Week 6: Underground Comix

The Book of Genesis by Robert Crumb:

With The Book of Genesis, I didn't realize I was reading a modern R.Crumb novel till I was far into it. So this is not really a comic from the golden age of underground comics but I think it still demonstrates many of the qualities of old underground comix in many ways.

The first thing that really drew me to this comic in particular was the cover, it is int eh style of an old comic book with sensational tag lines ("Graphically depicted", Adult supervision", etc.) and fantastic illustrations and typography for the title:


This is one of the main reasons I was fooled into reading it, assuming it was older Crumb, without verifying it. In fact, it was published in 2009... However, looking over some of Crumb's older work, this is created in his same style which he has had for many decades now.

I really appreciate what Crumb is doing with this novel, which is having some fun at the expense of absurd Old Testament text while simultaneously challenging both himself and the reader. There is really no satire at all in this, is is adapted from the actual text, seemingly, verbatim which is impressive. However, when  you consider that he is also illustrating every single event of such a massive book, I think it elevates it to a masterpiece. I really do think this is one of the most impressive comics I have ever read due to the massive undertaking it was to create and honest product that came out.

When it comes to the qualities of underground comix, The Book of Genesis delivers them in spades. The actual text provides a plethora of unsavory characters and disturbing moments, and we see this all come to life in a very appealing but also ugly way (Crumb's characters are both hideous and beautiful, in my opinion). Nothing is held back here, from incest to genocide. The wrath of god (the only constant character) begins to look absolutely cruel and unfair when we see it illustrated by Crumb but he is only being true to the actual text.

I think there are definitely and handful of liberties that he takes however. Since it is the illustrations of Robert Crumb, he could be shinning a negative light on characters such as Noah, who we see as a dopey, balding many rather than a heroic figure I am sure many Judaeo Christians would prefer. Also, god is depicted in a very human way, almost entirely throughout. This humanizing of god could also be seen as a liberty taken on the part of Crumb to shine things in a negative light. There is another moment where we see Noah and his sons, grinning like idiots when god is instructing them to multiply the earth... which is probably not described as such in the Old Testament, but I found to be hilarious. These liberties that Crumb took allowed him to inject his own personality and style into the comic. While it might be offensive to some people, I found it to only add to what is already an amazing work.

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