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The Complete Crumb Comics #10
The Complete Crumb Comics, Vol. 10: Crumb Advocates Violent Overthrow!
Vol. 10 showcases work from 1973 to 1975, including his work for the first four issues of Arcade magazine, his first issue of Dirty Laundry Comics (in collaboration with wife Aline Kominsky-Crumb), rare record artwork for Crumb’s band, The Cheap Suit Serenaders, and much more.
118 pages, Paperback
First published February 25, 1994
84 people want to read
About the author
Robert Crumb
564 books534 followersRobert Dennis Crumb (born August 30, 1943)— is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.
Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded as its most prominent figure. Though one of the most celebrated of comic book artists, Crumb's entire career has unfolded outside the mainstream comic book publishing industry. One of his most recognized works is the "Keep on Truckin'" comic, which became a widely distributed fixture of pop culture in the 1970s. Others are the characters "Devil Girl", "Fritz the Cat", and "Mr. Natural".
He was inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1991.
Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded as its most prominent figure. Though one of the most celebrated of comic book artists, Crumb's entire career has unfolded outside the mainstream comic book publishing industry. One of his most recognized works is the "Keep on Truckin'" comic, which became a widely distributed fixture of pop culture in the 1970s. Others are the characters "Devil Girl", "Fritz the Cat", and "Mr. Natural".
He was inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1991.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 2, 2022
Picaresque - can that word be used to describe a 20th century cartoonist like Crumb? Crumb's artistic output is like an adventure, a sort of a challenge to the activist feminist politically conscious American mainstream of movies and literature. What would Crumb and Norman Mailer say to each other if they met at a bar? Ok, forget Mailer. What would Crumb say to Mark Ruffalo?
These Fantagraphic collections are like coffee table books. They have posters drawn by Crumb inserted between some of his longer works. One of the longer works in this collection has Crumb and Aline dealing with mundane daily irritations like their frenzied sex session getting interrupted by their son. Then they get kidnapped by aliens. Crumb seems to stick it to the crappy overrated American sci fi movies of the seventies when kidnapped humans are filled with wonder about their alien captors. In this one, Aline is constantly hungry during their captivity. The aliens dump them back into earth. More animalistic sex between Crumb and Aline. They fight a lot. Then there is a flood and the two of them get separated. Crumb has no bus money. Aline falls in with a bunch of hippies who take her to Tucson and Timothy O Leary. Crumb becomes rich drawing a book cover in Manhattan. Then they get back together. Yes, it all sounds very silly. I just found this ridicuous freewheeling story to be profound and memorable. Is it because I watch too many crappy movies?
Then there is Mr Naturals run in with a new religious cult.
Another long story has a couple of aliens entering earth and trying to meet the higher ups at the Pentagon to convince them that shits soon going to hit the fan if they don't stop everything they're doing.
A long section about the things Crumb hates about modern America - youth culture, showbiz personalities, slogan chanting radicals, fat capitalists, urban sophisticates, jet planes, people of all races and underarm deodorants.
Lenny Bruce and Charles Bukowski appear in cameos.
That's Life - an account of how a poor black musicians music became popular long after his death.
Frosty the Snowman and his friends blow up the Rockefeller mansion but it does not matter much because nobody was in there and Rockefeller announces the place had to be renovated anyway.
When an artist sits down to write/draw, should the artist be driven by activism or some great ideal all the time? What if the talented artist is a pervert who is into women with big asses and thick thighs and also a cynic who cannot take most political moments seriously? Who is to say his work is not important?
I am in India and I see a lot of Indians holding onto Hindutva or woke liberalism or T20 cricket or whatever it is that makes them feel good. So I respect an artist like Crumb who constantly holds onto a nice rotund ass to make himself feel good.
These Fantagraphic collections are like coffee table books. They have posters drawn by Crumb inserted between some of his longer works. One of the longer works in this collection has Crumb and Aline dealing with mundane daily irritations like their frenzied sex session getting interrupted by their son. Then they get kidnapped by aliens. Crumb seems to stick it to the crappy overrated American sci fi movies of the seventies when kidnapped humans are filled with wonder about their alien captors. In this one, Aline is constantly hungry during their captivity. The aliens dump them back into earth. More animalistic sex between Crumb and Aline. They fight a lot. Then there is a flood and the two of them get separated. Crumb has no bus money. Aline falls in with a bunch of hippies who take her to Tucson and Timothy O Leary. Crumb becomes rich drawing a book cover in Manhattan. Then they get back together. Yes, it all sounds very silly. I just found this ridicuous freewheeling story to be profound and memorable. Is it because I watch too many crappy movies?
Then there is Mr Naturals run in with a new religious cult.
Another long story has a couple of aliens entering earth and trying to meet the higher ups at the Pentagon to convince them that shits soon going to hit the fan if they don't stop everything they're doing.
