The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb This instant

I have been a fan of R. Crumb's work since his earliest published comics. He has always taken a maverick view of society, individuals, trends and events, and has never appeared to compromise his visions, in spite of as much criticism as praise over the years. An Art critic called him the "Breugel of our age".
He could equally be called the Jonathan Swift or H.L. Menkin. His work can make you laugh and escape. It can also make you reflect more deeply on subjects you thought you had fathomed.

One of his first so-called "psychedelic" Zap comics bore the legend "Caution: For adult intellectuals ony". This book of his illustrated Genesis bears a simliar ironic warning 'Adult Supervision Recommended for Minors'. He might also have stipulated "Readers who think they know the Bible - Beware! Its not set in the sunny rose garden you were led to believe in sunday school".

I confess to have been so affected by this book I have had to put it down for long periods and steel myself before picking it up again. But that was not because of any wayward interpretation on his part, but due to the fierce form of the original to which he has apparently been faithful. There is no bowderisation in this book, no smoothing of rough and uncomfortable content. It is shocking at times, but not because his vision is profane, but because this book purportedly conveying the "wisdom of a desert people" is so bleak.

If there are elements of satire it is only of the Classics Illustrated genre of comic where 'War and Peace' might have once appeared in 32 pages. I think this is a great book, a move towards a more serious side than his earlier and more palatable "classics illustrated such as 'Boswell's Life of Johnson'. There are times when he highlights the stilted form of the original such as who 'begat' who, or the lists of names of prominent chieftans which a series of well drawn cariactures that show realistic looking nomads with faces like weathered walnuts.

I could not see any hint of anti-semitism in these cariactures - something that he has been accused of in the past in spite of the fact that his wife Aline is Jewish and his sexual appetite clearly runs towards sterotypical variations of strong Jewish women. Rather the attention to detail is superb, the costumes, artifacts and contexts for the drawings. It is a great achievement.

Lovers of Bob Crumb should buy it and add to to their collections. There is something noble and epic about his effort. It is also brave when one thinks that wars have been fought over differing interpretations of this archaic sacred text. Perhaps Crumb's great achievement here is that he puts that fact in context.

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