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Customer Review: The Complete Crumb continues...
The review above says this is not Crumb's best stuff, and not to buy anything from "This Publisher." This makes NO SENSE, because Fantagraphics is publishing THE COMPLETE WORKS of ROBERT CRUMB, in order, from his early years right up to the present. Crumb supervises each release and writes the introductions to each volume. Furthermore, Fantagraphics is one of the best publishers of quality comix in the world. A high point of this volume is the Death of Fritz the Cat, killed off after the Bakshi movie which Crumb hated. Like all the volumes in this collection, there is good stuff, great stuff, and weak stuff, too. With a title like "The Complete Crumb Comix" what else would you expect?? The review above is sort of akin to someone blasting the Riverside Shakespeare because it includes stuff like Pericles or The Two Noble Kinsman. It's the COMPLETE WORKS, guy! It contains the BEST and the WORST, but everyone will disagree about which is which.
Customer Review: Fritz Is Dead --- Long Live Fritz!
In this entry in the series, the lid is literally ripped from Crumb's psyche, revealing the seething id beneath. Gone are the playful sex fantasies from his earlier work, replaced by dark fantasies that are at times hostile ('Eggs Ackley'), nihilistic ('Jumpin' Jack Flash') and embittered ('The Confessions Of R. Crumb'). These are comix that would easily alienate his hippy admirers, weaned on the psychedelic whimsy of the East Village Other or Yarrowstalks. It was during this period (1971 - 72) that Crumb revamped many of his characters, immersing them into a society shadowed by Nixon/Vietnam-era pessimissism. Projunior. Whiteman. Mr. Natural. Each character struggles with societal dilemmas, torn between hopelessly trying to correct a rigged system and just not giving a damn. Even sly & savvy Fritz the Cat- Crumb's alter ego- finds himself collapsing under the fickle weight of fame and, in the final panel, dead- an icepick through the brain courtesy of a jealous lover. This is pretty strong meat. And a brilliant time capsule of the social consciousness of the early 70's. Highly recommended.


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