Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The R. Crumb Handbook by ISBN 13: 9781840727166. This collection of original cartoons and never-before-published work takes readers on a unique journey through the life and times of one of the 20th century's most notorious and influential counter-culture artists. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. 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. Buttocks with everything. In 1961, a suicidally depressed 18-year-old called Robert Crumb pencilled a comic strip on lined notepaper. Unlike the hundreds he later destroyed in a bonfire of juvenilia, this one was spared, and is published at last in this hardback compendium. It features a rabbit trying to convince a cat that comics are too vapid. If only we could achieve a deeper "self-understanding", argues the bunny, "comic strips would become an immensely strong influential and intellectual force in the world . We might easily become a new and important form of ART!" So swollen is the rabbit's word balloon that it obscures the cat's face, allowing the poor feline barely enough room to breathe (an early example of Crumb's innovative use of such devices). The cat advises the bunny to stop worrying, to have fun, to live in the moment. This tension in Crumb, between philosophical angst and earthly satisfaction, provoked four decades of feverish artistic activity. Crumb's psychedelic-era creations, such as Mr Natural, Fritz the Cat and Angelfood McSpade, captured the druggy ideals, joys and paranoias of that period, but with a mercilessly analytical "third eye" overseeing everything. They are as sharp today as when they were freshly inked. During the 1970s, Crumb exorcised the demons of his own fame in such comics as Dirty Laundry and XYZ, while the 1980s saw him tackling - with characteristic self-flagellation - the widespread opinion that he'd passed his prime. The R Crumb Handbook , a wilfully unchronological mixture, proves beyond doubt that he never lost his touch. The "straight" text that gives this farrago a narrative framework is a transcript of interviews conducted by fellow cartoonist Peter Poplaski. To be honest, these reminiscences offer much less autobiographical insight than Crumb's art. In conversation he appears two-dimensional, a cartoon grouch harping on about how everything worthwhile is extinct, while his comics (paradoxically) offer 3D complexities and affectionate nuances. Like Woody Allen, Crumb presents himself as a depressive, horny schmuck, nostalgic for a long-lost America. (Significantly, both Allen and Crumb play "trad" music as a hobby; a CD of Crumb's banjo-pickin' contributions to amateur combos such as the Cheap Suit Serenaders is included with the Handbook .) Yet while Allen's humour is ingratiating, safe as a sitcom and impervious to any aspects of contemporary reality Woody is disinclined to face, Crumb's is gross, liable to provoke outrage, and always honestly engaged with its time. For all his horror of modern existence, Crumb can't help reacting to it, can't help wanting to nail it in his drawings. Like all great artists, he can enter the skins and souls of those he loathes. Support from heavyweight art critics (Robert Hughes dubbed him "the Brueghel of the last half of the 20th century") makes Crumb feel typically ambivalent. "Broigul I ain't", he snarls. But on the other hand, he concedes: "I'm a slave to immortality. I wanted it from the very beginning." Art galleries now covet his work and there is a thriving Crumb industry, some of whose tackier artefacts are reproduced in the Handbook . Crumb sneers at the "schlockmeisters" who put his designs on key rings and candy bars, but confesses to liking the figurines and the bawdy stage plays. A full-page colour photograph proudly displays a Crumb design tattooed on a young woman's arse. If that strikes you as being in dubious taste, this book may not be for you. Almost every page is suffused with Crumb's lust for females with bulging buttocks and erect nipples. Streams of semen erupt with aerosol intensity; in one queasily hilarious image, a fellatrix squirts her lover's over- abundant come from her nostrils. On the publicity poster for an exhibition at the Musée de l'Erotisme in Paris, Crumb depicts himself as a drooling, sweaty degenerate, an image he invites feminists to cut out and use as a dartboard. Such apparent misogyny is really part of a wider misanthropy, which in turn is frustrated love. Crumb is intuitively sympathetic to every human being (another trait of great writers), and this universal compassion makes his works curiously heartening. Crumb's complete works would fill several shelves, so this Handbook is necessarily patchy. Long-term fans may object that there's not enough from the career-reviving Weirdo series, almost nothing from Self-Loathing Comics (which, despite the title, was a charming chronicle of the Crumb family's day-to-day companionship), too little from Fritz the Cat, and so on. But the best way to regard this book is as a generously crammed, bargain-priced sampler. The CD, the photographs and the odd unpublished sketch keep the Crumbophiles from grumbling, while neophytes