Charles Crumb
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Charles Crumb was the eldest brother in the Crumb family, a family of notable but troubled artists that included R. Crumb and Maxon Crumb. R. Crumb has written extensively about his miserable childhood, claiming that Charles bullied Robert and Maxon to create endless comic books all through their teen years, something which annoyed Robert at that time but which he now credits with developing his artistic skills. While Maxon and Robert Crumb eventually moved away, Charles Crumb ended up a recluse living at home with his mother. He eventually committed suicide. Maxon went on to be a street person and struggling artist who has achieved a cult following, while R. Crumb became the most famous figure of the underground comix movement.
In the 1994 documentary Crumb, Charles Crumb openly admits that as a child he had a troubling, violent impulses and actually considered killing Robert in his sleep. He also discusses his crippling, lifelong obsession with the Disney film version of Treasure Island and his sexual fixation with the film's then-underage star, Bobby Driscoll. In Crumb Family Comics, published after Charles Crumb's death, some of his letters are printed in which he writes that his sexual attraction to underage boys played a large part in why he became a shut-in.
Charles Crumb had a profound effect on R. Crumb's life and work, and R. Crumb has done many stories chronicling their youthful experiences. On several occasions he has returned to characters created by the brothers in their childhood, such as Brombo the Panda and Fuzzy the Bunny, although these new stories are much darker than the original stories were. While R. Crumb generally speaks fondly of Charles, Maxon's comments about their late brother are typically much more harsh.
As a sidenote, Marty Pahls, an unsuccessful writer who was a lifelong friend of Charles and Robert Crumb, also eventually became a shut-in and committed suicide.
Charles Crumb's art has never been as popular as Robert's, although it, like Maxon Crumb's work, has a following among fans of outsider art.
[edit] References
- Crumb Family Comics
- The Complete Crumb Comics
- Crumb
- Your Vigor for Life Appalls Me: Robert Crumb Letters 1958-1977
