Crumb’s Genesis

-=< O >=-

Before discussing this
Graphic Art book,
let’s visit the
Wayback
Machine
.
Robert Crumb
was quite popular
in my teenage years
.
I even had one of his
posters on my wall
for a season
or two
:

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…
but
I didn’t know
anything about
him at the
time
.

The
image itself
became controversial
because many people used
it without permission
.

Robert,
I hope I’m not
infringing on your
rights in this
article
!

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Many thought of him as
“America’s Best Loved
Hippie Cartoonist”

but he says,

Keep on Truckin’
… 
is the curse
of my
life
.
This
stupid
little cartoon
caught on hugely
…
I didn’t want to turn
into a greeting card artist
for the counter-culture!

Robert Crumb

-=< O >=-

My only
other familiarity
with him at the time
was the cover art
for one of my
Janis Joplin
albums
,
(the band was
“Big Brother and the
Holding Company”
but I was only
interested
in Janis!)

-=< O >=-

Later,
I discovered
his character
Fritz the Cat,
and some of his
more explicit work,
and saw a fascinating
documentary of his life,
“Crumb”

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Ok,
let’s zoom
back up to
the present
…

Crumb has
moved to France,
seemingly fatigued by
his own popularity,
looking forward
to a quiet life,
leaving us
to wonder
if we would ever
hear from him again.

Now we learn that
he has devoted
the last
FIVE
YEARS
of
his
life
to a
single
project,
drawing
the
entire
book of
Genesis

!!!

The cover reads,
“All 50 Chapters”
“Nothing Left Out!”

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Originally
thinking that he
would do a takeoff
on Adam and Eve,
Crumb became so
fascinated by the
Bible’s language,

“a text so great
and so strange that
it lends itself readily to
graphic depictions,”

that
he decided
to do a literal
interpretation
.

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Here are
two pages from
the story of Sodom
and Gomorrah
:

the
next day
(six pages later)

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Imagine trying to
plan and draw
HUNDREDS
OF PAGES
like that

!!!

To
his credit,
he has drawn
each of the many
characters in this
book uniquely
.

Even
the parts
of the story that
aren’t as exciting
(like the ‘begats’ in
the genealogies)
are detailed and
interesting
.

This work
was nominated for
three 2010 Will Eisner
Comic Industry Awards
:

Best Adaptation
Best Graphic Album
Best Writer/Artist

This is a stunning accomplishment,
and I’m thrilled that he has
lent his talent to such a
worthy project
!!!

(not a ‘Cheap Thrill’. ha)

-=< O >=-

Robert Crumb

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Thank You,
mR. Crumb

R.Crumb in his lounge pants,
Mandagout, August 26, 2005

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