get more than 400 pages of classic material. Crumb is 61 now, and seems finally to have taken the advice that the cat gave the rabbit. He lives contentedly in the south of France, cherishes his wife and daughter, plays old-fashioned chansons with his pals, and has experienced "spiritual growth" through meditation. How has this affected his art? Well, of all the hundreds of drawings reproduced in The R Crumb Handbook, only seven are dated after 2000 - and several of those are doodles on restaurant placemats. Photographed at a bookstore gig in Hamburg in 2003, acoustic guitar in hand, Crumb is caught grinning with sheer delight - a warm, old-man's smile that bears no relation to the leering, angsty grimaces of his creative heyday. It seems that if Crumb can continue to keep away from the drawing board, he may, in defiance of his own oeuvre, die a happy man. · Michel Faber's novels include The Courage Consort (Canongate). The R. Crumb Handbook. This collection of original cartoons and never-before-published work takes readers on a unique journey through the life and times of one of the 20th century's most notorious and influential counter-culture artists. 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. Cookie Consent and Choices. NPR’s sites use cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about the device you use to access our sites (together, “cookies”) to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic. This information is shared with social media, sponsorship, analytics, and other vendors or service providers. See details. You may click on “ Your Choices ” below to learn about and use cookie management tools to limit use of cookies when you visit NPR’s sites. You can adjust your cookie choices in those tools at any time. If you click “ Agree and Continue ” below, you acknowledge that your cookie choices in those tools will be respected and that you otherwise agree to the use of cookies on NPR’s sites. How Quirky was Berkeley: R. Crumb, the artist, was here. For several years Robert Crumb (better known as R. Crumb) was a central and colorful figure on the Berkeley underground arts scene. This painting of Mr. Natural on a trash can near the Cal campus reminds us that for several years Robert Crumb (better known as R. Crumb) was a central figure in Berkeley’s underground comix cultural scene. Crumb and other underground comix artists redefined the comic genre while bringing it back to its roots. Their work was a central element in the counterculture of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Crumb spent his childhood in Philadelphia, Minnesota, Iowa, California, Delaware, and Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. His older brother, Charles, led Crumb and his younger brother to make comics as the foundation of his obsessive devotion to his art. An early Crumb comic. Courtesy of lambiek.net. Crumb wrote: “We drew those homemade comics throughout childhood and adolescence, from 1952 right up until I left home in 1962; ten years solid of drawing comics with no let-up.” In the fall of 1962, Crumb moved to Cleveland. Harvey Pekar, a budding comic writer, lived a couple of blocks away. Pekar wrote: “I took a look at his stuff. Crumb was doing stuff beyond what other writers and artists were doing. It was a step beyond Mad. ” Subscribe to the Daily Briefing. Crumb went to work for the American Greetings Corporation as a color separator. He wrote in a letter in March 1963: “My job here is indescribably dismal.” He was promoted within a year to the Hi-Brow Department where he drew hundreds of cards over the next several years. After using LSD for several years, Crumb left Cleveland for when he met two guys in a bar who said they were driving west. His wife Dana soon followed and they settled in Haight-Ashbury. There was a nascent comic book scene in San Francisco. Crumb’s art appeared in Yarrowstalks on May 5, 1967. It combined poetry, spirituality and multicultural interests with psychedelic design. The Print Mint on Telegraph Avenue played a role in Crumb’s career. His career during that era was intertwined with the Print Mint inside Moe’s Books on Telegraph Avenue, which was opened by Don and Alice Schenker in 1965. They framed and sold posters. Alice Schenker. Photo: Courtesy of Alice Schenker Don Schenker. Photo: Courtesy of Alice Schenker. One of Crumb’s major appearances was in Yellow Dog , first an underground comic newspaper and then a full-blown comic. The Print Mint published 22 issues of Yellow Dog , from 1968 to 1973, featuring many of the most famous underground cartoonists, including Crumb, Joel Beck, Robert Williams, Rick Griffin, Greg Irons and Trina Robbins. It was published “as weekly as possible.” With issue 13/14 (July 1969), Yellow Dog changed the format to a traditional comic book look. Crumb drew the first cover in the new format. Alice Schenker remembers their early dealings with Crumb: “Don had a couple of Crumb’s drawings and asked Crumb if he could use them in Yellow Dog . Crumb ran into Don on Telegraph and gave Don his entire sketchbook, telling Don he could use whatever he wanted to use and pay Crumb what seemed fair.” Here are