Editing Robert Crumb

{{short description|American illustrator and cartoonist (b. 1943)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2013}}
{{Infobox comics creator
| image         = Robert Crumb - Lucca Comics & Games 2014 2.JPG
| caption       = Crumb in 2014
| alt           = An elderly man with a white beard, round glasses, and beret-like hat.
| birth_name    = Robert Dennis Crumb
| birth_place   = [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| birth_date    = {{birth date and age|1943|08|30}}
| death_date    = 
| death_place   = 
| area = {{Flatlist|
* Cartoonist
* writer
* musician}}
| cartoonist    = y
| alias         = R. Crumb
| notable works = {{Plainlist|
* ''[[Zap Comix]]''
* ''[[Keep On Truckin' (comics)|Keep On Truckin']]''
* ''[[Fritz the Cat]]''
* ''[[Mr. Natural (comics)|Mr. Natural]]''
* ''[[Weirdo (comics)|Weirdo]]''
* ''[[Introducing Kafka]]''
* ''[[The Book of Genesis (comics)|The Book of Genesis]]''}}
| awards        = 
| website       = {{URL|http://rcrumb.com}}
| relatives    = [[Charles Crumb|Charles Crumb Jr.]] (brother)<br>[[Maxon Crumb]] (brother)
| children    = Jesse Crumb (1968–2018),<br />[[Sophie Crumb]] (1981) 
| spouse      =  {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|Dana Morgan|1964|1978|reason=div}}|{{marriage|[[Aline Kominsky-Crumb]]|1978|2022|reason=her death}}}}
}}

'''Robert Dennis Crumb''' ({{IPAc-en|k|r|ʌ|m}}; born August 30, 1943) is an American artist who often signs his work '''R.&nbsp;Crumb'''.  His work displays a nostalgia for [[Folklore of the United States|American folk culture]] of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American culture.

Crumb contributed to many of the seminal works of the [[underground comix]] movement in the 1960s, including being a founder of the first successful underground comix publication, ''[[Zap Comix]]'', contributing to all 16 issues. He was additionally contributing to the ''[[East Village Other]]'' 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 [[Counterculture of the 1960s|countercultural]] icons [[Fritz the Cat]] and [[Mr. Natural (comics)|Mr. Natural]], and the images from his ''[[Keep On Truckin' (comics)|Keep On Truckin']]'' strip. Sexual themes abounded in all these projects, often shading into [[scatology|scatological]] and pornographic comics. In the mid-1970s, he contributed to the ''[[Arcade (comics magazine)|Arcade]]'' anthology; following the decline of the underground, he moved towards biographical and autobiographical subjects while refining his drawing style, a heavily [[Hatching|crosshatched]] pen-and-ink style inspired by late 19th- and early 20th-century cartooning. Much of his work appeared in a magazine he founded, ''[[Weirdo (comics)|Weirdo]]'' (1981–1993), which was one of the most prominent publications of the [[alternative comics]] era. As his career progressed, his comic work became more autobiographical.

In 1991 Crumb was inducted into the comic book industry's [[Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame]], and in 1994 the [[Terry Zwigoff]] film ''[[Crumb (film)|Crumb]]'' explored his artistic career and personal life. He was married to cartoonist [[Aline Kominsky-Crumb]], with whom he frequently collaborated. Their daughter, [[Sophie Crumb]], has also followed a cartooning career.

==Early life (1943–1966)==
Robert Crumb was born August 30, 1943, in [[Philadelphia]] to [[Catholic]] parents{{sfn|Duncan|Smith|2013|p=158}} of English and Scottish descent, spending his early years in [[West Philadelphia]] and [[Upper Darby]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.berkeleyside.com/2020/01/13/how-quirky-was-berkeley-r-crumb-the-underground-comix-artist-was-here|title=How Quirky was Berkeley: R. Crumb, the underground comix artist, was here|first=Tom|last=Dalzell|date=January 13, 2020|access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref><ref>Crumb, Robert ''Crumb Family Comics''. Last Gasp, 1998; {{ISBN|0-86719-427-8}} <br>''Crumb Family Comics'' featured Robert Crumb discussing his ancestry at length in a hand-written essay.</ref> His father, Charles Vincent Crumb, authored the book ''Training People Effectively''.{{sfn|Duncan|Smith|2013|p=158}} 

His mother, Beatrice Loretta Crumb ({{nee}} Hall), was a housewife who reportedly [[Substance abuse|abused]] diet pills and [[Substituted amphetamine|amphetamines]]. Crumb's parents' marriage was unhappy and the children were frequent witnesses to their parents' arguments.<ref>{{cite book |editor=Crumb, Maxon |editor-link=Maxon Crumb |title=Crumb Family Comics |date=1998 |publisher=Last Gasp |location=San Francisco, Calif. |isbn=0867194278 |pages=105, 129}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-odyssey-of-r-crumb-1432742178|title=The Odyssey of R. Crumb|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=May 27, 2015|access-date=May 8, 2020|via=www.wsj.com}}</ref>  The couple had four other children: sons [[Charles Crumb|Charles Vincent Crumb Jr.]] and [[Maxon Crumb]], both of whom suffered from mental illness, and daughters Carol<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200728044644/https://kentpilot.org/remembering-carol-degennaro/ Carol obituary]</ref> and Sandra.{{sfnm|1a1=Duncan|1a2=Smith|1y=2013|1p=158|2a1=Goldstein|2y=2013|2p=517}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Still-in-the-shadows-an-artist-in-his-own-right-2487551.php|title=Still in the shadows, an artist in his own right|first=Edward|last=Guthmann|date=October 3, 2006|website=SFGate|access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref> The family often moved between Philadelphia and Charles's hometown, [[Albert Lea, Minnesota]]. In August 1950, the Crumbs moved to [[Ames, Iowa]].<ref name="ameshistoricalsociety-r_crumb"/> For two years, Charles, a Marine Corps sergeant, was an instructor in the Naval R.O.T.C. program at [[Iowa State College]].<ref name="ameshistoricalsociety-r_crumb">{{cite web |title=R. Crumb |url=http://www.ameshistoricalsociety.org/residents_r_crumb.htm |website=Famous Ames residents |publisher=AmesHistoricalSociety.org |access-date=24 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822144049fw_/http://www.ameshistoricalsociety.org/residents_r_crumb.htm |archive-date=2007-08-22 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The family moved to [[Milford, Delaware]], when Crumb was twelve and where he was an average student whose teachers discouraged him from cartooning.{{sfn|Maremaa|2004|p=29}}

Inspired by [[Walt Kelly]], [[Fleischer Studios|Fleischer Brothers]] animation and others, Crumb and his brothers drew their own comics.{{sfn|Duncan|Smith|2013|p=158}} His cartooning developed as his older brother [[Charles Crumb|Charles]] pushed him and provided feedback. In 1958 the brothers self-published three issues of ''Foo'' in imitation of [[Harvey Kurtzman]]'s satirical ''[[Humbug (magazine)|Humbug]]'' and ''[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]]'' which they sold door-to-door with little success, souring the young Crumb on the comic-book business.{{sfn|Maremaa|2004|pp=29–30}} At fifteen, Crumb collected classical jazz and blues records from the 1920s to the 1940s.{{sfn|Duncan|Smith|2013|p=158}} At age 16 he lost his Catholic faith.{{sfn|Goldstein|2013|p=517}}

==Career==

===Early work (1962–1966)===

Crumb's father gave him $40 when he left home after high school.{{sfn|Goldstein|2013|p=517}}  His first job, in 1962, was drawing novelty greeting cards for [[American Greetings]]{{sfn|Duncan|Smith|2013|p=159}} in [[Cleveland, Ohio]]. He stayed with the company for four years, producing hundreds of cards for the company's Hi-Brow line; his superiors had him draw in a cuter style that was to leave a footprint on his work throughout his career.{{sfn|Maremaa|2004|p=30}}  

