Robert Crumb (PDF)

The "e;Godfather"e; of the underground comics movement begun in the '60s, Robert Crumb is also one of the most important figures in twentieth century art. Born in Philadelphia in 1943, Crumb, like Mark Twain and the later Beat writers, has lived all over America, giving him a unique perspective from which to satirize his home country. In San Francisco in 1967, at the height of the hippie movement, Crumb began producing independent black and white comic books drawn in a style that seemed both old fashioned and up-to-date at the same time, a dense, thick-lined style presented in comic strip panels often packed with activity, a style that harked back to the work of E. C. Segar, Walt Kelly, Gene Ahern, and others. In these books he created characters such as Mr. Natural and Fritz the Cat, and introduced such phrases as "e;Keep on Truckin'"e; into the vernacular. In later years Crumb edited his own magazine (Weirdo), and turned to confessional stories, which he wrote alone and in collaboration with his wife Aline Kominsky He moved to France in the early '90s, his art began to make appearances in galleries and magazines like the New Yorker, and he was the subject of Crumb, Terry Zwigoff's popular documentary. But Crumb isn't just a great cartoonist. He is a great writer as well. His sardonic view of the world is literary and sophisticated, and in his introductions to books and anthologies, as well as in his letters and other writings, Crumb is revealed as a writer with a style as distinctive as his cartoons and with a comic timing just as finely honed. To answer the question, the people who read Crumb include anyone who values biting satire, good writing, and great art.