The Complete Crumb Comics, Vol. 4: Mr. Sixties!

The Complete Crumb Comics #4

by Robert Crumb

A classic volume of the definitive Complete Crumb library, back in print after years of unavailability! The Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 4: Mr. Sixties! continues the multi-volume series comprising the complete works of the legendary cartoonist R. Crumb, one of America's most original, trenchant, and uncompromising satirists. The series includes the earliest, heretofore unpublished comic strips, as well as his sketchbooks, underground comix, dramatic and autobiographical strips, and his classic cartoon creations Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural. In this volume: Zap #0 & #1 ("Keep On Truckin'!"), Crumb's work from the East Village Other and Yarrowstalks , plus much rare art, some of Crumb's long-lost American Greetings cards from the '60s, and more.

"I figured it out somehow ― the way to put the stoned experience into a series of cartoon panels. I began to submit LSD-inspired strips to underground papers... not for pay... never gave it a thought... but they loved them. These 1967 strips of mine contained the hopeful spirit of the times, drawn in a more lovable 'bigfoot' style. The stuff caught on. They wanted more. Suddenly I was able to churn it out... late that summer one of the underground paper publishers asked me to do an entire issue of his paper Yarrowstalks (corny hippy spiritual stuff ― 'yarrowstalks' are what they used to throw the 'I Ching'). This went over so well that he suggested I draw comic books and he would publish them. This was a thrilling idea to me ― a dream come true..." ―R. Crumb, from his introduction to this volume 16 color, 128 black & white illustrations

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor, Collections, Satire, Fiction, Fantasy

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 17, 1989

About the author

Robert 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.

Reviews

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you don't know Crumb's work, this is a great place to start (an even better one is the 1994 movie Crumb by Terry Zwigoff). You have a lot of his classic comics and characters here. Note: NSFW and not good for kids!

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild collection of comics that give us a range of Crumb's work in the sixties. This is sort of a perspective on America in the mid to late sixties that came about when Haight hippies introduced him to LSD. Maybe much of it is social commentary of sorts, though it's never clear he actually cares that much to make anything like serious social critique. There's sketchy strips of all kinds in this collection, some of them offensive, some funny, some trying to be funny but are not, but some are insightful, and they are always trippy. There's some Mr. Natural Comics, some Zap comix… we get to see some of his early crazy greeting card work… some of it is a collection of rare stuff, and some of it is more familiar work from that time. When he is most offensive it is usually about sex and race, of course; some of the drawing is amazing, though, although some of it is also pretty rough and raw. But the total effect is an explosion of creativity and pure unbridled imagination that is almost certainly unmatched if not always admirable. Wild, acid-nfused picture of the times.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now we're finally into the comics that forged Crumb's reputation. Mr. Natural, Zap Comics, Keep On Truckin', Meatball, "Ducks Yas Yas", "Kitchee-Koo, you bastards!" ... it's all here. In addition to the dark humor of his earlier work, we also begin to see strips of a more philosophical nature. Some are exercises in pure artistic expression--Abstract Impressionist Ultra Super Modernistic Comcs for example. I love the way it flows, delivering image after bewildering image without becoming a disjointed mess. In many of these strips, Crumb manages to convey a sense of the psychedelic experience in comics form. This is some amazing work. Highly, highly recommended!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 4 of Fantagraphics’ Complete Crumb Comics (Reprint, please?) captures the instance in which the man stops screwin’ around and starts churning out the work that made him a legend. Not to say there isn’t value in this volume’s first half (Some of his American Greetings stuff is priceless), but Yarrowstalks and Zap Comix, including a generous portion of my beloved Mr. Natural, are what we’re here for.

[Jon Hewelt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suitably trippy, and I like some of the ideas Crumb expounds.

It's a little exhausting sometimes, though. Just going on and on and you can't really feel a suitable end for it.

I also find his depictions of race to be incredibly problematic. Crumb's a smart writer, and I've been assuming he draws the way he does for a very good, critical reason. But nevertheless, the use of minstrel imagery definitely raises an eyebrow.

It's good to be reading the work of R. Crumb that made him an underground legend. I've read his mainstream work and I enjoy his art style thoroughly. But I want to get him as an artist in total. So far, I'm liking it.

[EC Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cool, it's got "Keep on Truckin", a really nice color section with "The Sad Book", cover (and alternate) for Zap #1. The "Ultra Super Modernistic Comics" are cool visual mashups, the greeting card work is nicely done, and I love the pages from his sketchbook that open this volume (though I usually tend to enjoy the sketchbooks more). Also lots of characters you may recognize in rougher form than you've seen, unless this is all new or you were there.

[Su · Rating 2 out of 5]

Le añadí el tag de "history" porque más allá de entretenerme me resultó un objeto histórico reflejo de su época. Quizás por eso el texto introductorio fue lo que más me gustó, seguido de varias viñetas de tarjetas de cumpleaños, y un par de cartones. Hay algo que me faltó para disfrutarlo, seguramente drogas xD

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I slowly work through Crumb's works I always want to preface that these comics are for adults, and they speak to an age where sexism and racism is so rampant that it is seamlessly woven into the work. It is shocking in today's standards.

In this fourth volume, Crumb's art has become more precise and well crafted. The comics plot are as scattered as a fever dream. The introduction talks about how Crumb had started using psychedelics and was even in a "fog" for months at a time. He credits this period for coming up with most of his comic characters.

There is a lot more sexualization of women, to an adolescent level. I think that this speaks to Crumb's personal frustrations, but also a mood of the era.

These are silly, dark, artistically compelling, and definitely a look through a window in time. But I don't think it is for everyone.

[RoseBlight · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a bit of a slog for me because I don't particularly like any of these recurring characters. Maybe I'm too young or out of touch but Mr. Natural just does nothing for me.

The bits I really liked were the offbeat one offs. Stuff like City of the Future, Ultra Super Modernistic Comics, Kitchen Kut-Outs!, and The Sad Book.

[Andrew]

More great vintage Crumb, with works ranging from his greeting cards-- the first manifestation of his wonderfully dirty, psychedelic aesthetic-- to the work he was more fully invested in. And what I love about Crumb is the way he manages to bridge the gritty, cast-off style of classic '30s and '40s comics with a more modern sensibility. This is the nightmare America that occurs on the fringes of the national consciousness.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Crumb's a great cartoonist, and his work may have been revolutionary for the time, but it's just not funny.