In Cleveland, he met a group of young [[Bohemianism|bohemians]] such as [[Buzzy Linhart]], Liz Johnston, and [[Harvey Pekar]]. Dissatisfied with greeting card work, he tried to sell cartoons to comic book companies, who showed little interest in his work.  In 1965, cartoonist [[Harvey Kurtzman]] printed some of Crumb's work in the humor magazine he edited, ''[[Help! (magazine)|Help!]]'' Crumb moved to New York, intending to work with Kurtzman, but ''Help!'' ceased publication shortly after.  Crumb briefly illustrated bubblegum cards for [[Topps]] before returning to Cleveland and American Greetings.{{sfn|Duncan|Smith|2013|p=159}}

Crumb married Dana Morgan in 1964.  Nearly destitute, the couple traveled in Europe, during which Crumb continued to produce work for Kurtzman and American Greetings, and Dana stole food.{{sfn|Burgess|2000}}  The relationship was unstable as Crumb frequently went his own way, and he was not close to his son, Jesse (born in 1968).{{sfn|Goldstein|2013|p=518}}

[[File:Fritz the Cat front cover.jpg|thumb|Front cover of ''Fritz the Cat'']]
In 1965 and 1966 Crumb had a number of [[Fritz the Cat]] strips published in the men's magazine ''[[Cavalier (magazine)|Cavalier]]''. Fritz had appeared in Crumb's work as early as the late 1950s; he was to become a hipster, scam artist, and bohemian until Crumb abandoned the character in 1969.{{sfn|Maremaa|2004|p=30}}

Crumb was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with his job and marriage when in June 1965 he began taking [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]], a [[psychedelic drug]] that was then still legal.  He had both good and [[bad trip]]s.  One bad trip left him in a muddled state for half a year, during which for a time he left Dana; the state ended when the two took a strong dose of the drug together in April 1966. Crumb created a number of his best-known characters during his years of LSD use, including [[Mr. Natural (comics)|Mr. Natural]], [[Angelfood McSpade]], and the [[Snoid]].{{sfn|Holm|2005|pp=46-47}} His work in the underground comics scene coincided with the rise of [[Timothy Leary]]'s acid tests and psychedelics generally which led to deals with psychedelic artists such as the Grateful Dead.<ref name="nytimes_offense">{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=M. H. |last2=Montamat |first2=Thibault |title=R. Crumb Means Some Offense; Even from his refuge in France, the comics artist still makes America's pulse race |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/15/t-magazine/r-crumb.html |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027161133/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/15/t-magazine/r-crumb.html |archive-date=2022-10-27 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=15 September 2022 |access-date=January 23, 2024}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===''Zap'' and {{not a typo|underground comix}} (1967–1979)===

In January 1967 Crumb came across two friends in a bar who were about to leave for San Francisco;<ref name="nytimes_offense"/> Crumb was interested in the work of San Francisco-based psychedelic poster artists, and on a whim asked if he could join them.{{sfn|Holm|2005|p=47}} There, he contributed upbeat LSD-inspired countercultural work to [[Underground press|underground newspapers]]. The work was popular, and Crumb was flooded with requests, including to illustrate a full issue of [[Philadelphia]]'s ''[[Yarrowstalks]]''.{{sfn|Holm|2005|pp=47–48}}

Independent publisher [[Don Donahue]] invited Crumb to make a comic book; Crumb drew up two issues of ''[[Zap Comix]]'', and Donahue published the first{{sfn|Holm|2005|pp=47–48}} in February 1968 under the publisher name [[Apex Novelties]]. Crumb had difficulty at first finding retailers who would stock it, and at first his wife took to selling the first run herself out of a baby carriage.{{sfn|Harvey|1996|p=195}}

Crumb met cartoonist [[S. Clay Wilson]], an art school graduate who saw himself as a rebel against middle-class American values and whose comics were violent and grotesque. Wilson's attitude inspired Crumb to give up the idea of the cartoonist-as-entertainer and to focus on comics as open, uncensored self-expression; in particular, his work soon became sexually explicit, as in the pornographic ''Snatch'' he and Wilson produced late in 1968.{{sfn|Harvey|1996|p=195}}

The second issue of ''Zap'' appeared in June with contributions from Wilson and poster artists [[Victor Moscoso]] and [[Rick Griffin]]. Artist [[Barry Pressing|H.Fish]] also contributed to ''Zap''. In December, Donahue published the still-unreleased issue as {{No.}}0 and a new third issue with [[Gilbert Shelton]] joining the roster of regulars.{{sfn|Harvey|1996|p=195}} ''Zap'' was financially successful, and developed a market for underground comix.

Crumb was a prolific cartoonist in the late 1960s and early 1970s; at his peak output he produced 320 pages over two years.{{sfn|Goldstein|2013|p=517}} He produced much of his best-known work then,{{sfn|Duncan|Smith|2013|p=160}} including his ''[[Keep On Truckin' (comics)|Keep On Truckin']]'' strip, and strips featuring characters such as the bohemian [[Fritz the Cat]], spiritual guru [[Mr. Natural (comics)|Mr. Natural]], and oversexed African-American stereotype [[Angelfood McSpade]].<ref>Dowd, Douglas B.; Hignite, Todd (2006). ''Strips, Toons, And Bluesies: Essays In Comics And Culture''. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 76–79. {{ISBN|978-1-56898-621-0}}.</ref> During this period, he launched a series of solo titles, including ''Despair'', ''Uneeda'' (published by Print Mint in 1969 and 1970 respectively), ''Big Ass Comics'', ''R. Crumb's Comics and Stories'', ''Motor City Comics'' (all published by [[Rip Off Press]] in 1969), ''Home Grown Funnies'' ([[Kitchen Sink Press]], 1971) and ''Hytone Comix'' ([[Apex Novelties]], 1971), in addition to founding the pornographic anthologies ''Jiz'' and ''Snatch'' (both Apex Novelties, 1969).<ref name="Sabin-92">[[Roger Sabin|Sabin, Roger]] (1996). "Going underground". ''Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels: A History Of Comic Art.'' London, United Kingdom: Phaidon Press. p. 92. {{ISBN|0-7148-3008-9}}.</ref>

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 Bailey]] 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 [[François Rabelais|Rabelaisian]] satire of a very high order. He is using coarseness quite deliberately in order to get across a view of social hypocrisy."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.funtopia.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/friends/nastytalestrial2.htm |title=Nasty Tales Trial 2 |publisher=funtopia.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk |date=February 9, 1973 |access-date=January 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008023623/http://www.funtopia.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/friends/nastytalestrial2.htm |archive-date=October 8, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>"International Times" journal, {{no.|147}}, February 9, 1973, {{p.|17|20}}.</ref>

===''Weirdo'' (1980–1993)===

While meditating in 1980, Crumb conceived of a magazine with a [[Low culture|lowbrow]] aesthetic inspired by [[punk zine]]s, ''[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]]'', and men's magazines of the 1940s and 1950s.{{sfn|Holm|2005|p=83}} From 1981 Crumb edited the first nine issues of the twenty-eight issue run of ''[[Weirdo (comics)|Weirdo]]'', published by [[Last Gasp (publisher)|Last Gasp]];{{sfn|Holm|2005|p=82}} his contributions and tastes determined the contents of the later issues as well, edited by [[Peter Bagge]] until {{No.}}17, and Aline for the remainder of the run.{{sfn|Holm|2005|p=83}} The magazine featured cartoonists new and old, and had a mixed response. Crumb's [[Photonovel#Fumetti|fumetti]] was so unpopular that it has never appeared in Crumb collections.{{sfn|Holm|2005|pp=83–85}}

===Later life (1994–present)===
The Crumbs moved into a house in southern France in 1991, which is said to have been financed by the sale of six Crumb sketchbooks.{{sfn|Holm|2005|p=xx}} The  documentary ''[[Crumb (film)|Crumb]]'', directed by [[Terry Zwigoff]], appeared in 1994{{sfn|Holm|2005|p=97}}—a project on which Zwigoff had been working since 1985.{{sfn|Holm|2005|p=82}} The film won several major critical accolades.

