Photo: Niccolò Caranti / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
R. Crumb is one of those artists who makes you genuinely uncomfortable and then makes you laugh at yourself for being uncomfortable — which is basically the whole point. Coming out of San Francisco's underground comix scene in the late 1960s, he drew a world full of sexual obsession, racial caricature, and savage self-loathing with a draftsmanship so meticulous it borders on the obsessive. His line work alone is worth studying; the guy could have had a perfectly respectable career drawing old-timey greeting cards if he hadn't had so much darkness rattling around inside him. The 1994 Terry Zwigoff documentary about him is one of the most quietly disturbing portraits of an artist ever put on film. The Angoulême Grand Prix in 1999 was well-earned — Europe always got him before America's mainstream ever did. He moved to southern France decades ago and honestly, who can blame him.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Robert Crumb
- Name (Japanese)
- ロバート・クラム
- Reading
- ろばーと・くらむ
- Born
- August 30, 1943 (age 82)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Virgo / Goat
- Origin
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
- Occupation
- cartoonist / comics artist / banjoist / journalist / novelist
2. Background
Awards & achievements
- 1999 Grand prix de la ville d'Angoulême
- 1989 Inkpot Award
- 1991 Will Eisner Hall of Fame
- 2010 Harvey Award for Best Artist
- 2010 Best foreign work published in Spain
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Angelfood McSpade | — |
6. Links
- Official sitehttp://www.rcrumb.com
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AD%E3%83%90%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AF%E3%83%A9%E3%83%A0
Frequently asked questions
When was Robert Crumb born?
Born August 30, 1943 (age 82).
Where is Robert Crumb from?
Robert Crumb is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
What does Robert Crumb do?
Robert Crumb works as cartoonist, comics artist, banjoist, journalist, novelist.
What is Robert Crumb known for?
Notable works include Angelfood McSpade.
Cartoonist — see all → · Comics artist — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.