Walkin' the Streets

 

It may sound paradoxical, but Robert Crumb, one of the towering figures in comic history, is ironically better known for his less celebrated works. Crumb rose to prominence in the 1960s with comics and characters that satirized everything and everyone, most notably Fritz the Cat. However, his truly exceptional works came to the forefront in the 1980s when he honed his drawing style into something extraordinary. Through a series of short stories spanning eight to twelve pages, Crumb placed himself as the protagonist, occasionally alongside his wife and daughter, delving into family intimacies not typically exposed to the public eye (Terry Zwigoff's documentary "Crumb" serves as the culmination of this fragmented autobiographical journey). He also composed concise yet masterful biographies of jazz legends and even a graphic panegyric dedicated to Philip K. Dick. Throughout this period of remarkable creativity, Crumb never relinquished his unrestrained sense of humor, allowing his obsessions and fantasies to take center stage. This era marked not only a pinnacle in his drawing skills but also in his storytelling, featuring elements akin to what we might characterize as illustrated essays. After achieving celebrity status and relocating to France, Crumb capped off his illustrious career with what could arguably be his magnum opus, "Walkin' the Streets," published in the final issue of ZAP magazine in 2004.

In Walkin' the Streets, Crumb once again delves into his autobiography, but this time with a deeper and perhaps more sincere approach than his previous works. The result is a particularly nostalgic and emotionally evocative comic, where we feel the author is sharing an adolescent anecdote with us as if we were his friends. In this piece, there's a certain distance and a tone of maturity that were absent in his earlier works. Subsequently, on commission from a publisher, Crumb would embark on a highly ambitious project—the adaptation of the Book of Genesis from the Bible, notable for its exceptional artwork. However, Walkin' the Streets holds the distinctive value of being more personal.