From 1987 to 2005 [[Fantagraphics Books]] published the seventeen-volume ''[[The Complete Crumb Comics|Complete Crumb Comics]]''{{sfn|Holm|2005|p=85}} and ten volumes of sketches.  Crumb (as "R. Crumb") contributes regularly to ''[[Mineshaft (magazine)|Mineshaft]]'' magazine, which, since 2009, has been serializing "Excerpts From R. Crumb's Dream Diary".<ref name="Mineshaft Magazine Homepage">{{cite web |url=http://www.mineshaftmagazine.com/index.html |title=Update |first=Gioia |last=Palmieri |magazine=Mineshaft Magazine |access-date=December 11, 2010}}</ref>

In 2009 Crumb produced ''[[The Book of Genesis (comic)|The Book of Genesis]]'', an unabridged illustrated [[graphic novel]] version of the biblical [[Book of Genesis]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Graphic Books Best-Seller List |first=George Gene |last=Gustines |author-link=George Gustines |url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/graphic-books-best-seller-list-12/?scp=2&sq=Genesis%20Crumb&st=cse |format=book review |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 23, 2009 |access-date=October 27, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=R. Crumb |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113842476 |title=Crumb's 'Genesis,' A Sexy Breasts-And-Knuckles Affair |newspaper=Npr.org |access-date=January 14, 2011}}</ref> In 2016, the Seattle Museum of Art displayed the original drawings for ''The Book of Genesis'' as part of an exhibit entitled "Graphic Masters: Dürer, Rembrandt, Hogarth, Goya, Picasso, R. Crumb."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/exhibitions/graphicmasters|title=Graphic Masters: Dürer, Rembrandt, Hogarth, Goya, Picasso, R. Crumb|access-date=August 7, 2020}}</ref>

In January 2015, Crumb was asked to submit a cartoon to the left-wing magazine ''[[Libération]]'' as a tribute for the [[Charlie Hebdo shooting|''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting]]. He sent a drawing titled "A Cowardly Cartoonist", depicting an illustration of the backside of "Mohamid Bakhsh", a reference to [[Muhammad]], founder of Islam, and [[Ralph Bakshi]], who directed the film adaptation ''[[Fritz the Cat (film)|Fritz the Cat]]'' (1972).<ref>[http://observer.com/2015/01/legendary-cartoonist-robert-crumb-on-the-massacre-in-paris "Legendary Cartoonist Robert Crumb on the Massacre in Paris,"] ''New York Observer'' (10 January 2015).</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/01/12/a-kind-of-sleaze/|title=A Kind of Sleaze|first=Dan|last=Piepenbring|date=January 13, 2015|access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref>

===Professional collaborations===
A friend of comic book writer [[Harvey Pekar]], Crumb illustrated over 30 stories of Pekar's in the comic book series ''[[American Splendor]]'', primarily in the first eight issues (1976–1983).<ref>McArdle, Terence. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/12/AR2010071202413.html "Harvey Pekar dead: American Splendor comic writer was 70"] ''Washington Post''. July 13, 2010.</ref> As ''[[The Complete Crumb Comics]]'' co-editor Robert Fiore wrote about their collaborations:
{{blockquote|... in ''American Splendor'', Crumb's work stood out for&nbsp;... the way he really made Pekar's voice SING. His style embodied Pekar's voice&nbsp;... He turned Pekar's scripts into pure comics, into something that would have been inferior in any other medium&nbsp;... But I think what makes all of their collaborations work so well is the fact that Crumb is as sympathetic a collaborator as Pekar ever had. It's not just the fact that Crumb draws better than everybody else, he knew what to draw. Just as Pekar knew what to write&nbsp;... Their mutual understanding of each other helped me appreciate each as artists and voices&nbsp;...<ref name=Fantagraphics>Fiore, Robert. [https://blog.fantagraphics.com/harvey-pekar-r-i-p/ "Harvey Pekar, R.I.P.,"] Fantagraphics blog (July 13, 2010).</ref>}}

Crumb collaborated with his wife, [[Aline Kominsky-Crumb]], on many strips and comics, including ''[[Dirty Laundry Comics]]'', ''[[Self-Loathing Comics]]'', and work published in ''[[The New Yorker]]''.<ref>Jones, Jonathan. [https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2000/aug/19/art.robertcrumb "Self-Loathing Comics, Robert Crumb (1994)"] ''The Guardian'', 19 August 2000. Retrieved September 25, 2014.</ref>

In 1978, Crumb allowed his artwork to be used as pictorial rubber stamp designs by [[Top Drawer Rubber Stamp Company]], a collaboration between cartoonist [[Art Spiegelman]], publisher [[Françoise Mouly]], and people living at [[Quarry Hill Creative Center]] in [[Rochester, Vermont]]. R. Crumb's imagery proved to be some of the most popular designs produced by this avant-garde pictorial stamp company.<ref>''RubberStampMadness'' magazine #1 (1980), p. 10.</ref>

In the 1980s and 1990s, Crumb illustrated a number of writer [[Charles Bukowski]]'s stories, including the collection ''[[The Captain Is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship]]'' and the story "[[Bring Me Your Love (short story)|Bring Me Your Love]]".<ref>Popova, Maria. [http://www.brainpickings.org/2012/10/08/r-crumb-illustrates-bukowski/ "R. Crumb Illustrates Bukowski"] www.brainpickings.org. Retrieved September 25, 2014.</ref>

In 1984–1985 Crumb produced a series of illustrations for the tenth anniversary edition of [[Edward Abbey]]'s environmental-themed novel ''[[The Monkey Wrench Gang]]'', published in 1985 by Dream Garden Press of Salt Lake City. Many of these illustrations also appeared in a 1987 Monkey Wrench Gang calendar, and remain available on T-shirts.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/mythicalwestency0000slat|url-access=registration|quote=1987 Monkey Wrench Gang calendar.|title=The Mythical West: An Encyclopedia of Legend, Lore, and Popular Culture|last=Slatta|first=Richard W.|date=2001|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781576071519|page=[https://archive.org/details/mythicalwestency0000slat/page/236 236]|language=en}}</ref>

''R. Crumb Comix'', a theatrical production based on his work and directed by Johnny Simons, was produced in [[Fort Worth, Texas]], in 1986. It was revived at [[Duke University]] in 1990, and co-starred [[Avner Eisenberg]]. 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.<ref>Sharpe, Susan. [https://dukelibraries.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/collection/p15957coll13/id/82760/download "Avner the Eccentric Brings Comics to Life,"] ''[[The Chronicle (Duke University)|The Chronicle]]'' (Nov. 9, 1990), pp. 4, 6.</ref>

Crumb's collaboration with [[David Zane Mairowitz]], the illustrated, part-comic biography and bibliography ''[[Introducing Kafka]]'' (1993), a.k.a. ''Kafka for Beginners'', is one of his less sexual- and satire-oriented, comparably highbrow works. It is well-known and favorably received, and due to its popularity was republished as ''R. Crumb's Kafka''.

