Religion In The Comics - 007

[Cartoonist]

Now we look at Robert Crumb's turn at the Bible. His adaptation of Genesis appeared in 2010 and is available in many public libraries, unlike most of his other work. If you are unfamiliar with his art, let's just say it has been reviled as much as it has been acclaimed. He is probably the last person one would have expected to illustrate the Bible. Satirically perhaps, but not in such a straight adaptation that tries to adhere to the source as faithfully and literally as this was. While he raises some questions about these tales, he does so in the appendix so as not to interrupt the narrative.

His style works very well with these tales as he has a long history of drawing bearded men in robes, and he is no stranger to depicting brutal violence and sexual imagery. He holds nothing back in depicting the gruesomeness rampant in the Bible


It is this honesty in his depictions that has brought on the most criticism.One of the most absurd incidents in the Bible was the incest between Lot and his daughters. Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt just for looking back, but Lot and his daughters were not punished for their incest. Go figure. I guess the lesson here is that incest is OK. I would include Crumb's depiction of this scene, but it obviously includes nudity and I am unsure of DU's policy concerning that.

Here is where the shit hits the fundie fan. Objections were raised at Crumb's drawings, but not at the incidents he was depicting.

"It is turning the Bible into titillation," said Mike Judge, of the Christian Institute, a religious think-tank. "It seems wholly inappropriate for what is essentially God's rescue plan for mankind.

"If you are going to publish your own version of the Bible it must be done with a great deal of sensitivity. The Bible is a very important text to many many people and should be treated with the respect it deserves.

"Representing it in your own way is all very well and good but it must be remembered that it is a matter of people's faith, their religion.

"Faith is such an important part of people's lives that one must remember to tread very carefully."

"It may surprise people but the bible does contain nudity, sex and violence. That's because it contains real stories about real people.

A spokesman for the Church of England said: "I haven't seen the book but I think trying to sell something by emphasising the sexual nature of some of the scenes doesn't seem to be a good way to pass on the message of the bible."

[AlbertCat]

1. should be treated with the respect it deserves.

There's the rub.....

What??? Being very literal about it is a bad thing? And it's OK to read about incest, but not to depict it. I guess that works for people with no imagination.

[AlbertCat]

2. Kids' versions of Bible stories enacted....

[mr blur]

3. Hmm, if there was no death before Adam & Eve's fall,

how did they get the animal skins?

[Curmudgeoness]

4. Don't be so silly.

Adam and Eve fell, then slaughtered the animals and learned how to tan the skins and make clothes, all before God got around to throwing them out of the garden. Why are you being so difficult!

[mr blur]

8. Sorry, I wasn't thinking - which, oddly enough,

qualifies me to be the ideal believer! Wonder where that went wrong...

[deucemagnet]

5. Crumb was quite a character.

There was an interesting documentary about him in 1994: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109508/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 .

I feel I should add a warning that it's pretty dark and sometimes outright offensive, but I found in interesting, nonetheless.

[bvf]

10. Highly recommended profile

of an American genius. Disturbing, outrageous, and poignant film.

[Warren Stupidity]

11. "was'? he is still very much alive.

[deucemagnet]

12. After consulting IMDB.com, I stand corrected.

I think maybe one of his brothers died during the making of the documentary, perhaps that's what I was thinking of. It's been a long time since I've seen the documentary.

[Cartoonist]

13. His older brother Charles

I think it was suicide. I believe he took an overdose of his medicine. He was a peculiar artist in his own right. So is Robert's younger brother Max.

[Rainforestgoddess]

6. That's very interesting. Thanks for this weekly series.

I think it's easier for people to gloss over the violence and sex if it's couched in flowery terms, or even just written word rather than illustration. I can read graphic crime scenes in a book, but can't watch them in a movie.

[ChazInAz]

7. Excellent book.

I especially enjoyed his rendition of the story of Joseph in Egypt. He had the Egyptians spouting off with hieroglyphs in their speech balloons. Though my knowledge of the written language of that land is rather rudimentary, they actually seemed to be pretty close renditions of the verses from the Old Testament.
A few times, Crumb went to some trouble to explain some untranslatable puns, which I thought was impressive.

[bvf]

9. R. Crumb has always been a favorite of mine.

Last edited Sat Jan 3, 2015, 10:47 PM - Edit history (1)

Most interesring quote of one of his critics from above:

"Faith is such an important part of people's lives that one must remember to tread very carefully." 

To which the only reasonable response is "Why?"

I lived off Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights in the heyday of Harvey Pekar's American Splendor, which served as my introduction to Crumb.

Thanks for this, Cartoonist. Definitely going to revisit this.
Looking forward to the sound of exploding heads here...

[edhopper]

14. Love Crumb

This material certainly fits his style.

I read the Lot passage online. You see how bizarre these stories are when illustrated this away.