Sebastian Kirsch: Blog

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The Guardian, my favourite british newspaper, is hosting a series of articles on Robert Crumb in its online edition. They started off today with an interview by Simon Hattenstone and a short article by Steve Bell, who is himself a long-time Guardian cartoonist.

(In fact, I used to enjoy Steve Bell’s cartoons immensely when I first started reading the Guardian, some ten years ago. I didn’t understand all of them, but I always enjoyed their warped sense of humour. I have not read the print edition for quite a while; the new “Guardian Europe” is just not the same. Last I remember, his cartoons on the page before last were dropped. They did keep Doonesbury though; there’s one comic strip I never, ever understood.)

I’ve been a Crumb fan for a long time (proportionally … half my life.) I went to the exhibition at Museum Ludwig in Cologne last year, and I still want to see American Splendour.

In my case, Crumb’s particular brand of offensiveness, cynicism and self-loathing gradually lost its appeal after adolescence. But Crumb is still a great artist, and there’s more to discover about him than his obsession with stocky girls.