Just saw Terry Zwigoff’s movie “Crumb” and am starting a mild obsession, I think. There seems to be a lot of stuff out there, though, and I have no idea where to start. In the movie, I really liked his devil girl/no head comic, and I’m really interested in how he draws women. Any recommendations?
There’s an anthology of his work with Harvey Pekar that I have enjoyed immensely in the American Splendor Series.
Here’s a link to a website connecting you to some choice Crumb. WARNING: Loud stupid music accompanies this link, but you can quickly get out of it. I’d mute my speakers before linking, personally.
That was a hellacious movie, wasn’t it? I saw it at the NY Film Festival premiere a few years back, and as I was marvelling at that leggy chick who ran the magazine Crumb pimped himself out for, who did I run into in the lobby? And she was wearing a miniskirt too!
Fantagraphics Books is publishing a massive compendium, The Complete Crumb. Each softcover volume is $19.95 and over a hundred pages. They are in chronological order and the first two have lots of embarrassing crap from his childhood and teenage years.
I prefer the later stuff from the 80s and 90s; when he was editing and then drawing for Weirdo, he was at the peak if his technical proficiency. He was also doing a lot of collaborations with his wife Aline which, frankly, are best left skipped.
Just as an illustrator, I like Art & Beauty, which is drawings of women accompanied by hilariously pompous beauty tips and philosophical insights.
His musical career is worth looking at, both with the Cheap Suit Serenaders and Les Primitifs du Futur (the musette band he hooked up with when he moved to France).
The guy does lots of album covers, both for bands he’s a part of and others. Please Warm My Weiner remains a sentimental favorite, as does Cheap Thrills.
I remember getting a copy of R. Crumb’s Carload o’Comics for six bucks when it first came out back in '76. Okay, it’s dated.
The Complete Crumb series Krokodil suggests is great, if you’re a completist like me. Others may not care for all the personalized birth announcements, or the newspaper ads for organic delis in Winters, California.
The Last Gasp theme-based anthologies are good, and enable you to consume Crumb in small and palatable doses. Try R. Crumb’s America or R. Crumb Draws the Blues.
If you can still get a copy of the great Head Comix from the late '60s (its been reprinted a lot), do it!
BTW: The Complete Crumb is up to Vol. 17, and the complete set will run you upwards of $400. That’s a big commitment for a Crumb newbie. My recommendation? The R. Crumb Handbook. It has a cross-sampling of his best work over the past 45 years plus a CD including songs from all his different bands. For $16.50 new, I can’t imagine a better starting point.
I see he uses the acceptable ethnic variant.