Robert Crumb
Robert Dennis Crumb (/krʌm/; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American culture.
Robert Crumb
Robert Dennis Crumb
August 30, 1943
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
- Cartoonist
- writer
- musician
R. Crumb
-
Dana Morgan(m. 1964; div. 1978)
Jesse Crumb (1968-2017),
Sophie Crumb (1981)
Charles Crumb Jr. (brother)
Maxon Crumb (brother)
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 countercultural icons Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural, and the images from his Keep On Truckin' strip. Sexual themes abounded in all these projects, often shading into scatological and pornographic comics. In the mid-1970s, he contributed to the Arcade anthology; following the decline of the underground, he moved towards biographical and autobiographical subjects while refining his drawing style, a heavily 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 (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. 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)[edit]
Robert Crumb was born August 30, 1943, in Philadelphia to Catholic[1] parents of English and Scottish descent, spending his early years in West Philadelphia and Upper Darby.[2][3] His father, Charles Vincent Crumb, authored the book Training People Effectively.[1]
His mother, Beatrice Loretta Crumb (née Hall), was a housewife who reportedly abused diet pills and amphetamines. Crumb's parents' marriage was unhappy and the children were frequent witnesses to their parents' arguments.[4][5] The couple had four other children: sons Charles Vincent Crumb Jr. and Maxon Crumb, both of whom suffered from mental illness, and daughters Carol[6] and Sandra.[7][8] The family often moved between Philadelphia and Charles' hometown, Albert Lea, Minnesota. In August 1950, the Crumbs moved to Ames, Iowa.[9] For two years, Charles, a Marine Corps sergeant, was an instructor in the Naval R.O.T.C. program at Iowa State College.[9] The family moved to Milford, Delaware, when Crumb was twelve and where he was an average student whose teachers discouraged him from cartooning.[10]
Inspired by Walt Kelly, Fleischer Brothers animation and others, Crumb and his brothers drew their own comics.[1] His cartooning developed as his older brother Charles pushed him and provided feedback. In 1958 the brothers self-published three issues of Foo in imitation of Harvey Kurtzman's satirical Humbug and Mad which they sold door-to-door with little success, souring the young Crumb on the comic-book business.[11] At fifteen, Crumb collected classical jazz and blues records from the 1920s to the 1940s.[1] At age 16 he lost his Catholic faith.[12]
Career[edit]
Early work (1962–1966)[edit]
Crumb's father gave him $40 when he left home after high school.[12] His first job, in 1962, was drawing novelty greeting cards for American Greetings[13] 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.[14]
In Cleveland, he met a group of young 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!. 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.[13]
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.[15] The relationship was unstable as Crumb frequently went his own way, and he was not close to his son, Jesse (born in 1968).[16]
Awards and honors[edit]
Crumb has received several accolades for his work, including the Inkpot Award in 1989,[60] a nomination for the Harvey Special Award for Humor in 1990 and the Angoulême Grand Prix in 1999.
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 in New York City, from September 16, 2006, to January 28, 2007.[61][62]
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.[63]
In addition to numerous brief television reports, there are at least three television or theatrical documentaries dedicated to Crumb.
Crumb and his work is featured in Ron Mann's Comic Book Confidential (1988).
In the 2003 movie 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.[65]
In 2006, Crumb brought legal action against Amazon.com after their Web site used a version of his widely recognizable "Keep On Truckin'" character. The case was expected to be settled out of court.
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?"[66][67]
In 2012, Crumb appeared in 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.[68][69]
Personal life[edit]
Crumb has been married twice. He first married Dana Morgan in 1964,[15] who gave birth to their son Jesse in 1968.[70] Crumb met cartoonist Aline Kominsky in 1972;[71] their relationship soon turned serious and they began living together (on the same property shared by Dana Crumb).[72] In 1978, Crumb divorced Dana and married Aline, with whom Crumb has frequently collaborated.[22] In September 1981 Aline gave birth to Crumb's second child, Sophie.[28] Robert, Aline, and Sophie moved to a small village near Sauve in southern France in 1991.[73] Dana died in 2014.[74] Aline died in 2022.[75]
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. 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.[70]
Crumb was a member of the Church of the SubGenius.[76]