===Musical projects===

Crumb has frequently drawn comics about his musical interests in [[blues]], [[Country music|country]], [[Bluegrass music|bluegrass]], [[cajun]], French [[Bal-musette]], [[jazz]], [[big band]] and [[swing music]] from the 1920s and 1930s, and they also heavily influenced the soundtrack choices for his bandmate Zwigoff's 1995 ''[[Crumb (film)|Crumb]]'' documentary.  In 2006, he prepared, compiled and illustrated the book ''R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz & Country'', with accompanying CD, which derived from three series of [[trading card]]s originally published in the 1980s.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2006/oct/08/music Danny Baker, "What a feast of Crumbs", ''The Observer'', 8 October 2006]. Retrieved December 17, 2013</ref>

Crumb was the leader of the band [[R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders]], for which he sang lead vocals, wrote several songs and played banjo and other instruments.<ref name=Lynch>Lynch, Megan. [https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-cheap-suit-serenaders-mn0001823325/biography "The Cheap Suit Serenaders,"] AllMusic.com. Accessed Nov. 17, 2019.</ref> Crumb often plays mandolin with [[Eden and John's East River String Band]] and has drawn four covers for them: 2009's ''Drunken Barrel House Blues'', 2008's ''Some Cold Rainy Day'', 2011's ''Be Kind To A Man When He's Down'' on which he plays [[mandolin]], the latest (2022) "Goodbye Cruel World", on which he sings vocals, plays ukulele, mandolin & tiple. In 2013 he played on their album ''Take A Look at That Baby'' and also took part in the accompanying [[music video]].

With Dominique Cravic, in 1986 he founded "Les Primitifs du Futur"—a French band whose eclectic music has incorporated Bal-musette, folk, jazz, blues and world music—playing on their albums "Cocktail d'Amour" (1986), "Trop de Routes, Trop de Trains" (1995), "World Musette" (1999)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/world-musette-mw0000063012|title=World Musette – Les Primitifs du Futur &#124; Songs, Reviews, Credits &#124; AllMusic|access-date=May 8, 2020|via=www.allmusic.com}}</ref> and "Tribal Musette" (2008). He also provided the [[cover art]] for these albums.

Crumb has released CDs anthologizing old original performances gleaned from collectible [[Gramophone record#78 rpm disc developments|78-rpm]] [[Gramophone record|phonograph record]]s.  His ''That's What I Call Sweet Music'' was released in 1999 and ''Hot Women: Women Singers from the Torrid Regions'' in 2009.  ''Chimpin' the Blues,'' a collaboration with fellow record collector [[Jerry Zolten]] that combines rare recordings with conversation about the music and the musicians, was released in 2013. Crumb drew the cover art for these CDs as well.

===Album covers===
[[File:Cheapthrills.jpeg|thumb|Crumb cover artwork for the 1968 [[Big Brother and the Holding Company]] album ''[[Cheap Thrills (Big Brother and the Holding Company album)|Cheap Thrills]]'']]
Crumb has illustrated many album covers, most prominently ''[[Cheap Thrills (Big Brother and the Holding Company album)|Cheap Thrills]]'' by [[Big Brother and the Holding Company]] and the [[compilation album]] ''[[The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead]]''.

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.

In 1992 and 1993, Robert Crumb was involved in a project by Dutch formation [[the Beau Hunks]] and provided the cover art for both their albums ''The Beau Hunks play the original Laurel & Hardy music'' 1 and 2. He also illustrated the albums' booklets.

In 2009, Crumb drew the artwork for a 10-CD anthology of French traditional music compiled by [[Guillaume Veillet]] for {{interlanguage link|Frémeaux & Associés|de||fr||nl}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fremeaux.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=128&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=1149&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=0 |title=World music France : une anthologie des musiques traditionnelles Enregistrements realises entre 1900 et 2009 (10 cds) |publisher=Fremeaux.com |access-date=January 14, 2011}}</ref> The following year, he created three artworks for Christopher King's ''Aimer Et Perdre: To Love And To Lose: Songs, 1917–1934''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tompkinssquare.com/archives/197|title=Aimer et Perdre : To Love & To Lose Songs, 1917–1934 |website=tompkinssquare.com|access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref>

== Style ==
[[File:Robert Crumb 2010.jpg|thumb|left|Crumb in 2010]]
As told by Crumb in his [[Crumb (film)|biographical film]], his artwork was very conventional and traditional in the beginning. His earlier work shows this more restrained style. In Crumb's own words, it was a lengthy drug trip on [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]] that "left him fuzzy for two months" and led to him adopting the surrealistic, [[psychedelic art|psychedelic]] style for which he has become known.<ref>''The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book'', p. 67</ref>

A peer in the underground comics field, [[Victor Moscoso]], 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."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tcj.com/|title=The Comics Journal|first=Tucker|last=Stone|access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref> Robert Crumb's cartooning style has drawn on the work of cartoon artists from earlier generations, including [[Billy DeBeck]] ([[Barney Google and Snuffy Smith|Barney Google]]), [[C. E. Brock]] (an old story book illustrator), [[Gene Ahern]]'s comic strips, [[Basil Wolverton]] ([[Powerhouse Pepper]]), [[George Baker (cartoonist)|George Baker]] (''[[Sad Sack]]''), [[Ub Iwerks]]'s characters for animation, [[Friz Freleng]]'s drawings for the early ''[[Merrie Melodies]]'' and ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' of the 1930s, [[Sidney Smith (cartoonist)|Sidney Smith]] (''[[The Gumps]]''), [[Rube Goldberg]], [[E. C. Segar]] ([[Popeye]]) and [[Bud Fisher]] (''[[Mutt and Jeff]]''). Crumb has cited [[Carl Barks]], who illustrated Disney's "Donald Duck" comic books, and [[John Stanley (cartoonist)|John Stanley]] (''[[Little Lulu]]'') as formative influences on his narrative approach, as well as [[Harvey Kurtzman]] of [[Mad (magazine)|''Mad'']] Magazine fame.

Fellow underground cartoonist [[Art Spiegelman]] remarked that upon meeting Crumb for the first time and seeing his work, he became 'satisfied' that Crumb would do all the revolutionary things in comics that he had initially hoped to do himself.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sauer |first=Jess |date=2009-11-24 |title=R. Crumb and Art Spiegelman Talk Comics |url=https://therumpus.net/2009/11/24/r-crumb-and-art-spiegelman-talk-comics/ |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=The Rumpus |language=en-US}}</ref> He also called Crumb "one of the world’s greatest cartoonists ever."<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Crumb/Dan-Nadel/9781982144005 |title=Crumb |date=2025-04-15 |isbn=978-1-9821-4400-5 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250116180022/https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Crumb/Dan-Nadel/9781982144005 |archive-date=January 16, 2025 |access-date=March 30, 2025 |url-status=live }}</ref>

After issues 0 and 1 of ''Zap'', Crumb began working with others, of whom the first was [[S. Clay Wilson]]. Crumb said, about when he first saw Wilson's work "The content was something like I'd never seen before,&nbsp;... a nightmare vision of hell-on-earth&nbsp;..."  And "Suddenly my own work seemed insipid&nbsp;..."<ref>''The Art of S. Clay Wilson'', Ten Speed Press, 2006, p. vii.</ref>

Crumb remains a prominent figure, as both artist and influence, within the [[alternative comics]] milieu.  He is hailed as a genius by such comic book talents as [[Jaime Hernandez]], [[Daniel Clowes]], [[Chris Ware]], [[Seth (cartoonist)|Seth]], [[Joe Sacco]] and [[Peter Bagge]]. Other cartoonists who have praised or cited Crumb's work as an influence include [[Hergé]], [[Will Eisner]], [[Jean Giraud|Moebius]], [[Carl Barks]], [[Charles M. Schulz]], [[Lynda Barry]] and [[Alison Bechdel]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Books about Tintin and Hergé |url=https://www.sfgate.com/books/article/Books-about-Tintin-and-Herge-3278501.php |website=SFGate|date=December 13, 2009 |last1=Ivry |first1=Benjamin }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Newland |first=Dan |date=2021-03-09 |title=Review of R. Crumb by David Stephen Calonne |url=https://www.comicbookyeti.com/post/r-crumb |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=Comic Book Yeti |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-04-13 |title=Cult American cartoonist Robert Crumb on show at Paris' Modern Art Museum |url=https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20120413-cult-american-cartoonist-crumb-show-paris-modern-art-museum |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=RFI |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bors |first=Chris |date=2017-05-12 |title=Will Eisner |url=https://www.artforum.com/events/will-eisner-230715/#:~:text=Eisner%20reinvented%20himself%20in%20the,full%20depths%20of%20his%20imagination. |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=Artforum |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Miller |first1=M. H. |last2=Montamat |first2=Thibault |date=2022-09-15 |title=R. Crumb Means Some Offense |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/15/t-magazine/r-crumb.html |access-date=2025-03-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-15 |title=Crumb on Others - Part Two |url=https://crumbproducts.com/blogs/news/crumb-on-others-part-two |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=Crumb Products |language=en}}</ref>

