Complete Crumb Comics TPB (1987-2005 FB) comic books 2011

Volume 1 - 4th (2011 Expanded) Edition. "The Early Years of Bitter Struggle!" Art by Robert Crumb. This long out-of-print first volume of the multiple Harvey and Eisner award- winning Complete Crumb Comics series has been one of our most demanded reprints. Now, this landmark volume of Robert Crumbs formative years not only returns, but also boasts a major discovery not included in prior editions: a never-before-published, 60 page home-made Arcade comic from 1962. Growing up, Robert and his brother Charles often created their own comic books. These home-made editions were usually produced in editions of one. As such, many have been lost to time or private collections. What hasnt comprises much of the first two volumes of The Complete Crumb series. Their creation continued throughout the 1950s and into the early 60s and eventually the content of Crumbs work gradually matured from the light-hearted, funny animal antics of earlier years to stories that flashed signals of what we now recognize as true Crumb. This previously undiscovered Arcade issue, from May, 1962, shows many flashes of where Crumb was heading (whereas Charles had all but abandoned drawing comics by the 60s). The 17-page strip Jim is the most emotionally-charged work of Crumbs young life to that point, a gentle and psychologically astute look at a boy who needs a mother, and also brimming with signs of his increasing frustration with Catholicism. It also features the first quintessential Crumb girl, Mabel. This volume also includes several early Fritz the Cat stories (a.k.a. Animal Town Comics), and the classic Treasure Island Days (as seen in the Crumb film) and is rounded out with other strips, diary entries and sketches that will be a treasure trove for Crumb fans, all defining work from Crumbs formative years as a cartoonist, spanning the years 1958-1962 (when Crumb was ages 15-19) and featuring material from other home-made comics of the era. This is Ground Zero for a man who may well be the greatest cartoonist who ever lived. Softcover, 8 1/2-in. x 11-in., 192 pages, B&W. Mature Readers Cover price $24.99.

Volume 13 - 2nd and later printings. "The Season of the Snoid!" Art by Robert Crumb. Crumb's classic "social and environmental" rants such as the now-famous "A Short History of America" (12 panels charting the nation's progress from unspoiled landscape to strip mall wasteland), an early "American Splendor" collaboration with Harvey Pekar and and a color section of covers Crumb drew for records by old-time blues and jazz musicians that beautifully convey his nostalgia for America's musical past. Plus the essential "My Troubles with Women" and the very first "Snoid" comics! Softcover, 8 1/2-in. x 11-in., 120 pages, B&W. Mature Readers Cover price $19.99.

Volume 15 - 2nd and later printings. "Mode O' Day & her Pals!" Art by Robert Crumb. Another long out-of-print book, this one from Crumb's mid-1980s period, when he was cranking out masterpiece after masterpiece for Weirdo, such as the decidely disturbing "Psychopathia Sexualis" and the old-fogey lament "Where Has It Gone, All the Beautiful Music of Our Grandparents." Plus strips featuring the fashion-conscious Mode O'Day, collaborations with Harvey Pekar and Charles Bukowski, strips from Zap Comics, rare illustration work, and an introduction from Peter Bagge. Softcover, 8 1/2-in. x 11-in., 128 pages, B&W. Mature Readers Cover price $19.99.