Book Comment: The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb

You may never have heard of Robert Crumb (b. 1943, Philadelphia), but he is an internationally respected cartoonist closely associated with the underground counter-culture of the late twentieth century.  His pen or pencil is constantly moving and people have been known to follow him to grab left behind napkins, matchbook covers, and scraps of paper on which he has compulsively doodled.  His artwork sells for thousands of dollars.

Crumb has been described as a genius, a misogynist, a devoted and loving father, the founder of the underground comix movement, a misanthrope, a philanderer, a 78 RPM record collector, the creator of Fritz the Cat, a recluse, a talented musician, a counter culture icon, an illustrator capable of near-photographic portraits and highly stylized caricatures, an obsessive man, a man so famous that a documentary about his life and work has been made as a feature film, a compulsive man, a vulgar artist sometimes accused of producing pornography, a member of the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame (1991), and so on.  He is a very complex man.

Many were shocked, and some were highly offended, when R. Crumb decided to illustrate the Book of Genesis.   Crumb is known to not be religious in any traditional sense and, indeed, does have a history of producing images which could be interpreted as pornographic.

Crumb originally intended to do a "takeoff" of Adam and Eve but decided instead to do a literal verse by verse illustration of the entire book, as he says, "All 50 chapters." What resulted is a fascinating, massive, and controversial book illustrated in Crumb's distinctive highly detailed and intricate comic book style which I believe actually shows reverence for the book by not glossing over anything.  I mean that.  That is why the book is controversial.

Where people are naked in the Bible, they're naked in the book.  Where they have sex in the Bible, they have sex in the book.  Where there is killing, blood and guts abound.  The "begat lists" have a different face associated with each name.  The people are very plain, some are ugly, just like real people.  God is presented as a stern old man in flowing robes and with hair and beard hanging down to his feet.

Robert Crumb, in his introduction to the book says, "... I, ironically, do not believe the Bible is 'The Word of God."  I believe it is the words of men.  It is, nonetheless, a powerful text with layers of meaning that reach deep into our collective consciousness, our historical consciousness, if you will.  It seems indeed to be an inspired work..."

It may be that a man who is, at best, an agnostic, has shown more respect for a biblical text than those who squeamishly sanitize and euphemize the "hard parts." The sort of people who would be horrified to find out what "hand under thigh" (Genesis 24:2) means.

Crumb, R., The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2009)