Give it a chance, letting Crumbs faithful yet subversive art work its way with you, and it is likely that your opinion of Genesis-and of the power of cartoon art itself-we be transformed in a variety of ways. This is the kind of a book that will leave you with powerful impressions all your own, probably much different from mine. Crumb and his older brother Charles, another complicated relationship.)Įnough of my impressions. For some reason, though, my favorite of all is the open, guileless face of Esau welcoming younger brother Jacob home from exile. There are also a score of individual panels which moved me: the first panel (the Lord God holds the spinning Void in his hand), the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the first look of astonishment on poor Noah’s face when he hears the command of the Lord, the Lord God shutting the door to the Ark, the builders of Babylon and their thought balloons containing many languages, and many, many more. The pictures also helped me to see certain themes I had never noted before, for example, that Jacob raises memorial stones wherever he goes and that Joseph is continually weeping. The result is a deepening of the biblical texture, an emphasis on the countless individual lives from which this ancient book arose. Instead, he honors almost every generation with at least one picture of its patriarch (and sometimes the depiction of his family too), and each illustration is detailed and individualized. Crumb doesn’t rush through all the “begats,” that is, the boring genealogical sections most readers like me usually skip over. For example, all the sex in the original is here, and illustrated (of course, as is everything), and it is disconcerting seeing Crumb’s hairy men and big butted woman copulating just like they did in Zap Comix, but even more unsettling to see how much sex there really is in this first book of the bible (Lot and his daughters, the rape of Dinah, Onan and Tamar, Tamar and Judah don’t usually make it to Sunday’s bible readings.) This treatment of sexuality (not prurient, but unabashed and unblinking) makes the book seem even stranger and richer. This in itself makes the book look somewhat strange to those accustomed to seeing it in other formats, whether it be leather-bound, gilt edged volumes or in the cheap Gideon versions placed in motels. The second strangest thing is the it contains every word of the original text. Crumb, the legendary counter-cultural artist of the ‘60’s, is that is straightforward and non-ironic, each part treated with equal respect and attention. Perhaps the strangest thing about this “comic book” version of the Book of Genesis, illustrated by R. May be I could now tackle Mann’s account of 1500 pages. At least thirteen chapters of the total of fifty deal with Joseph and his Brothers. My favorite is his serpent that has arms and legs until God punishes it and condemns it to crawl on its belly and eat dirt forever after.Īpart from Teubal’s book, my reading and contemplation of Crumb’s work also led me to consider going back to Thomas Mann. And even if he has remained faithful to the text he has taken some liberties that he explains in his notes. Most inviting of all the research he did to be able to come up with his own version was his discussion of Savina Teubal’s Sarah the Priestess: The First Matriarch Of Genesis and her interpretation of the matriarchal nature of the Ancient societies. Marvelous to look at were his more panoramic views of Egyptian settings, with Joseph speaking in hyerogliphs.Īt the end Crumb provides an almost chapter-by-chapter comment on his interpretation and that was an illuminating read. I was also transfixed by his ability to select the stills that would unfold the narrative and portray the character of the people or of the significance of the event. So, apart from the drama of the vignettes it was a pleasure to read. He uses the various names for his main character – El-Shaddai, El Elyon and Elohim. What fascinated me was his adherence to the text – and he used both King James Version and Robert Alter’s The Five Books of Moses. It seemed a bit on the rough, but I got use to the ‘look’ of his figures. I have to admit that it took me a while to get adjusted to his style. The genesis of his project was a joke, but then he became fascinated with it and ended up devoting five years to his Genesis. With his Genesis he certainly now comes across of the creator of The Creator.Ĭrumb has done an excellent job with his cartoons even if it took him longer than seven days. I knew them but Crumb was not in my mind as their creator. I was unfamiliar with the work of Robert Crumb and with his Mr Natural and with his Fritz the Cat. I remember writing it down in my pocket notebook his name and the reference. I first encountered Crumb and his The Book of Genesis at the Venice Biennale of 2013.
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