The art critic [[Robert Hughes (critic)|Robert Hughes]] called Crumb "the [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder|Brueghel]] of the last half of the [[20th century|twentieth century]]" and "the one and only genius the [[1960s]] underground produced in [[Visual arts|visual art]], either in [[United States|America]] or [[Europe]]."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Crumb |first=R. |date=1995-04-16 |title=COMIC STRIPPED: HEAD FOR THE HILLS |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1995/04/24/comic-stripped-head-for-the-hills |access-date=2025-03-31 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2005-03-07 |title=Roll right up, folks! |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/mar/07/robertcrumb.comics1 |access-date=2025-03-31 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Comic critic Andrew D. Arnold, writing for [[Time (magazine)|Time Magazine]], stated that "Crumb’s impact on his field, as well as his longevity as a crucial artist, rivals that of [[Pablo Picasso|Picasso]]."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Arnold |first=Andrew D. |date=2003-11-21 |title=A Graphic Literature Library |url=https://time.com/archive/6912244/a-graphic-literature-library/ |access-date=2025-03-31 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref>

In the fall of 2008, the [[Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia|Institute of Contemporary Art]] in [[Philadelphia]] hosted a major exhibition of his work, which was favorably reviewed in ''[[The New York Times]]''<ref name="NYT08">[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/arts/design/05crum.html Mr. Natural Goes to the Museum], September 5, 2008, [[The New York Times]]</ref> and in ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]''.<ref>[http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/music/20080831_Out_from_underground.html Out from underground], August 31, 2008, ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]''</ref>

== Recurring Crumb characters ==
* [[Angelfood McSpade]] (1967–1971) – large-built black woman drawn as an African native caricature. She is usually depicted being sexually exploited or manipulated by men.
* BoBo Bolinski (1968–1972) – a "burr-headed [[wikt:barfly|barfly]]"<ref>''Uneeda Comix'' (The Print Mint, [August] 197).</ref>
* Devil Girl (1987–1995) – Amazonian type who is the object of Mr. Natural's obsession in later comics; real name Cheryl Borck<ref>[http://www.sonyclassics.com/crumb/ks/art.html "Kitchen Sink Press Presents: Crumby Stuff"], Sony Pictures Classics website (1995). Accessed June 9, 2018.</ref>
* Eggs Ackley (1968–1971) – cheerful young egg salesman
* Flakey Foont (1967–2002) – Mr. Natural's neurotic disciple
* [[Fritz the Cat]] (1965–1972) – feline con artist who frequently went on wild adventures that sometimes included sexual escapades
* Honeybunch Kaminski (1970–1972) – a large-built teenage runaway and girlfriend of [[ProJunior]]{{efn|Crumb was introduced to his future wife [[Aline Kominsky-Crumb|Aline]] by mutual friends, who had noted an uncanny resemblance between her and the coincidentally-named Honeybunch Kaminski character.<ref name=Beckerman>Beckerman, Gail. [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/books/aline-kominsky-crumb-comics-cartoon-love-bunch.html "PROFILE: The Yoko Ono of Comics, on Her Own Terms,"] ''New York Times'' (May 14, 2018).</ref><ref>Crumb, R. Untitled ["I'm no playboy! I'm a workboy!"], ''Bijou Funnies'' #4 (1970).</ref> By the late 1970s, Kominsky-Crumb began calling her own comics avatar "The Bunch".<ref name=Beckerman />}}
* Lenore Goldberg (1969–1970) – leader of the Girl Commandos, a group of young revolutionary women
* [[Mr. Natural (comics)|Mr. Natural]] (1967–2002) – unreliable holy man
* Shuman the Human (1969–1977) – another neurotic male character
* The [[Snoid]] (1967–1979) – diminutive sex fiend and irritating presence

==Awards and honors==

Crumb has received several accolades for his work, including the [[Inkpot Award]] in 1989,<ref>[https://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot Inkpot Award]</ref> a nomination for the [[Harvey Award|Harvey Special Award for Humor]] in 1990 and the [[Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême|Angoulême Grand Prix]] in 1999.

In 1991 Crumb was inducted into the comic book industry's [[Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame]].{{cn|date=January 2025}}

With [[Jack Kirby]], [[Will Eisner]], [[Harvey Kurtzman]], [[Gary Panter]], and [[Chris Ware]], Crumb was among the artists honored in the exhibition "Masters of American Comics" at the [[Jewish Museum (Manhattan)|Jewish Museum]] in New York City, from September 16, 2006, to January 28, 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/Comics |title=Exhibitions: Masters of American Comics |publisher=The Jewish Museum |access-date=August 10, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511174819/http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/Comics |archive-date=May 11, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}. .</ref><ref>[[Michael Kimmelman|Kimmelman, Michael]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/13/arts/design/13comi.html "See You in the Funny Papers"] (art review), ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 13, 2006.</ref>

In 2017, Crumb's original cover art for the 1969 ''[[Fritz the Cat]]'' collection published by Ballantine sold at auction for $717,000, the highest sale price to that point for any piece of American cartoon art.<ref>[[Milton Griepp|Griepp, Milton]], [https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/37554/new-record-price-american-comic-art "New Record Price for American Comic Art: Robert Crumb's Fritz the Cat,"] ICv2 (May 19, 2017).</ref>

== In the media ==
In addition to numerous brief television reports, there are at least three television or theatrical documentaries dedicated to Crumb.

* Prior to the 1972 release of the film version of ''[[Fritz the Cat (film)|Fritz the Cat]]'', Austrian journalist [[Georg Stefan Troller]] interviewed Crumb for a thirty-minute documentary entitled ''Comics und Katerideen'' on Crumb's life and art{{spaced ndash}}which he describes as "the epitome of contemporary white North America's popular art"{{spaced ndash}}as an episode of his ''Personenbeschreibung'' (literally "Person's description") documentary-format broadcast on the German TV network [[ZDF]]. The documentary also includes a "making-of" look at the then forthcoming ''Fritz'' movie, featuring production background interviews with [[Ralph Bakshi]]. By the mid-to-late 2000s, it could still be seen on rotation as part of the ''Personenbeschreibung'' series on the ZDF-owned digital specialty channel ''ZDFdokukanal'' (in 2009 replaced by the new channel [[ZDFneo]]).
* ''[[Arena (British TV series)|Arena]]'': ''The Confessions of Robert Crumb'' ([[BBC Two]], 13 February 1987)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/e6b9503e34c944c084ef55a213271b05|title = Broadcast - BBC Programme Index| date=February 13, 1987 }}</ref>
* ''[[Crumb (film)|Crumb]]'' (1994), a documentary film by [[Terry Zwigoff]]

Crumb and his work are featured in [[Ron Mann]]'s ''[[Comic Book Confidential]]'' (1988).

