R. Crumb Draws the Blues

Since 1992, Knockabout has collected Robert Crumb’s loving, idiosyncratic interpretations of pre-war blues and ragtime lyrics in this single-issue comic. Crumb illustrates songs by writers like Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown, pairing his signature crosshatched linework with the raw, poetic soul of early 20th-century American music. It’s a vital document of Crumb’s deep musical scholarship and a cornerstone of his later-career work.