R. Crumb at the New York Public Library

The discussion was Mr. Crumb's only public speaking appearance in the United States to promote his new book, "The R. Crumb Handbook," a memoir in collaboration with his friend, Peter Poplaski, published this month. While Mr. Crumb, who now lives in southern France, has often shunned popular culture (he famously turned down offers to be the host of "Saturday Night Live" and to design an album cover for the Rolling Stones, saying he hated that band), he has ventured much further into public in recent years, partly because of the urging of his wife, the cartoonist Aline Kominsky-Crumb.
Mr. Crumb, who has said he loathes the fashion world, recently helped the designer Stella McCartney make a limited-edition T-shirt with his comics on the front that sells for more than $150. He has appeared at lavish parties for the T-shirt in London and New York. He now has a Web site, www.crumbproducts.com, where fans can buy a Mr. Natural table lamp for $825. And to promote the new book, its publisher, MQ Publications of London, is conducting an R. Crumb look-alike contest in the United States. (The winner gets a "date" with Ms. Kominsky-Crumb.)