The R. Crumb Handbook Limited Edition
by R. Crumb, Pete Poplaski

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Book Reviews of The R. Crumb Handbook Limited Edition

Book Review: Overwhelming overview of a comic genius
Summary: 5 Stars

Summary of The R. Crumb Handbook Limited Edition

The R. Crumb Handbook is divided into the four enemies of man: FEAR, CLARITY, POWER, OLD AGE. He is the only underground cartoonist to be accepted by the fine art world. Working with his old drinking buddy and co-author Pete Poplaski, the four chapters are easily digested. With over 400 pages of cartoons and photographs, Crumb's often controversially-regarded views toward Disneyland, growing up in America, hippie love, art galleries, and turning 60 are revealed. By tracing his development as a cartoonist from his tormented childhood in the 1940s through to his coming of age as an artist in the psychedelic revolution of the 1960s, Robert Crumb visually treats us to the pressures and influences that the modern mass media has on human consciousness, and includes over 80 personal photographs, and 300 images taken from personal sketchbooks and comic books, as well as fine art from museums. For the serious student of late capitalist culture and the thousands of Crumb enthusiasts everywhere this book is indispensable.

In fact the more you read The R. Crumb Handbook the more you start to understand Crumb is really a political cartoonist, challenging stereotypes, cultural norms, and the media. U.S. media in particular has had a powerful and profound impact on Crumb. Readers will learn what TV shows and books inspired Crumb, the state of comics in the 1960s versus today, the media?s effect on day-to-day life, and what other comics served as models for Crumb in his own work. Artists like Jack Davis, John Stanley, Carl Barks, and the late Will Eisner made powerful impressions on Crumb about what comics could achieve. Crumb offers up some interesting insight into comics during the Great Depression (e.g., Dick Tracy and Superman) and explains how many of these comics mirrored the era and encouraged readers to "fight on" even during tough times. The R. Crumb Handbook is a solid piece of work, not only giving us a glimpse into the artist, but serving as a great read for old and new fans alike. --Pat Kearney