Famous Cartoonists Buttons

From the back cover of Bizarre Sex issue 1, 1972 Kitchen Sink Enterprises. I wonder if they're still available?

The Crumbs Talk...

Robert Crumb with the East River String Band

Comica ‘09: R Crumb Uncovered

"As part of Comica ‘09, from 12 November to 12 December, the Scream Gallery at 34 Bruton Street, London, will be exhibiting rare original art by Robert Crumb, many pieces seen for the first time in the UK."

More info on Comica.

Crumb's Genesis round up

Now expected in mid October, although some people (like retrocrush) have said it'll ship before the end of September.













"As I noted in my Bookforum review, one way to appreciate the awe-inspiring craftsmanship of Crumb’s The Book of Genesis Illustrated is to pay attention to his handling of the translation." - from Jeet Heer's informative article Altering Alter: Crumb & the Translator on Comics Comics.

Boing Boing has a preview video of the book as well as a sneak peek of Chapter 19 .

R. Crumb's Genesis, Heavenly or Heretical? (beliefnet.com)

Crumb's desk while working on Genesis, and Peter Poplaski tells how he helped research visual details for the book.

"It took R. Crumb to get me to read the Bible."

Amazon UK still has the book available for pre-order at £11.39, which seems reasonable.

Jay Lynch & Robert Crumb meet Chester Gould...

... in this strip by Lynch & Ed Piskor.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy

Read about it here.

Robert Crumb interviewed by Al Goldstein

The actual interview starts 45 seconds in. I tried to edit out the anti-Sean Penn rant, but it didn't work.
I'm guessing this is from the late 80's.

Vice THE COMICS ISSUE

Vice Magazine's comics issue is still online. It's not that great to be honest, but amongst the many comics included are strips by Robert Crumb, Pete Bagge, Sophie Crumb, Rick Altergott, and .... me! (I wish they'd sent me a copy).

Crumb's Genesis is finished

"Robert Crumb has finished the Genesis project. It's 201 pages. He has also finished the Cover, the Introduction, the commentary (for the back sleeve) and also the Map, which will be in the beginning of the book. The book is soon going to production and it's planned to be released this fall." - rcrumb.blogspot.com

From boingboing.net :
"The long-awaited publication of Robert Crumb’s Book of Genesis, an adaptation of the Bible story, which Norton will be publishing in Fall 2009. I had the privilege of seeing some of the pages in France two years ago, and the scope of the work has haunted me ever since. I’m sure the religious right will be all up in arms with cliché horror that a quote unquote “cartoonist” has defamed their sacred cow, but Crumb is taking this work very seriously, and Genesis is some of his best work."

According to The Guardian, the book will be published simultaneously in the US and the UK on 19 October.



A sketchbook page from The R. Crumb Handbook.

And finally, an entertaining Crumb interview with Robert Hughes from 2005, when the Genesis book was in it's early stages.

Robert Crumb podcast

Thanks to Sean Duffield for sending me this recent, lengthy podcast interview with R.Crumb. I could listen to this guy all day.

Harvey Pekar's Jazz Opera

“People don’t accept experimental art, few people even read James Joyce anymore,” Pekar continued. “Jazz has no following, not real jazz. The musicians have to sell their own CDs at the shows because record companies don’t want them. I want to tell people if they turn their backs on anything new and different, the art form will die.”

Read about it at Comic Book Resources, where you can also listen to an excerpt from a telephone conversation between Pekar and Robert Crumb. The guys talk about the kind of music they like and argue about who’s right. “Crumb thinks no good music has been written after 1933,” Pekar said. “But we talk about it.” Crumb also makes some interesting comments about funding for the arts.

Robert Crumb

This is a detail from "Flesh and Blood Comics", the free Robert Crumb comic that's doing the rounds. It's a lovely A3 collection of sketchbook pages, and definitely worth seeking out (mine was picked up in the ICA). You can see it here, but it's much better to pick up and read a physical copy.

R.Crumb vs. The Rolling Stones

Go Robert!
After watching this video, I feel it's time to reignite the war between cartoonists and musicians.
Those musicians get away with murder...
think about it : they get more funding (cartoonists get none, but you can do a degree in music), it's more sociable, it's seen as cooler. And some of them are real jerks too!
Well I say enough is enough! Maybe it's not their fault that being a cartoonist sucks, but I say we take it out of their hides anyway. And those of you who are cartoonists AND musicians better start choosing sides, because this is gonna go down pretty damn soon. I intend to flick ink at the next person I see carrying a guitar.