Crumb’s Genesis

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Before discussing this
Graphic Art book,
let’s visit the
Wayback
Machine
for a moment
.
Robert Crumb
became 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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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

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!)

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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 am thrilled that he has
lent his talent to such a
worthy project
!!!

(and not a
“Cheap Thrill”
either, HA)

Thank You,
mR. Crumb

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

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thanks for visiting
come back soon

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