Robert Crumb, daughter look at life in 'Crazy Artist'

Robert Crumb and his daughter Sophie may lovingly squabble about the life they have shared, but they can agree on one thing: the underground scene that allowed the elder Crumb to become a comic book cult hero hardly exists anymore.

Crumb, better known as R. Crumb, emerged in the late 1960s as founder of the alternative movement known as comix -- self-published comic books with explicit adult content -- and his 29-year-old daughter is now entering the market with her first title, "Sophie Crumb: Evolution of a Crazy Artist."

"Now there is a spectrum, from the most weird, crazy, psycho pornographic stuff to pop mainstream superheroes and all that crap," R. Crumb told Reuters in a rare interview with Sophie. "There isn't really an underground in the old sense."

His daughter, sitting opposite him in a small New York art gallery where some of her drawings are being shown, was more emphatic: "I don't think the underground exists any more. It's all a big mish mash now."

She and her famous parents -- R. Crumb and Aline Kominsky-Crumb -- have collaborated on "Sophie Crumb: Evolution of a Crazy Artist," a collection of more than 250 sketches saved from her life growing up, starting at the age of two.