A late entry, I admit, but I do hope it’s still good. In any case, in the past couple days I’ve been looking at the work of R. Crumb. One interesting note, the R is short for Robert. Okay, not so interesting. Also, I may be stalling a bit. But, to get back on topic, I read quite a few strips of Fritz the Cat, a comic by Crumb, and I was quite entertained. The works are violent, sexual, and still very applicable; the formula for good comics, at least, in my opinion.
As the picture states, the comic takes place in a “supercity” – a parody of any big American city, really, but what first comes to mind for readers, and what Crumb was most likely implying, is New York City – filled with anthropomorphic animals, which are basically the personalities of city dwellers. Fritz itself, its also implied, is the inner workings of Crumb’s mind; what he wants to be and say put into the persona of a conning, smooth-talking hipster cat.
The characters still, for the most part, hold true today. Though the situations may not still be exactly the same, I know I’ve witnessed, and even participated, in complaining about people pretending to like the things that I liked long before it was “mainstream” and cool to do so, as a for instance. In an art school, its almost impossible to not hear, if not take part in conversations (read: rampant bitch-and-moan fests) like these.
It definetely is a great critique on the loose punk culture of inner cities. The loose morals and violence is what makes this indie comic so non-maninstream. It represents a minority of young people caught up in fustration and culture scenes and gangs.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it also started a trend of NYC without naming it. A vague identity that makes it universal. But using cats are also permiscuous in the streets and that is what Fritz is.