There was two versions of this floating around. One that was 198 MB, with single page scans, but the scan quality was light and a bit blurry. The other was around 750 MB, pretty good image quality, but it was double-page scanned with a lot of crooked images and some blackening in the middle of some pages. The image quality of the second version won out; I separated all the double-page images that should have been singles, straightened them all, then went through and did my usual 'Restoration' work on the b&w pages as a batch, followed by mostly single page 'Restoring' on the color pages (over 100 of them). In total, about ten hours of work. I'm pretty happy with it, overall. Could be better, but it's pretty solid. As always, a big thanks to the original scanner.


'The R. Crumb Handbook'

MQ Publications, 2005, 440 pages

Written and Illustrated by Robert Crumb and Peter Poplaski


From the mountains of Southern France where he currently lives and works, pop artist R. Crumb makes a grand entrance back to the publishing world with The R. Crumb Handbook. Part biography, part comic book, and part media critique, the latest Crumb book is a feast indeed. In addition to numerous reprints of Crumb comic hits like Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural, the book also features new works by Crumb, including a hilarious dialogue between the artist and his wife. (Both Crumb's wife and daughter are comic book artists.) Fans already familiar with Crumb's comic book work will rejoice at the glossy reprints of Crumb oil paintings and sculptures, complete with gallery-owner narratives about working with the artist. There are also record covers reprints that Crumb has drawn over the years. But more important, the Handbook helps provide a window into the man himself.

In fact the more you read The R. Crumb Handbook the more you start to understand Crumb is really a political cartoonist, challenging stereotypes, cultural norms, and the media. U.S. media in particular has had a powerful and profound impact on Crumb. Readers will learn what TV shows and books inspired Crumb, the state of comics in the 1960s versus today, the media’s effect on day-to-day life, and what other comics served as models for Crumb in his own work. Artists like Jack Davis, John Stanley, Carl Barks, and the late Will Eisner made powerful impressions on Crumb about what comics could achieve. Crumb offers up some interesting insight into comics during the Great Depression (e.g., Dick Tracy and Superman) and explains how many of these comics mirrored the era and encouraged readers to "fight on" even during tough times. The R. Crumb Handbook is a solid piece of work, not only giving us a glimpse into the artist, but serving as a great read for old and new fans alike.