Robert Crumb

The Complete Crumb Comics, Vol. 8 collects material by Robert Crumb that originally appeared in Home Grown Funnies, Hungry Chuck Biscuits, Mom’s Homemade Comics, ProJunior, Thrilling Murder, Big Ass, Mr. Natural, Bijou, Surfer Magazine, and The People’s Comics in 1971 and 1972 along with a color cover gallery. The stories represent the unrestrained Id typical of the underground comix in the 1960s and 1970s.

Though Robert Crumb and other underground comix creators challenged taboos related to discussing sexuality and fetishes, they often relied on racial and gender stereotypes while their work reinforced white patriarchal views. Rebelling against the Code offered comic book creators a path to artistic credibility while they positioned themselves as underdogs challenging a larger system, even as some of them maintained other attitudes of their day regarding race, gender, and class. Looking back on his work in the 1980s, Crumb described it as “the result of some overwhelming need to compensate for social rejection” (The Comics Journal no. 121). He envisioned a way to get back at those around him through success, but was not above fantasizing about violence. His work evinces an adolescent sense of humor and the struggles of adolescence stuck with him.

This collection captures Crumb at his angriest, in particular following the animated film based on his Fritz the Cat. To that end, Crumb kills off the character in the final story of this collection. I recognize the historical significance of these comix, though I’ve never been able to enjoy Crumb’s work.… (more)

Ogni parola si guarda attorno
in tutte le direzioni prima di
lasciarsi scrivere da me.(pagina 85)

Avvertenza per i passeggeri: SALTARE a piè pari l'introduzione di Goffredo Fofi.
Avvertenza per Fofi: leggere i libri di Kafka prima di parlarne.

Infine, forse, se Crumb avesse lasciato perdere le varie letture / interpretazioni psicoanalitiche sul senso dei libri di Kafka ne avrebbe ricavato un ottimo lavoro (tanto, quelle interpretazioni, sono sempre identiche: la mamma, il papà ed il p. (per i maschietti)).

Infine, sul serio, Max Brod (salvatore dei testi di Kafka) ha voluto riportare 'a baita' (Sergentmagiù, ghe rivarem a baita? - Mario Rigoni Stern) ossia ha voluto riportare alla fonte ebraica l'origine dei pensieri tradotti in scritti da Kafka. Ma lasciamo perdere, dato che una più grossa l'aveva già combinata Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche.

La metamorfosi: a fronte della nostra immagine allo specchio, giorno dopo giorno...
Il processo: a fronte dei tanti muri quotidiani...
Il castello: a fronte delle forze che non ci aiutano nel nostro cammino...
America: dove Kafka a fronte, finalmente, di un mondo reale riesce a fantasticare.

… (more)

This is one of R. Crumb's masterpieces, whether it is a labor of love or of compulsion. (He worked on it for five years.) I love biblical scholarship and this "R. Crumb Meets Classics Illustrated" version of Genesis is informed by scholarship. Crumb relied on both the familiar King James Version and, more heavily, on Robert Alter's translation which is in modern English but is also extremely conscious of the original Hebrew.

The stories of the first book of the Bible are told at once with imagination yet close adherence to the meaning of the text as best as that can be determined. What is remarkable to me is how clear Crumb's rendition makes the stories. Even the begats become readable when there is a picture of each individual in the genealogy. This made it easier, for example, while reading about Joseph, to flip back to the relevant page and see the illustrated chart of who his brothers were and who the mother of each was. And, believe me, Genesis needs a who's who of characters.

The aptly named Mike Judge of the Christian Institute has predictably denounced Crumb's "The Book of Genesis" as "turning the Bible into titillation." Excuse me? Has Judge not read Genesis with an engaged brain? This ancient text is so full of titillation and ribaldry that to turn it into such would be redundant. There is ribaldry and brutality enough in the King James or any other standard text version of Genesis to warrant this version's warning--"Adult supervision recommended for minors"--being applied to all versions. True, only an illustrated version could show Adam's pizzle or Eve's mound, but not to show the first humans au naturel would betray the earthy spirit of the ancient people who told these stories.

Besides, Crumb never goes overboard. Take Chapter 19 (verse 5 and following, though Crumb does not clutter his illustrated text with verse numbers) where the men of Sodom want to "know" the apparent men (actually angels) who are guests in Lot's home. It is clearly understood that these citizens want to gang rape Lot's guests. The text only gives a clue to this effect. So does Crumb. He does not dwell upon this or try to make the lasciviousness of the situation any more explicit than it is in the traditional text versions of Genesis.

Yes, Crumb shows men lustily taking their wives (and daughters), but only because the original text says that they do these things. If anything, Crumb has toned down his obsession with large breasts, which are apt to be much, much larger in his other works than they are here.… (more)

This comic book style illustrated presentation of Genesis is very complete. All the incidents of all fifty chapters are included. Crumb claims to have taken only a small handful of liberties with the text (for example: leaving out one line in chapter twenty-four because he was persuaded by a scholar’s arguments that it was a later scribal insertion). There are a small number of added notations, most explaining the meaning of a Hebrew personal or place name, which sometimes involve word play. For the source of his text, he mostly followed the translation of Robert Alter, but also used other sources. For those who like Crumb’s mature drawing style (I am such a one) I would count this among his best work. He describes (in an introduction and final commentary) some of the consultation and research he did in the course of his work, not only to understand the text of Genesis but also to more realistically depict the clothing, buildings, tools, furnishings, etc. of the ancient Near East. This presentation of the first book of the Torah helped me appreciate some of its striking and fascinating highlights: the fact that there are two distinct and separate creation narratives one given immediately after the other, the great importance of agreements / covenants in that world, the genealogies (“these are the sons of…”), the great power of words as shown in changes of personal and place names, oaths, and most of all by the great power of blessings. Other things that this graphic Genesis made striking for me were: how common warfare was in in that long ago world, the strange and repeated “she isn’t my wife she’s my sister” routine (Crumb has something to say about that in the comments at the end), the odd “birth off” in which two wives and two female slaves seemingly compete in rapid fire gestation, and the (perhaps surprising) importance of many female characters. As Crumb points out in a comment, an entire chapter is devoted to the death and burial of Sarah and several women have real agency. Also notable is the obvious political / social importance of the Lord’s repeated promise to Abraham and his descendants concerning their progeny and the land of Canaan. If you enjoy Crumb or have an interest in the Hebrew Bible, I recommend this book.… (more)