several pages from the sketchbook: Pages from R. Crumb sketchbook. Courtesy of Alice Schenker. The Print Mint published Zap Comix. Zap Comix was the superstar of the underground comix. With issue #4 (August 1969), Zap moved publishing to the Print Mint. Crumb said: “The Print Mint paid the best… Zap really changed when the Print Mint took it over,” Crumb said, according to the R. Crumb Handbook . “It started really big time… All of a sudden this little hippie enterprise became this big deal with the lawyer and the Print Mint drawing up this legal thing and making sure we don’t get ripped off.” The Berkeley police arrested Don and Alice Schenker on Oct. 21, 1969, and charged them with publishing pornography — Zap 4. The Tribe’s Oct. 31, 1969 edition reported: “Now we’re up to ZAP 4 and the pigs have intervened. ZAP 4 is being suppressed because of the ‘Joe Blow’ story, the theme of which is the family that fucks together, father-daughter, mother-son fucking, which Arlington says ‘is so heavy that the world is not ready for it yet.’” Courtesy of Doris Moskowitz. Moe’s Owner Moe Moskowitz was arrested at about the same time for selling obscene materials – R. Crumb’s Zap Comics and Snatch Comics, the S.C.U.M. Manifesto by Valeria Solanas (who shot Andy Warhol in 1968), Horseshit Magazine (The Offensive Review ), and Mah Fellow Americans, editorial cartoons by the Syndicate’s Ron Cobb. Charges against the Schenkers and Moskowitz were eventually dropped. Simon Lowinsky, the owner of the Phoenix Gallery on College Avenue, was arrested for obscenity as a result of a show of underground comix art. Janis Joplin and R. Crumb. Photo: Elihu Blotnik. Crumb had one year earlier designed the cover for the Cheap Thrills album by Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company. Joplin and Crumb attended the Phoenix Gallery opening and vamped for the camera. Comic rack at Print Mint. Photo: Patrick Rosenkranz. The Print Mint was the first publisher to invest heavily in the underground comix movement and its distribution. Its contribution to the genre was epic. The group of early comix geniuses whose work screamed out of the Print Mint and other Bay Area underground comix publishers are shown in the photos below: Top row: Andy Martin, Jack Jaxon, Victor Moscos, Frank Cilensek, R. Crumb, Spain Rodriguez. Bottom row: , Don Schenker, Rory Hayes. Photo: Courtesy of Alice Schenker. The group photo below was taken behind the Print Mint’s production office on Folger Avenue. R. Crumb stands in the back row, wearing a tie and hat. Sitting in front of him is Peggy Rita. Photo: Courtesy of Alice Schenker. In early 1972, the movie Fritz the Cat, based on a popular Crumb character, was released. It opened in Berkeley in May of that year. R. Crumb (far left) and the Cheap Suit Serenaders. Photo: , Aug. 2, 1974. In the 1970s, Crumb formed a band eventually known as the Cheap Suit Serenaders. It played songs from the 1920s and in the style of the 1920s – old-time music, ragtime, jazz standards, western swing, country blues, hokum, vaudeville and medicine show tunes. In the late 1970s, Crumb filed a lawsuit against the new owner of the Print Mint, Robert Rita, for unauthorized use of his “Keep on Truckin’” art. Crumb lost the suit against Rita and told the Barb in its Aug. 4, 1978 edition that: “I lost the case because I wouldn’t testify against Bob Rita who had put a second mortgage on his house to finance Arcade magazine.” R. Crumb and Edward Abbey. Photo: Clay Geerdes. In an entirely different vein, Crumb came to Berkeley in 1985 for a book signing at The Nature Company of The Monkey Wrench Gang. The book was written by Edward Abbey and illustrated by Crumb. It celebrates four wilderness defenders who join together to attack those who are wrecking the wild – by any means necessary. And then there are the relationships between Crumb and the late Bruce Duncan and the still-here Ace Backwards, two absolute outsider genius cartoonists of the Berkeley streets. Crumb used a striking photo taken by Ace Backwards as the basis for his drawing “Girls of the Street” in his Art and Beauty. This is the photograph made by Ace Backwards. Photo: Ace Backwards. This is the drawing made by Crumb. I have much more in my Quirky Berkeley post on Crumb, but even there I am sure that I have missed some of Crumb’s Berkeley connections. This gives the picture. Especially in the late 1960s and especially in the context of his relationship with Don and Alice Schenker, Berkeley was a safe and friendly place for Crumb. He may have never lived here, but he was, in his way, one of us. Tom Dalzell, a labor lawyer, created a website, Quirky Berkeley, to share all the whimsical objects he has captured with his iPhone. The site now has more than 8,000 photographs of quirky objects around town as well as posts where the 30-plus-year resident muses on what it all means. Help us keep you informed. Berkeleyside relies on reader support so we can remain free to access for everyone in our community. Donate to help us continue to provide you with reliable, independent reporting. More at Berkeleyside. Your tax-deductible donation will super-charge our deep-dive reporting.