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Book of Mr. Natural Review

If–perish the thought!–all of R. Crumb’s work except his Mr Natural comix were lost to humankind, we’d still have what I take to be his most important legacy. An entire college course could be taught–probably HAS been taught somewhere–with the Mr Natural comix as texts.

Mr Natural is a guru who does exactly what good gurus ought to do: he shakes us up by refusing to act like we think holy people should act. He has a roving eye for the ladies, he cusses, at times he appears heartless or indifferent, and the advice he offers–when he does offer it, which isn’t all that often–frequently comes across as whacky. He’s so irreverent that it’s easy to see him as irrelevant. But nothing could be further from the truth, because Mr Natural is like one of those Taoist sages who, dressed in rags and laughing uproariously, serve as living reminders for the rest of us not to take ourselves, our lifestyles, and our values so seriously. Self-honesty is what Mr Natural wants from us.

As Flakey Foont discovers over and over in the Mr Natural comix, though, self-honesty is hard to come by, because self-deception feels so damn good, especially to us “booshwah” types. We deceive ourselves all the time about our seething sexual desires (”Mr Natural stops Talking,” “The Girlfriend,” and the marvelous Devil Girl stories). We deceive ourselves about our piety, pretending that what we want to believe is what we should believe (”Mr Natural Goes to a Meeting of the Minds,” “Om Sweet Om,” and “Sittin’ Around the Kitchen Table”). We deceive ourselves about work and ambition (”It’s a workaday World”) and, in one of the best two stories in this volume, we deceive ourselves when we think about God (”Mr Natural Meets ‘The Kid’”).* In all these stories, sacred cow after sacred cow runs off into the sunset, mooing gaily.

And as if all that’s not good enough, R. Crumb gives us the definitive biography of Mr Natural–complete with early and rare photos–in this volume (pp. 42-44). This story alone is worth the price of the entire book.

Truly, a great collection!
_________
* The other best story here is “Mr Natural’s 719th Meditation.”

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Customer Reviews

What does it all mean Mr. Natural? – SKI – WG FL USA
Funny stuff from the 60’s. It was funnier then but it still brings a laugh and smile just in the art work by Crumb. Great as a collectable or light un thought provoking read to escape reality. Good stuff!

Must Addition for the R. Crumb Collector – Frederick Scott – Sierra Nevada
If you want to focus on only a couple of R. Crumb’s characters then this is the ticket. I would suggest The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book for an overall view of his work if you can only get one book. For the collector the Book of Mr. Natural is a must have.

not crumb’s best – Robert J. Crawford – Balmette Talloires, France
While I laughed through occasional readings of Mr. Natural in the 60/70s, he was never amoung the Crumb work that I most admired. Indeed, I got little of what he was supposed to be a comment upon, in my reading how the 60s spwaned its own brand of charlatan, old wine in new bottles. Now that I sat down and read through the stoiries in this one, I found it rather callow. Mr. Natural is funny, but the story line is stretched a little too far beyond what it has to offer. Afterall, Crumb had to make a living sellling comics, so his output is not uniformly good. Mr. Natural basically rips people off – using his acolytes for money and other things – and plays the game of the wise guru to Flakey Foont’s naivete.

Don’t get me wrong, he is one of America’s greatest artists and social critics. In my opinion, his best work is elsewhere.

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