3812

Robert Crumb - "Arcade #32 April 1963" Illustration Original Art (unpublished, 1963).

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Comics Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:5,000.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
Robert Crumb -  Arcade #32 April 1963  Illustration Original Art (unpublished, 1963).
<B>Robert Crumb - "Arcade #32 April 1963" Illustration Original Art (unpublished, 1963).</B></I> The story of R. Crumb and his early years as an artist has been told a number of times now, but it's worth mentioning again how important was influence of older brother Charles upon the young Robert. Charles would cajole and bully his younger siblings into making home-made comic books, as a way to entertain themselves. Charles had a lot of talent himself, and he would try to push the others to keep up. Eventually, only Robert kept up the pace, with a growing talent that soon surpassed Charles'. "Arcade" was the name they gave to their personal comics drawn in lined notebooks, with special covers mocked up and pasted onto the books. This particular cover is absolutely gorgeous. It appears to be entirely by Robert -- by this time, Charles had lost his drive and retreated into his room, where he would stay for the rest of his life. This piece is unusual, in that it has been drawn in ink on acetate in the manner of an animation cel; the color was then applied with colored pencils to the back. The girl looks a bit like Mabel (from the brother's earlier "Treasure Island"-inspired strips), while the frog running off with the ponytail is Oggie, star of <B>The Yum Yum Book</B></I>. This fantastic illustration has never been published, as far as we can tell. It measures approximately 7" x 9"; outside of some minor scuffing on the front of the acetate, it is in Excellent condition. This piece marks the end of Crumb's juvenile efforts, and the beginning of his professional career. <BR><BR><B>Important notice:</B> Heritage usually auctions material at the rate of 200-250 lots per hour. On some occasions eBay Live bid software or the Internet may not be able to keep up with the pace of the auction. We recommend placing a realistic absentee bid now as insurance to avoid disappointment. Occasionally the auctioneer may eliminate or reject an eBay Live bid, and the auctioneer may also reopen a lot after the close of the eBay live bidding (usually because we missed an audience bid), and may reject your bid even if it shows you as the winning bidder. By bidding via eBay Live, you agree that Heritage may award the lot to another bidder at its sole discretion under the circumstances described above or any other reasonable circumstances. Since eBay bids are not shown to us until we open the lot on the floor, we treat those bids just like floor bids. In most cases the floor responds before the eBay bid is presented to us, due to Internet lag time, so for consistency we have made it a policy that floor bids are always considered first over tie eBay live bids. Also please note that all Heritage lots purchased through eBay Live carry a 20% Buyer's Premium. Please make sure you read the Terms and Conditions before you bid.