Hello All,
I am Nicholas Gazin, VICE's comics know-it-all. Don't nobody know more about comic booking than old Nick Gazin. This is my weekly column in which I tell you what's good and what's bad, what's wheat and what's chaff, what's necessary and what's trivial.
Here are reviews of five things I was sent in the mail.
I receive many fine things in the mail every day for free. In the past month, I got a new pair of Doc Martens, a G-Shock watch, 50 THC cookies, and about a hundred books and comics. It's like I wished on a lucky monkey's paw, and now I get cool stuff in the mail, but instead of bringing happiness, it just makes it harder for me to appreciate the value of objects. However, when I opened the box containing this book, I was so bowled over that I blacked out and hit my head. There was blood everywhere, and when I came to, my cat was lapping up the scarlet puddle that had pooled around my head.
This book collects all three of R Crumb's Art & Beauty Magazines in a hardcover, slipcased volume that has been hand-numbered by someone, probably an intern, and signed by R Crumb himself. I got #348.
The book is full of pretty drawings of ladies by R Crumb, some drawn from life, some drawn from photos. Almost all have giant legs and butts and are accompanied by Crumb's written commentary on why he thought they were worth drawing. Drawing pretty ladies is pretty standard stuff in the visual arts, and Crumb is one of the great treasures of illustration. Crumb's drawings in this book not only show why women are beautiful, but why life is beautiful. I'm glad he exists and shares his drawings with the world. I'm glad this book exists. I'm glad it is mine.