130 CRUMB, ROBERT
O’Barr began drawing Th e Crow comics when he was stationed in Germany as a
member of the U.S. Marines, still attempting to cope with his girlfriend’s senseless
death. Th e comics would not be published until 1989, but they became an immediate
success, setting new sales records for black-and-white comics and helping to open book-
stores to black-and-white graphic novels aimed at adults. O’Barr’s Crow has been cited
as an inspiration for Neil Gaiman’s reboot of DC’s Sandman character, and his heav-
ily toned and crosshatched artwork inspired countless imitators. O’Barr’s own artistic
sources included Will Eisner’s graphic novels (the book includes an homage, a sign for
Eisner Glass), manga, and the EC horror and science fi ction comics. O’Barr declined
to produce a sequel to Th e Crow, but oversaw series of other Crow comics produced by
Kitchen Sink Press and Image Comics by other artists and writers.
Christopher Couch
CRUMB, ROBERT (1943–). Robert Crumb (a.k.a R. Crumb) is the leading creator of
underground comics and one of the most prolifi c, controversial, and infl uential artists
in the history of American comics. At fi rst closely associated with the late 1960s coun-
terculture through work for underground newspapers and comic books such as Zap,
Crumb has continued an active career for half a century, producing and contributing
to an astonishing number of publications, including his magazine We i r d o (1981–93).
In addition to his own often autobiographical comics, he has illustrated work by other
writers, including stories for Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor. Since the late 1970s,
he has regularly collaborated on comics with his second wife Aline Kominsky-Crumb
Brandon Lee as Eric Draven, in the 1994 film The Crow, directed by Alex Proyas. Buena Vista/
Photofest
