BOOK: Robert Crumb-Existential Comics, David Zwirner Books

Instrumental in the formation of the underground comics scene in the 1960s and 1970s, R. Crumb has helped challenge and expand the boundaries of the graphic arts and redefined comics and cartoons as countercultural art forms. Widely circulated, often celebrated, Crumb’s published imagery, such as his comic strips “Fritz the Cat”, “Mr. Natural: and “Keep on Truckin’” , offers a mordant satirical critique of modern society, directly addressing political disillusionment, the never-ending battles between “squares” and bohemians, racial and gender stereotypes, sexual fantasies and fetishes, and the absurdities of social convention and conformity—themes the artist also often explores through disturbing but hilariously abject self-caricature that dramatizes incidents in his own life and surroundings. The book “Existential Comics” by David Zwirner books  brings together twenty-five of Robert Crumb’s most ambitious, acclaimed, and profound comics. The comics in this volume exemplify Crumb’s creative output over twenty-five years following his early experimentation in the 1960s and 1970s. The comics collected here depict characters searching for an understanding of the world around and within themselves. Through adaptation, autobiography, biography, and short fiction, Crumb—much like his subjects—demands we pay attention to our darkest desires, compulsions, fears, and obsessions. “Existential Comics” also features a new, introductory comic strip by Crumb, reflecting on his practice in the context of this volume. -Dimitris Lempesis