My paper occupies the ambiguous threshold between these two positions, arguing that Crumb’s work is an embodied expression of the signifying trickster’s dual consciousness, simultaneously representing both the lofty role of the culture-hero and the sordid role of dirt-worker. I contend that responses to Crumb’s disturbing images often occupy the extremes of admiration and revulsion. Crumb's attempt to carve out a position as a craftsman in the tradition of early twentieth century entertainment is discussed critically with respect to current debates on the 'gentrification' of comics since the emergence of the graphic novel. Thirdly, it discusses his take on the 'coffee table book' as a reflection on a culturally established, middlebrow format. Secondly, it considers the commercialization of underground comix and Crumb's skeptical attitude to both the underground scene and the institutions of art, for which he was of interest as a marginal, popular artist. A detailed reading of Crumb's most popular comic "Keep on Truckin'" (1968) and its 1972 sequel "Remember Keep on Truckin'?" in the context of the American counterculture elaborates, firstly, Crumb's characteristic drawing style that nostalgically invokes vintage strips from the 'golden age' of newspaper funnies from the 1920s to the 1940s, and adds roughness and a crude sex appeal to 'cute', polished images of 1950s commercial comics.
1968-1980), and his position in the field of art and mainstream publishing. It chiefly discusses Crumb's publishing policy in the transition from underground comix to alternative comics (ca. The article gives a survey of the American comic artist Robert Crumb's work from the 1960s to the present.
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