Robert Crumb
Reviews
Crumb: A Cartoonist’s Life
Scribner
Articles
RIP J.D. King – 1951-2025
J.D. King, a prolific cartoonist whose stylized, jazz-infused illustrations appeared in many magazines in the 1990s, died at his home in Remsen, New York in early November, 2025. He was 74 years old. There is no exact cause of death but also no cause for suspicion. According to several people close to him, King was… Read more »
‘Cornélius means I will stay poor my whole life’: The Jean-Louis Gauthey Interview
Jean-Louis Gauthey is interviewed by Robert Aman.
A letter I still owe Dan Nadel about Robert Crumb and racial obscenity
R. Fiore returns to the Comics Journal to offer some thoughts on Robert Crumb, racism and this here life in Modern America.
Unraveling the mystery of the man called Mad Peck, 1942-2025
John Peck, the underground cartoonist, music and comics historian, disc jockey, pack rat, and many other things, better known as the Mad Peck, and sometimes known as Dr. Oldie, died on March 15 in Providence, Rhode Island. He was 82.
An interview with Crumb biographer Dan Nadel: ‘He has this incredible instinct for survival’
The author of Crumb: A Cartoonist’s Life talks with TCJ co-editor Chris Mautner about the book and its subject matter.
Married to Comics: A Powerful Film About the Lives of Justin Green and Carol Tyler
John Kelly reports from the world premiere of Married to Comics, a documentary about the lives of memoir comic masters Justin Green and Carol Tyler.
Remembering Aline Kominsky-Crumb
Colleagues, admirers, peers and publishers assemble here to pay tribute to the late Aline Kominsky-Crumb, an icon of the American underground.
Aline Kominsky-Crumb, 1948-2022
An obituary for one of the revelatory talents of autobiographical cartooning, and an icon of the underground era.
Drew Friedman’s Maverix and Lunatix: Icons of Underground Comix: “A masterpiece, a treasure, an encyclopedia”
John Kelly didn’t just read Drew Friedman’s new book of portraits, he asked seven of the subjects what they thought of their depictions. Plus: Friedman himself sits down for a new interview.
Taking a Look at Dirty Pictures (without the pictures)
John Kelly takes a look at Brian Doherty’s new history of underground comics – and takes his concerns to the author.
“It’s Like A Miracle”: An Interview with the Underground Cartoonist and Visionary Artist Barbara “Willy” Mendes
Brian Doherty sits down with a true original of American art, as Barbara “Willy” Mendes discusses underground comics, religious painting, psychedelic music and much more.
Remembering Justin Green
An extraordinary group of artists, friends and admirers has been gathered by John Kelly to pay tribute to the great Justin Green, one of the most influential and powerful storytellers of the underground generation.
Justin Green, 1945-2022
Remembering the underground comix great – a pioneer in autobiographical comics and minicomics, and a private, dedicated artist.
Of the Old Guard and the New Kids
Author Brian Doherty’s forthcoming narrative history of underground comix, “Dirty Pictures”, is a big one – so big, an entire chapter had to be deleted for space. Today, we present to you that lost chapter as a standalone reflection on the generation gap (or lack thereof) between the underground cartoonists and their older, straighter inspirations.
The Woes of Working for Hef
Cartooning legends from Jack Cole to Harvey Kurtzman drew for the deep-pocketed, wannabe cartoonist Hugh Hefner, but there were some significant downsides.
THIS WEEK IN COMICS! (2/18/15 – Logographic Devil History)
You’ve seen one man’s best of 2014, now see another’s hot take on someone else’s selections for the best of the 1980s! CLICK AT THE RISK OF YOUR OWN LIFE.
Zap: An Interview with Robert Crumb
Zap: The Interviews, Volume 9 of The Comics Journal Library, hits stores this month, collecting all the Zap-related Comics Journal interviews, plus several previously unpublished conversations with the Zap cartoonists. In celebration of this release, we’re publishing things that didn’t make the cut, starting first with the great Robert Crumb.
No Longer of This Planet: Gary Arlington (1938-2014)
The “patron saint” of underground comix died last week at his home and by now has hopefully moved on to cartoon heaven. But he was always a procrastinator and might still be hanging out in funny book limbo.
The Comics Journal #302: Albert and Robert Excerpt
Bob Levin’s story about Robert Crumb’s lawyer, Albert Morse, begins with the Amazon “Keep on Truckin” lawsuit.
Chicago: Comics on the Make
“Comics: Philosophy & Practice” gathered seventeen luminaries of the medium to discuss what it all means.
One-Artist Anthology Comics
As if it weren’t enough that comics are the domain of the obsessive control freak, there is a cartooning sect that perfectly defines the creative mania responsible for some of our greatest works: the one-artist anthology. This is its history.
Crumb in the Beginning
In 1987, the proposal to bring all of Crumb back into print in a uniform set of books was a radical publishing act which re-contextualized and re-vitalized an already momentous body of work.
THIS WEEK IN COMICS! (3/21/12 – Like a dog!)
This week a secret co-writer joins me in discussing Chantal Montellier, Robert Crumb, and the disease of the instincts. Plus, new and old books, with and without pictures.
