TOWARD A RECONCILIATION OF SATIRE AND HOSTILITY IN CRUMB

Drawing from recent controversies around Robert Crumb and his legacy in contemporary comics culture, chapter contributor Jason S. Polley reflects on the complex discourse that circulates around Crumb in comics studies and in comics culture more broadly. Crumb’s so-called uncompromising art—which, again, includes his arguably affected public persona, the one we encounter in Terry Zwigoff’s documentary Crumb—fosters serious caution and self-qualification. Analyzing his collaborative work with Aline Kominsky-Crumb, the 1994 documentary film Crumb, and his rejected 2009 New Yorker cover, the chapter argues that from his collaborative comics in the 1970s to recent controversies, Crumb at once connotes and invokes contradictory critical perspectives.