The Enthusiast reports that legendary US comic artist Robert Crumb has cancelled a scheduled appearance in Sydney later this month following a Daily Telegraph report he believes misrepresented him. The Telegraph report begins with the introduction, “A self-confessed sex pervert whose explicit comic drawings cannot be shown in Australia is to deliver a talk and hold a special exhibition at the Sydney Opera House.”
As viewers of the classic documentary Crumb will attest, Robert Crumb is one of comic art’s most recognised names and an emblematic figure of the US counter-culture movement. He’d been scheduled to appear in conversation with American comic book editor, publisher and critic Gary Groth as part of the Sydney Opera House’s ‘Graphic’ weekend of 21 and 22 August.
In a story in The Australian claiming he is “miffed”, Crumb says he feels anxious “about having to confront some angry sexual assault crisis group” and offers no justification for his work: “I do these crazy cartoons … I have no defence. I just have to throw up my hands.”
“Crumb might be overreacting,” The Enthusiast concludes, “but mature Australians lose out once again to a vocal, philistine minority and puritanical, puerile journalism.”