Robert Crumb biography

He explored his own sexual fantasies through his comics and shared his preferred style of female figure—thick-legged Amazonian women with ample bumps and curves. One comic cover featured the tagline "What do those hippy chicks do when they do their thing?" Some felt that Crumb's work demeaned women, and others found his comics obscene.

In 1972, Crumb decided to kill off his most famous creation after being upset with the X-rated film adaptation by Ralph Bakshi, Fritz the Cat,

which was released that year. The hipster cat was murdered by old girlfriend in his final comic book appearance.

Crumb was also disturbed how the popular culture had misappropriated his "Keep on Truckin" comic strip. He did not create these quirky, big footed characters to serve as some form of "collective optimism." And yet, that's how many people perceived it, and "keep on truckin" became a popular expression at the time.

Around 1973, his first marriage ended. Crumb was soon living with Aline Kominsky (who would later become his second wife) in Madison, California. He continued drawing comics, including illustrating several issues of friend Harvey Pekar's autobiographical comic American Splendor.

Later Work

In 1981, Crumb started a comic magazine called Weirdo, which featured the work of a variety of artists. He and his wife Aline had their first and only child together that year, a daughter named Sophie. Later that decade, he created another comic series called Hup, which lasted for four issues.

Around this time, the Crumbs moved to southern France. Robert and Aline collaborated on a series together called the Dirty Laundry Comics, which was published in book form in 1993. Their daughter Sophie edited Weirdo for a time. She later started her own series, Belly Button Comix.

In 1994, Crumb found himself back in the spotlight—this time as the subject of a documentary. He allowed his friend Terry Zwigoff to create this film about his life and family, which attracted a lot of media attention. Produced by famed avant-garde director David Lynch, Crumb (1994) provided some interesting insights into this unusual and eccentric comic book genius.

Four years later, a collection entitled The Crumb Family Comics (1998) was published. It featured work from Robert Crumb, his wife Aline, his daughter Sophie, his son Jesse, and brothers Maxon and Charles. Sadly, his brother Charles had killed himself years earlier after suffering from severe depression.

Around this time, Crumb started publishing Self-Loathing Comics. Another more recent comic series from the artist is called Art & Beauty Magazine. He is reportedly at work on an illustrated version of the Book of Genesis. He and his wife live in southern France.

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