Heritage Galleries & Auctioneers is currently auctioning off a copy of a rare Robert Crumb zine from early in the artist’s career. The fact that the bids are already sitting at over $300 with 19 days to go despite the last page being completely detached shows just how important a piece of comic book history this is.

Arcade #1 Robert Crumb Fanzine (Crumb Brothers, 1960) Condition: GD/VG. Here’s an incredible find for collectors searching for rare and unusual items pertaining to Underground Comix legend Robert Crumb. From the files of Crumb’s good friend (and one-time brother-in-law) Marty Pahls, comes this extremely scarce mimeographed copy of Arcade #1. This is not Arcade the Comics Review, which was published in the mid 1970s, but a much earlier “homemade” comic book featuring Robert and brother Charles Crumb’s cartooning. The “Arcade” name had been used by the brothers for their own personal notebooks; this is a more finished version sent out to a few close friends, and is not listed in Don Fiene’s R. Crumb Checklist. The six-page ‘zine is printed in purple on single-sided sheets of 8.5″ x 11″ paper. The cover is a rare editorial cartoon by Robert, depicting Jimmy Hoffa and other Teamster bosses mowing down their opposition. The interior presents a five-page adaptation of Robin Hood, starring Fritz the Cat, by Robert and Charles (note: this is a tighter version of the penciled strip featured in The Complete Crumb Volume One — it appears to be the same basic story, but redrawn with changes). The condition of the ‘zine is GD/VG, with the last page detached from a single staple holding the rest together. It’s very doubtful many of these survived — probably very few were produced in the first place. As a bonus, a folded 8.5″ x 11″ mailer from Robert to Marty from 1959, complete with a small original sketch of a Pooh-like bear cub, is included with this lot.

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