In the ''[[Star Wars]]'' movie ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'' (1983), the name (and aspects of the appearance) of the character [[Salacious B. Crumb]] are derived from, and are an homage to, Crumb.<ref>{{cite web|title=Star Wars: Phil Tippett Reveals Salacious Crumb's Hilarious Origin Story|first=BRANDON |last=LOUIS |date=June 1, 2022|work=[[Screen Rant]]|url=https://screenrant.com/star-wars-salacious-crumb-name-origin-phil-tippett}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=What's the MOST Star Wars Name in the Star Wars Universe?|first=HECTOR |last=VALVERDE|work=[[Comic Book Resources|CBR]]|date=Jul 7, 2020|url=https://www.cbr.com/whats-the-most-star-wars-name-in-universe/}}</ref>

In the 2003 movie ''[[American Splendor (film)|American Splendor]]'', Crumb was portrayed by [[James Urbaniak]]. Crumb's wife Aline was quoted as saying she hated the interpretation and never would have married Robert if he was like that.<ref>Jewell, Stephen. [https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10333908 "R Crumb, Peter Poplaski: The R.Crumb Handbook,"] ''NZ Herald'' (2 Jul, 2005).</ref>

In 2005, Crumb brought legal action against [[Amazon.com]] after their website used a version of his widely recognizable "[[Keep On Truckin' (comics)|Keep On Truckin']]" character.  The case was expected to be settled out of court.<ref>{{cite news| last=Guevin| first=Jennifer| title=Comic artist Crumb sues Amazon| url=https://www.cnet.com/news/comic-artist-crumb-sues-amazon/| access-date=2021-11-02| website=CNet| date=December 28, 2005}}</ref>

Underground rap artist [[Aesop Rock]] mentions Crumb several times in his lyrics, including in the songs "Catacomb Kids" from the album ''[[None Shall Pass]]'' and "Nickel Plated Pockets" from his EP "[[Daylight]]".

''R. Crumb's Sex Obsessions'', a collection of his most personally revealing sexually oriented drawings and comic strips, was released by [[Taschen]] Publishing in November 2007.  In August 2011, following concerns about his safety, Crumb cancelled plans to visit the 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?"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jrBi3_IndAeM5NHwBfytMNcFebBw?docId=CNG.90a0ab9652c589f1e90438beda86c9ea.211|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130124175238/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jrBi3_IndAeM5NHwBfytMNcFebBw?docId=CNG.90a0ab9652c589f1e90438beda86c9ea.211|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 24, 2013|title=Graphic artist Crumb cancels Australia visit|access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/a-toxic-turn-and-safety-fears-soured-cartoonist-on-visit-20110809-1ikyn.html#ixzz1b78CHsZv |title=A toxic turn and safety fears soured cartoonist on visit |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=August 10, 2011 |access-date=October 18, 2011 |author=Fulton, Adam}}</ref>

In 2012, Crumb appeared on ''John's Old Time Radio Show'', talking about old music, sex, aliens and [[Bigfoot]]. He also played 78-rpm records from his record room in southern France. He has appeared on the show and recorded at least fourteen one-hour podcasts.<ref>{{cite web |title=John's Old Time Radio Show | url=http://www.eastriverstringband.com/radioshow/ |website=www.eastriverstringband.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=John's Old Time Radio Show by john heneghan on Apple Podcasts |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/johns-old-time-radio-show/id557734650?mt=2 |website=Apple Podcasts | date=June 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Crumb has been married twice. He first married Dana Morgan in 1964,{{sfn|Burgess|2000}} who gave birth to their son Jesse in 1968.<ref name="auto">{{cite news |author1=Burns, Ryan | url=https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2018/jan/8/jesse-crumb-eureka-resident-and-son-famed-cartooni/ | title=Jesse Crumb, Eureka Resident and Son of Famed Cartoonist Robert Crumb, Dies After New Year's Eve Car Crash in SoHum | work=Lost Coast Outpost | date=2018-01-08}}</ref> Crumb met cartoonist [[Aline Kominsky-Crumb|Aline Kominsky]] in 1972;<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-crumb-aline-kominsky-crumb-air-dirty-laundry |title=R. Crumb and Aline Kominsky-Crumb Air Their Dirty Laundry |website=Artsy.net |date=2017-01-14}}</ref> their relationship soon turned serious and they began living together (on the same property shared by Dana Crumb).<ref>[[Peter Bagge|Bagge, Peter]]. [http://www.tcj.com/the-aline-kominsky-crumb-interview/ "The Aline Kominsky-Crumb Interview,"] ''The Comics Journal'' #139 (December 1990).</ref> In 1978, Crumb divorced Dana and married Aline, with whom Crumb has frequently collaborated.{{sfn|Duncan|Smith|2013|p=160}} In September 1981 Aline gave birth to Crumb's second child, [[Sophie Crumb|Sophie]].{{sfn|Holm|2005|p=82}} Robert, Aline, and Sophie moved to a small village near [[Sauve, Gard|Sauve]] in southern France in 1991.<ref>[[Celia Farber|Farber, Celia]] (January 10, 2015). [http://observer.com/2015/01/legendary-cartoonist-robert-crumb-on-the-massacre-in-paris/ "Legendary Cartoonist Robert Crumb on the Massacre in Paris"].''[[The New York Observer]]''.</ref> Dana died in 2014.<ref name="Dana">{{cite news |author1=Rifkin, Karen|url=http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/article/zz/20140906/NEWS/140908128 |title=In loving memoriam: Dana Carol Morgan Crumb Kaldveer|work=Ukiah Daily Journal|date=September 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171123031535/http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/article/zz/20140906/NEWS/140908128 |archive-date=2017-11-23}} </ref> Aline died in 2022.<ref name="Aline_RIP">{{cite magazine| url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2022/11/30/rip-pioneering-underground-cartoonist-aline-kominsky-crumb/?sh=1acb19404536 |title=Pioneering Underground Cartoonist Aline Kominsky-Crumb Dies At 74|magazine=Forbes|author1=Salkowitz, Rob|date=2022-11-30}}</ref>

At age six, Crumb's son was featured as a character in Robert and Aline's ''Dirty Laundry Comics'' #1 ([[Cartoonists Co-Op Press]], 1974); he also appeared as an adult in [[Terry Zwigoff]]'s 1994 documentary film, ''[[Crumb (film)|Crumb]]''. On New Year's Eve, December 31, 2017, Crumb's son was seriously injured in a car crash near [[Phillipsville, California]], and died three days later; he was 49 years old.<ref name="auto" /> 

Crumb was a member of the [[Church of the SubGenius]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/the-church-of-the-subgenius-finally-plays-it-straight/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171106000922/https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/the-church-of-the-subgenius-finally-plays-it-straight/ |archive-date=2017-11-06 |url-access=subscription|title=The Church of the SubGenius Finally Plays It Straight|date=November 2, 2017|website=Texas Monthly}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

== Critical reception ==
Crumb has frequently been the target of criticism due to his recurring themes of graphic sexual and violent abuse of women.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shannon|first=Edward|date=2012|title=Shameful, Impure Art: Robert Crumbs Autobiographical Comics and Confessional poets|journal=Biographical Research Center|volume=35|issue=4|pages=629|via=Project Muse}}</ref> Crumb himself has frequently admitted his insecurity and hostility in relation to women:
{{quote|I have these hostilities toward women. I admit it.&nbsp;... It's out there in the open.&nbsp;... It's very strong. It ruthlessly forces itself out of me onto the paper.&nbsp;... I hope that somehow revealing that truth about myself is helpful,&nbsp;... but I have to do it.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shannon|first=Edward|date=2010|title=Something Black in the American Psyche: Formal Innovation and Freudian Imagery in the Comics of Winsor McCay and Robert Crumb|journal=Canadian Review of American Studies|volume=40|issue=2|pages=210|doi=10.3138/cras.40.2.187|pmid=20827838|s2cid=11674940 }}</ref>}}

In addition to being the target of speculation by critical theorists and academic researchers, Crumb has also been held to scrutiny, by feminist writer [[Deirdre English]]. English has been quoted as saying that Crumb engages in "self-indulgent fantasies" through his work, continually blurring the line between entertainment and pornography.<ref>English quoted in Row, D.K. [http://blog.oregonlive.com/visualarts/2008/02/r_crumb_a_crummy_life.html "R. Crumb: A Crummy Life,"] ''The Oregonian'' (February 15, 2008): "Deirdre English, who see[s], simply, a peddler of misanthropy, a misogynistic, racist man-child getting his ya-yas from his over-the-top images of sex, race and women."</ref>

