The famed illustrator discusses his work with the art editor of The New Yorker, including his new book, an illustration of the Book of Genesis, from the Creation to the death of Joseph.
Bio
Robert Crumb
Robert Crumb is a leading figure in the history of American underground comics. As a child he spent hours creating elaborate storybooks with his brothers (a group effort reminiscent of the childhood creations of Emily Bronte and her sisters).
In 1968 he began publishing Zap Comics, the series often credited with spurring the underground comics movement in America. Crumb's cartoon "Keep on Truckin'" -- an image of big-footed hipsters in a cheerful strut -- became a popular counterculture symbol, popping up on posters and T-shirts (most produced without Crumb's consent). He also drew a famous album cover for the band Big Brother and the Holding Company (featuring Janis Joplin).
Other Crumb characters include Flakey Foont, Angelfood McSpade, Devil Girl, and the irascible, bearded Mr. Natural. Fritz the Cat, Crumb's comically randy feline, was the star of an X-rated 1972 movie by animator Ralph Bakshi. Crumb, a 1995 documentary by Crumb's friend Terry Zwigoff, brought the cartoonist renewed notoriety and made him a mainstream figure.
Francoise Mouly
Francoise Mouly joined The New Yorker as art editor in April,1993.
She founded Raw Books & Graphics in 1977 and for fifteen years published artists' monographs and the annual "Streets of Soho and Tribeca Map & Guide." Ms. Mouly was the founder, publisher, designer, and co-editor along with her husband, cartoonist Art Spiegelman, of the pioneering avant-garde comics anthology "RAW," which launched in 1980.
RAW first brought acclaim to artists such as Charles Burns, Sue Coe, Gary Panter, Chris Ware, Lorenzo Mattotti, Joost Swarte, Xavier Mariscal, and many others. It is also the magazine where "Maus," Mr. Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book on the Holocaust, was first published.
From 1987 to 1995, Ms. Mouly edited and designed books for Pantheon and Penguin Books.
Series of drawings that read as a narrative, arranged together on the page of a newspaper, magazine, or book. In the 1890s several U.S. newspapers featured weekly drawings that were funny, but without indicated speech. In 1897 Rudolph Dirks's Katzenjammer Kids, in the New York Journal, featured humorous strips containing words presumably spoken by the characters. Soon speeches in balloons appeared in other cartoons, arranged in a series to form a strip. The comic strip arrived at its maturity in 1907 with Bud Fisher's Mutt and Jeff, which appeared daily in the San Francisco Chronicle. Important later comic-strip artists include George Herriman, Al Capp, Walt Kelly, and Charles Schulz. See alsocomic book.
Wow! Thank you so much for this. I've heard something about the new comic on NPR but not in so much depth. This is great. I have to admit, the interviewer, whom I know nothing about, is annoying, and I'm unimpressed that she is from the NOOH YAW'KAH, as is, I'm sure, Mr. Crumb, but she did add some unique images, and, she did get him to open up about a lot of things. I agree that the movie, Crumb, really was somewhat contrived and that this interview is much more genuine.
It is really awesome to hear R. Crumb speak. Unfortunately the interviewer was disgustingly clueless about R. , his work and could not refrain from derailing the discussion, inadvertently of course.
I guess Crumb has to put up with clueless people like her because she is in charge of such an influential magazine. She couldn't seem to get out of her "editor of New Yorker" bubble. What a waste of an excellent opportunity to get an update on the inner life of a true genius of our age!
Crumb is a genius and a treasure and i'm glad he's still productive-- but he's still laboring under the misunderstanding that "Crumb" the biographical movie has nothing whatsoever to do with his real life. And, his laugh, that sound of pain mixed with anxiety dusted with anger-- its still unpleasant.
This is a video of two members of comix royalty. R. Crumb for having invented it in his crotchety way, and Francoise Mouly for having given us RAW —*the door to the rest of the comix community.
member. 
