Robert Crumb's Book of Genesis: All 50 Chapters [Hardcover]

I must admit I did a double take when I saw that this illustrated version of the Book of Genesis sprang from the pen of R. Crumb. For those who aren't familiar with Crumb's work, he's pretty much the father of underground comics, an artist whose provocative work has earned him great notoriety and more than a few charges of racism, sexism, and misogyny from his harshest critics. The women in his artwork tend to be rather buxom, overly sexual, and submissive to the men around them, while his depiction of blacks and other minorities oftentimes seem to be rooted in stereotypes. Of course, any great artist is going to have his detractors, and it must be said that Crumb's true genius lies in his satirical and sometimes subversive take on popular culture. Eschewing mainstream comic book culture and the publishing industry that drives it, he has more than earned his place as a cult hero and countercultural icon of the twentieth - and now the twenty-first - century.

Simply put, R. Crumb was one of the last artists I would ever have expected to take on the illustration of a significant portion of the Bible. Even more surprising is the fact that his approach to this illustrated version of the Book of Genesis is not of a satirical or hypercritical nature. This book was a serious effort that involved four years of effort, a great deal of research, and surprisingly serious reflection on Crumb's part. As an agnostic, he approached the Book of Genesis as a work of literature with deep roots in the public consciousness, and he strove to provide a literal presentation of the story (including all of the "begots"). I find a great deal of irony in that last point. At a time when many self-professed Christians and Bible translators are busy molding the words of the Bible to fit their own modern-day beliefs, this man who does not consider the Bible to be the inspired word of God set out to base his work as closely as possible on the original text of the Genesis story.

Will this work offend some readers, especially Christians? Obviously, it will - and Crumb knows that. Many probably won't get past the "Adult supervision recommended for minors" label on the front cover. This is unfortunate because I - as a Christian myself - believe that this book holds great benefit to the faithful. What you get here is an amazingly visual, literal presentation of the first book of the Bible, free of the spin and reinterpretation of modern scholars seeking to reshape the story into something in line with their own personal thoughts and ideas. This is nothing less than an invaluable look at the story of Genesis as it was written. Those who get their panties in a bunch over the inclusion of some "graphic scenes" are obviously unaware that the Book of Genesis is a surprisingly graphic text - teeming with sex and violence - to begin with.

I can only marvel at what R. Crumb has accomplished with this unprecedented work, and I must say that I found his several pages of commentary regarding his own thoughts on the story of Genesis quite fascinating and thought-provoking. If nothing else, I believe The Book of Genesis Illustrated truly confirms Crumb's place in the modern-day pantheon of the world's most serious artists. I highly recommend the documentary film Crumb [DVD] [1995]to those interested in learning more about the life and work of this uniquely fascinating artist.

I think this book should appeal across the board, Christians should welcome it as a new insight into an ancient foundational text, and others can welcome it as a beautiful work of art even if they completely reject the 'inspired' nature of the text.

In comic book terms of course, Crumb is already a justly famous artist, his mastery of pencil and pen is amazing, and the artwork in this version of the Genesis text is incredible.

Moreover to put some fears at rest, he doesnt take any liberties with the text. It's basically `as is' (albeit with the mandatory additions of chapters, and the occasional Crumb footnote).

It's a beautifully illustrated book, and the illustration is very well researched, adding a new dimension to the text in places.

My only grumble with the book is that in my opinion Crumb has over-sexualised some of the female characters. I think he does this to try and emphasise their power and importance, but I think the pneumatic breasts and rounded buttocks which appear clothed and unclothed as the the stories demand, are at times unneccesarily exagerated.

Textual literalists may also complain that while Crumb doesnt add or subtract from the words, he does add some new layers of meaning (although well researched of course) via facial expressions and background contexts in certain scenes.

In all, an excellent book, really beautifully drawn. There are issues surrounding sexualisation, and in my opinion this is a consistent issue with Crumb, but if you can ignore that, then there is the real possibility that this will open up the ancient and awesome book of Genesis in a new way for the reader, and that is always welcome.

Parental advisory: contains sexual and violent content.

Robert Crumb's illustrated edition of the first book of the bible is a huge work, the product of several years' work, and may just be his masterpiece. I have frequently been dumbstruck in the past by his technical skill, but I have also occasionally wondered that he has never really tackled an extended narrative; even the best of his books, like 'Robert Crumb draws the Blues' are effectively compilations.

His 'Genesis' is pretty visceral, as you might expect; but the rawness,the sex and the violence are all there in the original. In fact, as Crumb himself points out in his introduction, though there have been 'comic book bibles' before, they have all edited, compressed or elided the text: his is the first version to follow exactly and only the words. So what is he going to do now? Complete the Pentateuch? The Old Testament? The whole Bible? Unfortunately, I don't imagine he could live long enough for even the least of these. But we can hope!