Beschreibung:

FRED THE TEENAGE GIRL PIGEON Original Header Art by R. Crumb Author: [Original Comic Art] Crumb, Robert Place: Publisher: Date: 1965 Description: Ink on bristol board, image area of 2¾x4½", matted and framed to 8½x10½". Signed "R. Crumb" in bold lettering. Excellent condition. Originally drawn as a title header for Crumb's "Fred the Teenage Girl Pigeon" two-pager from Help! #24, May 1965, but trimmed from the strip due to space considerations, possibly by Kurtzman. In the story, a teenage girl fan of Fritz the Cat's, inexplicably named "Fred," chases Fritz with her autograph book. Fritz's security detail tries to whisk her away, but a benevolent-seeming Fritz invites her up to his room. There's genuine pathos in Crumb's depiction of the girl pigeon sitting on Fritz's hotel room bed, pre-coitus, clutching her hands and sweating with worry... will she be able to satisfy her idol? She needn't have worried, as the strip concludes with a highly-satisfied Fritz in bed, alone except for the girl pigeon's empty clothes. Fritz's burp makes the pigeon girl's fate clear. (The full strip is not offered as part of this lot). This header has pivotal significance in the context of Crumb's oeuvre. It marks the moment when Fritz's feline rapaciousness crosses the line into depravity, and sets him on the path that ends with his murder at the hands (wings?) of a vengeful ostrich girl in 1972. It also reveals the darkness that underlies the cuteness of Crumb's mid-60s imagery, which still shows the clear influence of his innocuous greeting card work for American Greetings. In Fritz's annihilation of the hapless pigeon girl, we find the seeds of Crumb's notorious "What a World" from 1972's Funny Aminals (which Crumb admits was "one of the sickest, most violent, bloody, nihilistic as well as sadistic, misogynist things I'd ever drawn"). Crumb's header for "Fred the Teenage Pigeon Girl" thus becomes a sort of marker on the grave of Crumb's youthful innocence, and a signpost announcing the more challenging—some would say problematic—direction his work would follow in years to come. A limited edition of 100 softcover and 15 hardcover catalogues are available. Over 200 pages, fully illustrated. Fun reference, great keepsake. Softcovers $40, dust-jacketed hardcover with limitation plate $200. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com or visit: https://www.pbagalleries.com/content/comics/. R. Crumb says, "I found [PBA's catalogue] so interesting that I am saving it for the texts that accompany the comics which were put up for auction. This is some of the best commentary I’ve yet seen on the quality of the content of comic books. I especially enjoyed the reviews of the post-war horror comics. Great. Priceless." Consignments welcome for PBA's Spring 2021 Comic Book sale. Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age and Silver Age comics, original art and ephemera sought. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com. Lot Amendments Condition: Item number: 324246