He has been the target of criticism by colleagues as well, such as [[Trina Robbins]], who called Crumb a "sexist pig"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Precup|first=Michaela|date=2011|title=Graphic Women: Life Narrative and Contemporary Comic|journal=Biography|volume= 34| issue = 3, Summer 2011|pages=546|doi=10.1353/bio.2011.0038|s2cid=162340312}}</ref> due to his sexual hostility towards women.<ref>Berger, A. (Producer), & [[Terry Zwigoff|Zwigoff, T.]] (Director). (1994). Crumb [Motion Picture]. United States: Superior Pictures</ref>

Crumb's work is also filled with unsavory images of African Americans (such as his recurring character [[Angelfood McSpade]]), who are often portrayed as indigent, tribal, and [[blackface|caricatured]]. Crumb often utilized African American characters as "tokens", appearing as re-used tropes such as clowns, tribesmen, athletes, etc. Researcher Edward Shannon interpreted the themes of Crumb's story containing marginalized Africans in "When the Niggers Take Over America" (published in 1993 in ''[[Weirdo (comics)|Weirdo]]'') like this: "Crumb ... explores both the American Dream and its nightmare reflection; in this ... strip ''all-American'' white middle class children are depicted as cannibals eager to devour the devalued and dehumanized ''other.''"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shannon|first=Edward|date=2010|title=Something Black in the American Psyche: Formal Innovation and Freudian Imagery in the Comics of Winsor McCay and Robert Crumb|journal=Canadian Review of American Studies|volume=40|issue=2|pages=203|doi=10.3138/cras.40.2.187|pmid=20827838|s2cid=11674940 }}</ref> Crumb has responded to criticism by claiming that he did not invent racist caricature, but that they were part of the American culture in which he was raised.{{sfn|Holm|2004}}{{sfn|Huxley|2001}} He sees his art as a criticism of the racist stereotype itself and assumed that the audience who read his work in the late 1960s were not racists and would understand his intentions.{{sfn|Holm|2004}}{{sfn|Lopes|2009}}

==Bibliography (selection)==

=== Comics ===
*''[[Zap Comix]]'' issues from 1 and 0 (1968) through at least 9 (1978) and several more ([[Apex Novelties]], [[Print Mint]], [[Last Gasp (publisher)|Last Gasp]] and other transient brand names, generally under Crumb's control, 1968–2016) – #0 and #1 are all drawn by Crumb, the rest have stories by others also
*''Snatch Comics'' issues 1–3 (Apex Novelties/Print Mint, late 1968 – Aug. 1969) – #1 by Crumb and [[S. Clay Wilson]], the rest have stories by others also
*''[[Fritz the Cat|R. Crumb's Fritz the Cat]]'' ([[Ballantine Books]], New York, 1969) (no ISBN listed) – all Crumb; about half reprints
*''R. Crumb's Comics and Stories: April 1964'' ([[Rip Off Press]], 1969) –  all Crumb; single 10-pp. story about [[Fritz the Cat]] and incest (originally produced in 1964)
* ''Despair'' (Print Mint, 1969) — all Crumb
* ''Motor City Comics'' #1–2 (Rip Off Press, Apr. 1969 – Feb. 1970) – all Crumb
* ''Big Ass Comics'' #1–2 (Rip Off Press, June 1969 – Aug. 1971) – all Crumb
* ''[[Mr. Natural (comics)|Mr. Natural]]'' #1–3 ([[San Francisco Comic Book Company]], Aug. 1970 – Kitchen Sink Enterprises, 1977) – all Crumb
* ''Uneeda Comix, "the Artistic Comic!"'' (Print Mint, Aug. 1970) – several short strips by Crumb. The longest, last and strongest continues onto the back cover in color.
* ''Home Grown Funnies'' ([[Kitchen Sink Enterprises]], Jan. 1971) – all Crumb
* ''Your Hytone Comix'' (Apex Novelties, 1971) – all Crumb
* ''XYZ Comics'' (Kitchen Sink Press, June 1972) – all Crumb
*''The People's Comics'' ([[Golden Gate Publishing Company]], Sept. 1972) – all Crumb. This contains the strip in which there is Crumb Land (a black void), and also the strip in which Fritz the Cat is killed.
*''Artistic Comics'' (Golden Gate Publishing Company, Mar. 1973) – all Crumb, with illustrations of (among others) [[Aline Kominsky]]
* ''Black and White Comics'' (Apex Novelties, June 1973) – all Crumb
* ''[https://archive.org/details/dirty-laundry-02-1st-edition-1978-sir-real Dirty Laundry Comics]'' #1–2 ([[Cartoonists Co-Op Press]]/Last Gasp, July 1974 – Dec. 1977) – R. Crumb and Aline Kominsky
*''[[Best Buy Comics]]'' (Apex Novelties, 1979) – R. Crumb and Aline Kominsky
*''Snoid Comics'' (Kitchen Sink Enterprises, 1980) – all Crumb
* ''[https://archive.org/details/hup-04-1992_202302 Hup]'' #1–4 (Last Gasp, 1987–1992) – all Crumb
* ''[https://archive.org/details/id-02-1990 Id]'' #1–3 (Fantagraphics, 1990–1991) – all Crumb
* ''[https://archive.org/details/self-loathing-comics-02-fantagraphics-1997-sse-6uele/ Self-Loathing Comics]'' (Fantagraphics, Feb. 1995 – May 1997) – R. Crumb and [[Aline Kominsky-Crumb]]
* ''[https://archive.org/details/mystic-funnies-02-1999.-last-gasp-2000px Mystic Funnies]'' #1–3 (Alex Wood, Last Gasp, Fantagraphics, 1997–2002) – all Crumb
*''[[Mineshaft (magazine)|Mineshaft]]'' #5–present (Dec. 2000 –)

=== Collections and graphic novels ===
* ''R. Crumb's Head Comix'' ([[Viking Press]], 1968) – anthology; re-issued by [[Fireside Books]] in 1988, with a new introduction by Crumb; {{ISBN|0-671-66153-1}}
* ''R. Crumb's The Yum Yum Book'' (Scrimshaw Press, 1975) – originally created in 1963; later republished as ''Big Yum Yum Book: The Story of Oggie and the Beanstalk'' by [[Snow Lion Publications|Snow Lion Graphics]]/SLG Books, 1995
* ''R. Crumb Sketchbook'' series (Zweitausendeins, 1981–1997) – later republished in 10 volumes by Fantagraphics
* ''Bible of Filth'' (Futuropolis, 1986) – collection of Crumb's [[erotic comics]] from over the years
* ''[[The Complete Crumb Comics]]'' ([[Fantagraphics Books]], 1987–2005) – 17 volumes
* ''[[Introducing Kafka]]'' (Totem Books, 1993) {{ISBN|1-84046-122-5}} – with writer [[David Zane Mairowitz]]
* ''R. Crumb's America'' (SCB Distributors, 1995) {{ISBN|0-86719-430-8}}
* ''Crumb Family Comics'' (Last Gasp, 1998) {{ISBN|978-0867194616}} – collection of stories by each member of the Crumb family, including [[Aline Kominsky-Crumb]], [[Charles Crumb]], [[Maxon Crumb]], and [[Sophie Crumb]]
* ''Bob and Harv's Comics'' (Running Press, 1996) {{ISBN|978-1568581019}} – collaborations with [[Harvey Pekar]]
*''The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book'' ([[Little, Brown and Company]], 1997) {{ISBN|0-316-16306-6}} – edited and designed by Peter Poplaski
*''Odds & Ends'' ([[Bloomsbury Publishing]] UK, 2001) {{ISBN|978-0-7475-5309-0}}
* ''The R. Crumb Handbook'' (2005). London: MQ Publications. {{ISBN|1-84072-716-0}} – edited and designed by Peter Poplaski
* ''R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz & Country'' ([[Harry N. Abrams]], 2006) {{ISBN|978-0-81093-086-5}}
* ''R. Crumb's Sex Obsessions'' ([[Taschen]], 2007)
* ''Your Vigor for Life Appalls Me'' (Turnaround Publisher, 2008) {{ISBN|978-1-56097-310-2}}
* ''[[The Book of Genesis (comics)|The Book of Genesis]]'' ([[W. W. Norton & Company]], 2009) {{ISBN|978-0-393-06102-4}} {{OCLC | 317919486}}
* ''The Book of Mr. Natural'' (Fantagraphics, 2010) {{ISBN|978-1-60699-352-1}}
* ''The Complete Record Cover Collection'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 2011) {{ISBN|978-0-393-08278-4}}
* ''The Sweeter Side of R. Crumb'' (W. W. Norton, 2011) {{ISBN|978-0-393-33371-8}}
* ''Drawn Together: The Collected Works of R. and A. Crumb'' ([[Boni & Liveright]], 2012) {{ISBN|978-0-871-40429-9}} – R. Crumb and Aline Crumb
* ''The Weirdo Years: 1981–'93'' (Last Gasp,  2013) {{ISBN|978-0867197907}}