A long section about the things Crumb hates about modern America - youth culture, showbiz personalities, slogan chanting radicals, fat capitalists, urban sophisticates, jet planes, people of all races and underarm deodorants.
Lenny Bruce and Charles Bukowski appear in cameos.
That's Life - an account of how a poor black musicians music became popular long after his death.
Frosty the Snowman and his friends blow up the Rockefeller mansion but it does not matter much because nobody was in there and Rockefeller announces the place had to be renovated anyway.
When an artist sits down to write/draw, should the artist be driven by activism or some great ideal all the time? What if the talented artist is a pervert who is into women with big asses and thick thighs and also a cynic who cannot take most political moments seriously? Who is to say his work is not important?
I am in India and I see a lot of Indians holding onto Hindutva or woke liberalism or T20 cricket or whatever it is that makes them feel good. So I respect an artist like Crumb who constantly holds onto a nice rotund ass to make himself feel good.
November 12, 2017
The Frosty story featured on the cover was fun. I particularly liked the bit where a guard patrol at the Rockefeller mansion encounters Frosty, who's posing stiffly in hopes of fooling them into thinking he's just a normal inanimate snowman and he's all sweaty and everything. It was a cute moment.
In this volume, we also get the first of Bob and Aline's Dirty Laundry Comics, which is one of the longer stories to appear in this series so far. Despite the marked differences in their styles, they work well together, and there's a sense of playfulness and affection to the stories that always makes me smile. I also greatly enjoyed the jam page with Jay Lynch's Nard & Pat being reinterpreted by various underground cartoonists.
This volume also makes me long for a collected volume(s) of Arcade. It's at least as legendary as Zap and Wimmen's Comix, both of which have been collected in handsome hardcover sets. For that matter, I'd love a reprint set of the complete Weirdo and Rip Off Comix as well. Underground publishers and/or Fantagraphics take note.
Volume 10, and we're still only up to the mid 70's. There's a lot of Crumb still to go ...
In this volume, we also get the first of Bob and Aline's Dirty Laundry Comics, which is one of the longer stories to appear in this series so far. Despite the marked differences in their styles, they work well together, and there's a sense of playfulness and affection to the stories that always makes me smile. I also greatly enjoyed the jam page with Jay Lynch's Nard & Pat being reinterpreted by various underground cartoonists.
This volume also makes me long for a collected volume(s) of Arcade. It's at least as legendary as Zap and Wimmen's Comix, both of which have been collected in handsome hardcover sets. For that matter, I'd love a reprint set of the complete Weirdo and Rip Off Comix as well. Underground publishers and/or Fantagraphics take note.
Volume 10, and we're still only up to the mid 70's. There's a lot of Crumb still to go ...
December 12, 2023
Really just more of the same from Mr Crumb. It's all pretty good. The art is pretty awesome. The jokes are dirty, but dated - in my 23 year old mind at least. The comic style is also pretty dated, the art is nice but doesn't change. All the stories are characters in the foreground, a little bit of background - like characters in a play. The topics are usually pseudo-existential; America is awful, life is pointless, throw in satire of politicians/rich business people/hippies/working class.
I've enjoyed lots of what Crumb has done. This volume is just especially mediocre for the man because it doesn't do anything new.
Oh, yeah I forgot about the one really long Crumb/Aline story collected here. It was forgettable, long-winded, boring. The two artists working on the same story and commenting on their different artstyles in a fourth-wall breaking way was interesting for a couple panels.
The book says it collects 1973-1975 of Crumbs material. This is mostly stuff from various undergound comix including Arcade. There's a lot of cover reprints. There are also various advertisements and miscellaneous art from Crumb. None of this art really stood out for me.
I've enjoyed lots of what Crumb has done. This volume is just especially mediocre for the man because it doesn't do anything new.
Oh, yeah I forgot about the one really long Crumb/Aline story collected here. It was forgettable, long-winded, boring. The two artists working on the same story and commenting on their different artstyles in a fourth-wall breaking way was interesting for a couple panels.
The book says it collects 1973-1975 of Crumbs material. This is mostly stuff from various undergound comix including Arcade. There's a lot of cover reprints. There are also various advertisements and miscellaneous art from Crumb. None of this art really stood out for me.
August 29, 2022
So much Dirty Laundry! You can sense the frustration if Crumb in his life at this time. He reportedly almost quit somewhere around here, right after the IRS started breathing down his neck, probably because of the "Frosty the Snowman" comics contained. Herein, Frosty takes it upon himself to...blow up the 'Rockerfellas'! Somebody didn't have a sense of humor, or maybe sicking the IRS on someone was their sense of humor. The comics were only okay anyways. It didn't help Crumb, I'd check out another volume unless you're collecting everything.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews