R. Crumb is a comics superstar. His comics, filled with such memorable characters as Mr. Natural, Fritz the Cat and a lewd procession of big-bottomed, high-booted women, helped define the sexual revolution and are among the few works from the 1960s that retain their edge. His art from those years virtually defines the era and he's now considered a contemporary pop master, lionized with museum shows and hailed by fine-arts critics like Robert Hughes.
But while he's published a lot of books over the years—from The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book (Little, Brown) in 1997 to the 17-volume (with more to come) Complete Crumb Comics from Fantagraphics—they've generally appealed to hardcore comics fans and his sales are steady but relatively modest.
Now a small U.K. publisher, MQ Publications, is looking to break out Crumb to a larger readership while also increasing its own visibility in the U.S. MQP is publishing The R. Crumb Handbook, a 432-page, brick-like hardcover memoir packed with comics and written in collaboration with Crumb's longtime buddy Peter Poplaski. The $25 book offers a retrospective on Crumb's life and work, including his response to American pop culture since the 1950s, and it's full of familiar as well as newly published material. It even includes a CD featuring Crumb singing and playing the banjo. In a time when comics artists such as Art Spiegelman and Chris Ware are reaping mainstream success, both literary and commercial, who better to capture the reading public's fancy than America's favorite politically incorrect cartoonist?
"We're going to throw a lot of resources at this book," said MQP publisher Zaro Weil. "We've been looking for titles that will raise the profile of MQP," said Weil, who set up a New York office for the company late last year.
Weil emphasized that while she intended to market the book to readers interested in art as well as comics, "we didn't want it classified as an art book. We wanted this to be a democratically conceived and distributed book. We wanted every student, everybody who bought a T-shirt, to be able to afford to buy a book."
MQP hired Mary Dinaburg of Dinaburg Arts, a New York City arts consultant, to oversee the book's marketing. Dinaburg specializes in what she calls "cultural branding"—in this case, a plan to market Crumb to "multiple tiers" of arts audiences. "Crumb is one of the few cartoonists," said Dinaburg, "that can transcend the category. He's like Daumier or Hogarth; he started in print, aiming at the everyday reader, and now he's in museums."
The initial print run of 100,000 copies was aimed at a worldwide English language market. The book has sold roughly 20,000 copies in since its release in Britain on March 14. It's reached #1 on the bestseller list of the national U.K. wholesaler Bertram. MQP is printing another 20,000 copies for Britain and has printed 60,000 copies for North America.
Beginning with the U.K. publication of the book, Dinaburg looked to present Crumb to a combination of comics fans, fine-arts patrons and the fashion crowd, using the U.K. news media as much as possible. Using her own art world contacts (and those of Crumb's New York City art dealer Paul Morris), Dinaburg tied the book's launch to the opening of Crumb exhibitions at Bonham's Gallery and Whitechapel Art Gallery in London. Fashion designer Stella McCartney, another Crumb fan, jumped at the chance to have Crumb design a cartoon for one of her T-shirts. The venerable lefty British newspaper the Guardian followed with an extensive print interview with Crumb and his wife, Aline, also a formidable cartoonist, and also set up an elaborate Web site, G2 in Crumbland (www.guardian.co.uk/arts/crumb), dedicated to the deviant splendor of classic Crumb images.
For the New York City launch, Dinaburg, who also consults for the Armory Show, an annual high-tone New York City art exhibition, grabbed her Rolodex again, organizing a signing at Clifford Chance, one of the largest law firms in the world. "They sponsor the Armory Show," explained Dinaburg, "and the lawyers there are all latent bohemians. They grew up on Crumb." Next, in quick succession, McCartney followed her London Crumb party with a New York Crumb party, and Dinaburg arranged for Crumb to sit in conversation with art critic Robert Hughes for a packed house at the New York Public Library. He flew to Chicago for book signings at the Rona Hoffman Gallery and at several bookstores and then came back to New York for a signing at Barnes & Noble.
"Crumb's work is fun and it's sophisticated," said Dinaburg. "He speaks to so many kinds of readers, if you only focus on one audience, you're missing opportunities."
Dinaburg and MQP also looked for a way to pitch the book directly to U.S. independent booksellers and college bookstores. They came up with a Crumb Lookalike contest and Aline graciously offered herself as the prize—the winner gets a date in New York with Mrs. Crumb. Kits for the contest, including posters, offers for free straw boaters—Crumb's favorite retro chapeau—and offers to purchase a special limited edition boxed set of the book, were mailed to 900 independent booksellers on the Book Sense list.
The strategy seems to be paying off. The book was listed recently at #239 on Amazon.com. Weil said the house is going back to print for another 15,000 copies and her fingers are crossed—she's got national bestseller lists on her mind.
Jim Killen, graphic novel buyer for Barnes & Noble, agreed: "It's definitely got the elements for being a bestseller. It could hit the New York Times bestseller list or the extended list." He called the book "unique—it's a beautiful book and it's been a while since there's been a major retrospective of his work." Besides, Killen said, the book has a chance to make the lists "simply because it's R. Crumb." He said B&N plans to feature the book at the front of the store.
Killen called the initial run of 100,000 "ambitious," but added, "At this point, graphic novels are hitting the bestseller lists. Maybe five or six years ago, it would have been unheard of." Art Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers (Pantheon) has sold more than 200,000 copies since it was published last September and the book has appeared on the New York Timesand L.A. Times bestseller lists, among others. While The R. Crumb Handbook is not really a graphic novel—it's a memoir packed with all manner of Crumb comics and graphics—Crumb is a comics artist of the same stature, same generation and name recognition as Spiegelman. Killen also noted MQP's strong marketing push and Crumb's critical acclaim, emphasizing that these could make the difference with graphic novel readers. "We're looking at an audience that reads reviews," he said.
Joe Koch, owner of Forbidden Planet, a Manhattan comics store, pointed out that to make the list, The R. Crumb Handbook will have to reach beyond traditional comics fans. "When you're talking about 100,000 hardcover copies," said Koch, "you're not talking about the superhero market."
Weil points to the book's reception at the London Book Fair as an indication of future success. "We had every high-ranking, mainstream publisher from France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, all wanting to publish the book," said Weil. "Robert has clearly jumped out of the comic book/graphic novel category and into a much wider, mainstream consciousness."
