Yes,
R. Crumb is still alive. In fact, he seems to be doing better than ever. Of
course, he should be in a good head space when discussing his favorite topics:
sexually explicit comics and his own life. The two subjects are often deeply
intertwined for the artists profiled in JoĆ«lle Oosterlinck’s Sex in the Comix (trailer here), which releases
today on VOD.
They
are not kidding about the “x” in Comix. Explicit Comix make X-rated films look
restrained and prudish. You can find just about every transgressive hang-up
given free rein and you can thank the 1960s counter-culture. As Crumb explains,
the underground press would publish anything he submitted, no matter how shocking,
but they paid a pittance.
So
there you pretty much have it. Oosterlinck basically gives viewers a breezy
survey of some of the leading lights of redlight district comic book history,
essentially introducing their major themes and motifs and then moving on to the
next participant. It offers a reasonably broad cross-section, including the
classical eroticism of Milo Manara and the macabrely baroque work of Suehiro
Maruo (a favorite of John Zorn). However, there seems to be a slight bias in
favor of homoerotic and feminist artists and storylines.
Rather
tellingly, only the late Tom of Finland and Alison Bechdel’s work are still
discussed even though they do not appear as an interview subjects. Yet, it is
ironically debatable whether the film passes the Bechdel Test (probably, if we count
French autobiographical comic artist Aude Picault discussing her work,
presumably with Oosterlinck).
It
is hard to really get bored by any combination of sex and comic books, but the
fifty-two minutes of SITC never has
sufficient time for any truly revelatory analysis. Burlesque performer and comic
artist Molly Crabapple’s coquettish persona is not particularly well suited for
hosting duties either. Still, it is nice to see Robert Crumb and Aline
Kominsky-Crumb looking well, especially considering how much convincing it took
for him to consent to Zwigoff’s film.