Every rumor is clung to like a life preserver. This is somewhat like believing in Atlantis. Unfortunately Crumb has fallen into the fever swamp of original matriarchy. If his sexual tastes had moved in their direction he’d be in prison now.) They’re the only adults he can find something to like about. Women are always a problem for Crumb, he hates them (he hates everyone), but he admires them too. (In his end notes Crumb makes his thoughts clear on this.) Amid the tears of joy, his toying with his brothers is not appreciated (we see it in the eyes of the onlooking slaves), and then the whole plenty and famine sequence makes Joseph look like an opportunist and a suck up. Rather than triumph in his vindication, there are subtle clues that Crumb doesn’t like Joseph. Joseph’s treatment by his brothers is interesting. Eve, Abel, Sarai, Leah, Joseph, we can feel for them and identify with them. Crumb knows the underside of life and can sympathetically portray what it feels like to be exploited or betrayed. I suspected that Crumb would have something to show us when it came to the victims in Genesis. What comes through is their individuality, and how fashions and customs must have changed over time.Īnd by giving each image the same sized frame he subtly communicates the relentless power of time to destroy and recreate, like waves of the sea. I don’t believe he actually went into the Hebrew for any clues as to how to portray each person. Crumb invested a great deal of time in them, and they are worth lingering over. Because he was committed to giving us the text as it is, Crumb gave the genealogies more attention than I’ve ever seen them given anywhere else. How did he do? That I’m leaving it for next time is a hint. What? That the bloody, distressing, and despairing history of the human race belies the powerful hand of a numinous Providence. Frankly, it was his reputation for dark themes that gave me hope that Crumb could convey something to modern people that they need to hear. Perhaps Barry Windsor Smith could have done it (but he appears to be in retirement), or Geof Darrow. Genesis is gritty material, and it is difficult to think of a better person to illustrate it than Robert Crumb. What Crumb did well (not intended to be an exhaustive list): I’ll save the flaws for next time, with one exception that I can’t help but address today. At the same time he overemphasizes some things, while missing the importance of other things. His aesthetic is good for the subject, and he does some things really well when it comes to layout. So how does Crumb do? His treatment is mixed. What you see first when you turn a page is often a revelation. Because it is still a book, the turn of the page is part of the layout. The size of the frames in relation to each other tells you what the story teller is stressing. Let’s look at layout: how a page is laid out says something about what’s important. These things help create emphasis–directing the eye as the story is told. You need to think about angles, close ups, sequence of action, lighting, and so forth. So the key to understanding a comic is framing, layout, and the aesthetic–what could be called, the “mood” it evokes. ( Moebius’s work in this regard for films like Alien and The Fifth Element is legendary.) And in the cases of science fiction and fantasy, comic book artists are often brought into to create the concept art that sets and costumes are based on. It isn’t uncommon for a director to have an artist layout an entire film in a series of sketches before filming begins. I’m not talking about the adaptions of superhero comics. (Stan Lee and Neil Gaiman ore obvious exceptions, still, where would Stan “the Man” Lee be without Jack “the King” Kirby?) And the connection to film goes even deeper, films often start off as comics. That’s why comic book artists tend to overshadow their writers. Text is usually kept to a minimum and is generally employed to support the art. If you try to interpret a comic book by the same standards as you would judge other books, well, you won’t know what to look for.Ĭomics have more in common with film than with books. The misleading thing about comic books is the word “book”. (I have read some superficial treatments of Genesis Illustrated by “progressive Christians” but they all had the sound of, “Hey, I’m cool too!” about them and fail to critically discuss the book.) But he created the book anyway, and that’s worth thinking about. (By the way, follow that Guardian link to samples of the art from Genesis Illustrated.)Ĭrumb predicted Christians would avoid touching his book. And if there ever was an opportunity to talk about Robert Crumb and what he represents, isn’t it when he takes it upon himself to illustrate the Bible? Ironically, Crumb was the very reason that National Public Radio and The Guardian (among others) did cover the book.
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