIRST collaboration?Isn't that a logical starting place for such a collection?This story is available in "The Complete Crumb Comics, v. 9" as well as "The New American Splendor Anthology."Also, two Crumb-Pekar collaborations from 2003/2004 are also absent.These can be found in "Our Movie Year" from 2004."The Best of American Splendor"(2005)includes another Crumb/Pekar front cover (of course, the recent material was published after the first edition of "Bob 'N Harv's Comics" came out, but why not publish a new edition including them?)And, speaking of covers, why not include the cover from "American Splendor #1"?Sure, Crumb didn't draw the entire thing, but he did draw a portion.

Of course, to all but completists, this might sound gratuitous.However, to those who might purchase this under the auspice that it contains EVERY collaboration in the Crumb/Pekar cannon, it is important to know what is missing.

P.S.:Now that Pekar is even more well known, why not reprint the original issues of "American Splendor" a la "The Complete Crumb" series?Also, why not collect his jazz criticism (particuarly from the 1960s) in a single volume?These are the projects I'd like to see.

I love Crumb, but ...
... it's the variety of takes on Pekar, provided by a plurality of artists, that makes American Splendor so good.

H. Pekar + R. Crumb = Genius x 2
There's simply no doubt that Harvey Pekar and Robert Crumb are two American geniuses.They've known one another since the early 1960s when they both lived in Cleveland.They have much in common:obsessive collectors, music lovers, misanthropes mellowed (to some extent) by age, dependent on strong wives.But they're also quite distinctive.

Pekar is the analyst of the everyday "outside" world.There's absolutely no one better at exploring the quirkiness, wonder, and occasional tragedy embedded in the quotidian.Like a Zen sage, Pekar has the vision to look at the same world the rest of us see and discern the significance that we miss.

Crumb, on the other hand, is the analyst of the "inside" world, that psychic realm that typically remains hidden, certainly from public view but frequently from private view as well, in which all our deepest fears, lusts, hopes, anxieties, and distorted self-images breed.Crumb peels back the protective layers to exhibit his interior, and in doing so invites us to peep at our own.

Pekar, a writer of insight and raw talent, can't draw.So he commissions artists to collaborate on his stories, and one of them is Crumb.This collection pulls together 31 stories put out by the Pekar/Crumb team between 1977 and 1987.They're brilliant.

The material includes 3 "Jack the Bellboy" stories--Jack is Harvey's alter ego.It also has the fantastic "Standing Behind Old Jewish Ladies in Supermarket Lines" story made famous by the "American Splendor" film.What the film doesn't show, however, is the ending to the story, in which Harvey is stunned by the gratuitous kindness of an Old Jewish Lady, causing him to come to a much wiser conclusion than the film allows him.There's the "Young Crumb Story," an account of the Cleveland friendship between Pekar and Crumb before Crumb went off to San Francisco and underground comix fame.Mr. Boats and the assorted street philosophers from the Cleveland VA Hospital make appearances in the collection (Crumb's visual depiction of Mr. Boats is my favorite of all the artists Pekar has had draw him).And for my money, the short vignette called "Mr. Lopes' Gift" reveals Pekar and Crumb at the height of their talents.Truly, it's incredible.

What we need is a book-length critical study of Pekar and Crumb that appreciates their genius.Whoever writes it will be grateful for this collection.

The material is good, but you may have seen it before
I am giving it three stars as a warning because of the fact that if you have "The New American Splendor Anthology" and "American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar" you will be wasting your money on this 86 pages of comics you have mostly seen before.And those other two are a much better deal for the money.This book is only good if you want a collection of exclusively Crumb's stuff.You can think of this as being Crumb's stuff drawn from those other two books.Get the other two books instead, unless you love Crumb and hate the other artists. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Crumb at some of his most courageous (if misguided)
The story from which an inset is shown on the cover of this volume is one of the gutsiest I've seen in Crumb's career -- and which probably caused him the heaviest backlash. Frosty and a couple "revolutionary types" go to bomb the Rockefeller mansion. It still makes me cringe, the fact that the cover says that Crumb advocates violent overthrow! Perhaps he DID believe at one time that would be a good idea. I daresay he does NOT feel that way now. Later comics and interviews reveal both his paranoia after printing those Frosty stories -- fearing "they" would be out to get him -- and his belief that it was this story that caused the IRS to make his life a living hell for a number of years, the IRS being used as a "harassment arm." For this alone I think it makes the book worthy of inspecting.

While I must disagree who said this was Crumb "at his worst" -- as I am not at all certain Crumb's worst is bad enough to be called the W word -- I would say that his collaborative comics with Aline Kominsky in this volume may have been the crudest of her work that I remember having seen.

This volume is a mixed bag with some delights and other things while less delightful still interesting. Not my favorite of Crumb's work, but I wouldn't dismiss this volume either. I really enjoyed his comic called "The Kid," and this is the ONLY volume in which I have seen Crumb depict his son Jesse as a kid. The way he depicts Jesse is hilarious, outrageous and deeply disturbing, but I guess I wouldn't be such a huge Crumb fan if his work DIDN'T disturb me!

One other thing: I also find this to be one of the few volumes to show Crumb and Kominsky collaborating on highly imaginative stories where, while they may speak at least a partial truth about their own relations it is clear that they are telling tall tales.

I think in the end I have to classify this volume almost as an "experimental" volume -- where things not usually seen, even from Crumb (or Kominsky) are seen and heard -- and some which I admit I am glad he left off doing after the experiment. No, this volume is NOT among my favorites, I must admit; yet I wouldn't want to be without it. "Gotta have it" books, to me, deserve 5 stars (4 1/2 actually, but that is not one of the choices here)!!

Crumb at a lowpoint in his life
It's hard to know how to evaluate this 10th volume of The Complete Crumb.On the one hand, the volume, like all the others in this fantastic series, is masterfully edited and printed.It's a delight in that regard.On the other hand, though, the Crumb material that it collects, with some exceptions, is lackluster.We know from autobiographical essays written by Crumb that the early 70s were a lowpoint in his creative life (and, as his son Jesse recounts in the Introduction to this volume, in his personal one as well), and that he even thought for a period about getting out of comix.The work collected here clearly reflects this temporary downturn.

Don't get me wrong:some of the work--"Mr Natural Meets the Kid," "That's Life," "Modern America," "What Gives?" and some of the color covers and occasional art (posters, ads, etc)--are superb. But the interminable "Aline 'n' Bob's Funtime Funnies," a revival of the old two man comix Robert drew with his brother Charles when they were kids, is just awful.It's pointless, too long, and Aline Kominsky's artwork is so bad that it's alternately infuriating and embarrassing.*The material in which Crumb collaborates with some of his comix colleagues is similarly uninspiring, although not nearly as bad.

In the center of this volume is a three-page spread entitled "R. Crumb presents R. Crumb," dated 1973, in which Crumb depicts himself, panel after panel, as bored, listless, mildly depressed, and directionless.In the final analysis, this is the overriding message that comes through in this tenth volume of The Complete Crumb.
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* Kominsky herself seems to be all too aware of how primitive her artwork is.(It's not clear that she also appreciates how bad her storylines can be.)In several panels here and in other volumes, she remarks on how furious Crumb's "fanboys" are that she gets involved in his work.Crumb, on the other hand, consistently praises the raw energy of her work.The future Crumb biographer will have his or her work cut out in making sense of the Crumb/Kominsky collaborations.

Crumb at his best
The classic comic style and the hilarious stories that he creates is on point. I love his work and he didsn't sell this one short ... Read more