== See also ==

{{portal|Comics|Biography|United States}}

*[[Charles Addams]]
*[[John M. Crowther]]
*[[Edward Gorey]]
*[[Gary Larson]]
*[[Lorin Morgan-Richards]]
*[[Shel Silverstein]]
*[[Marvin Townsend]]
*[[Gahan Wilson]]
*[[Crumb (film)|''Crumb'' (film)]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist|30em}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Works cited ==
{{Refbegin|colwidth=40em}}
* {{cite web
|last  = Burgess
|first = Steve
|date  = 2000-05-02
|title = R. Crumb
|work  = [[Salon (website)|Salon]]
|url   = http://www.salon.com/2000/05/02/crumb/
}}
*{{cite book
|last1     = Duncan
|first1    = Randy
|last2     = Smith
|first2    = Matthew J.
|title     = Icons of the American Comic Book: From Captain America to Wonder Woman
|chapter-url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=2GNaoeiY51EC&pg=PA158
|year      = 2013
|publisher = [[ABC-CLIO]]
|isbn      = 978-0-313-39923-7
|pages     = 158–168
|chapter   = Crumb, Robert
}}
* {{cite book
|last         = Goldstein
|first        = Kalman
|title        = One Hundred People who Changed 20th-century America
|editor-last  = Cross
|editor-first = Mary
|chapter-url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=AVBS79mK7bUC&pg=PA516
|year         = 2013
|publisher    = ABC-CLIO
|isbn         = 978-1-61069-085-0
|pages        = 516–521
|chapter      = Robert Crumb (1943– )
}}
* {{cite book
|last       = Harvey
|first      = Robert C.
|author-link = Robert C. Harvey
|title      = The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History
|url        = https://archive.org/details/artofcomicbookae0000harv
|url-access = registration
|year       = 1996
|publisher  = [[University Press of Mississippi]]
|isbn       = 978-0-87805-758-0
}}
* {{cite book|first1=D. K. |last1=Holm |authorlink=D.K. Holm |year=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4UnTP7Fxm-0C&dq=%22Angelfood+McSpade%22&pg=PA121 |title=R. Crumb: Conversations. Conversations With Comic Artists series. |publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]] |isbn=978-1-57806-637-7}}
* {{cite book
|last       = Holm
|first      = D. K.
|author-link = D. K. Holm
|title      = Robert Crumb
|year       = 2005
|publisher  = Pocket Essentials
|isbn       = 978-1-904048-51-0
}}
* {{cite book|last1=Huxley |first1=David |year=2001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=09KauG1G_fgC&dq=%22Angelfood+McSpade%22&pg=PA135 |title=Nasty Tales: Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll and Violence in the British Underground&nbsp;– Spinal Comix History Series. |volume=2, Primal |location=London |publisher=Critical Vision |page=135 |isbn=978-1-900486-13-2}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lopes |first1=Paul |year=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yYInVE6OLiQC&dq=%22Angelfood+McSpade%22&pg=PA82 |title=Demanding Respect: The Evolution of the American Comic Book |location=Philadelphia, PA |publisher=[[Temple University Press]] |pages=80–82 |isbn=978-1-59213-443-4}}
* {{cite book
|last         = Maremaa
|first        = Thomas
|chapter      = Who is this Crumb?
|pages        = 16–33
|editor-last  = Holm
|editor-first = D. K.
|title        = R. Crumb: Conversations
|url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=2vO7kxvkJiYC
|year         = 2004
|publisher    = [[University Press of Mississippi]]
|isbn         = 978-1-57806-637-7
}}
*{{cite news
|last       = McKenna
|first      = Kristine
|author-link= Kristine McKenna
|title      = Creep Show: A new film shines disturbing light on the very dark family secrets of cartoonist Robert Crumb. There's a lot more there than just Mr. Natural.
|url        = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-04-23-ca-57938-story.html
|newspaper  = [[Los Angeles Times]]
|date       = April 23, 1995
|access-date = July 20, 2012
}}
* {{cite web
|last  = Simons
|first = Johnny
|date  = 1990-04-02
|title = R. Crumb Comix
|work  = [[YouTube]]
|url   = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-UsOVOOOew
}}

{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* [[Charles Bukowski|Bukowski, Charles]], writer; Crumb, R., illustrator (1998). ''The Captain Is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship''. {{ISBN|1-57423-058-1}}.
* Fabricant, M. Chris, writer; Crumb, R., illustrator (2005). ''Busted! Drug War Survival Skills''. {{ISBN|978-0-06-075459-4}}.
* {{Interlanguage link|Christian Monggaard|lt=Monggaard, Christian|da}}, writer; Crumb, R., illustrator (2020). ''Robert Crumb: I Can't Do Pretty: A Portrait and Two Interviews''. Lejre, Denmark: Barbar Bøger. {{ISBN|9788797165010}}. {{OCLC|1242599238}}.
* {{Cite book |last=Nadel |first=Dan |year=2025 |title=Crumb: A Cartoonist's Life |url= |url-access= |edition=First Scribner hardcover |location=New York |publisher=Scribner |isbn=9781982144005 |oclc=1438665864}}

==Audio/Video==
*Robert Crumb interview: {{cite AV media|url=https://channel.louisiana.dk/video/robert-crumb-a-compulsion-to-reveal|title=A Compulsion to Reveal|date=n.d.|medium=Video|publisher=[[Louisiana Channel]], Louisiana Museum of Modern Art |location= Humlebæk, Denmark|access-date=November 20, 2020}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
*{{Official website|https://www.crumbproducts.com/About-Crumb_ep_7.html}}
*{{Comicbookdb|creator|2481}}
*{{isfdb name}}
*{{cite magazine|url=http://www.mineshaftmagazine.com/crumbmineshaft.html|title=R. Crumb and ''Mineshaft!''|date= n.d.|magazine=[[Mineshaft (magazine)|Mindshaft]]|access-date=November 20, 2020|archive-date=October 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027095457/https://mineshaftmagazine.com/crumbmineshaft.html|url-status=live}}
*{{cite news|url=http://www.paulgravett.com/articles/article/aline_kominsky_crumb|author-link=Paul Gravett|last= Gravett|first=Paul|title=Aline Kominsky Crumb: Me and Mr Crumb|newspaper=[[The Independent|The Independent on Sunday Review]]|location=UK|date=March 11, 2007|via=Paul Gravett official website|archive-date=September 16, 2020|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20200916042409/http://paulgravett.com/articles/article/aline_kominsky_crumb|url-status= live}}
* {{imdb name|0190054}}
* {{discogs artist|Robert Crumb}}

{{Robert Crumb}}
{{Underground comix cartoonists}}
{{Inkpot Award 1980s}}

{{Authority control}}

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