''The Complete Crumb Comics'' is a series of collections from

Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

which was intended to reproduce the entire body of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

and

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

artist/writer

Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contem ...

's comics work in chronological order, beginning with his

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

work from as early as 1958. While the series was intended to be complete, there is some material missing (most notably ''The Yum Yum Book'', the copyright of which is owned by Crumb's ex-wife Dana,Pahls, Marty. Introduction to ''The Complete Crumb Comics'' Vol 2.

1988. but which has otherwise been in print as ''Big Yum Yum Book: The Story of Oggie and the Beanstalk''). Its publication is considered to have brought more serious attention to Crumb's oeuvre, and was one of the earliest attempts to collect a cartoonist's full body of work. The series lasted 17 volumes and was published up until 2005 (covering Crumb's work up to 1992). After this, Crumb's work was to be collected in individually titled collections, and not be part of the official numbered series.Volume 17 of ''The Complete Crumb Comics'', which will be the final volume in the numbered series of compilations. Subsequent volumes will be individually titled collections of various bodies of work, such as "Hup" and "Mystic Funnies."

Volumes

All volumes have been published at some point in both softcover and hardcover editions. Two box sets have also been produced, collected Volumes #1-5 and #6-10, with a slip case and signed plate, limited to 400 sets each. Vol #1 had a revised edition in 2011 to include an additional 66 pages, mostly consisting of the reprint of ''Arcade'' #22 (1962). Even with the expansion of this first volume, it failed to additionally include some of the rarest earliest strips, such as ''Perry Messin'', a 4.5 page ''MAD'' comics style parody of the ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...

'' TV show, only found in the fanzine ''EChhhh''! #3 (Ken Winter publ., 1959) Vol #6 also had a revised edition that appeared in 1997, with an additional 12 pages of material, and the removal of one image that involved Robert Williams. The first two volumes contain material going back as far as Crumb's teenage years, from before he had had his comics professionally published. Some consider this material to be non-essential, and that it would be better for a newcomer to start with later volumes.

Awards

Notes

References

External links

Series product page
at

' website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Complete Crumb Comics Fantagraphics titles American comics Autobiographical comics Underground comix Comic book collection books 1987 comics debuts Comics by Robert Crumb Eisner Award winners Harvey Award winners