Cartoonist R. Crumb zaps the Bible

[Christa]

PARIS — Subversive US cartoonist Robert Crumb, whose take on the Bible is about to be released worldwide, says people are “totally nuts” for taking the book so seriously for so long.

“I grew to hate the Bible,” he told a press conference for the international launch of “Robert Crumb’s Book of Genesis”, which he called a “gruelling” four year project. The book hits bookshelves in late October in Europe, Brazil and the United States.

“The idea of millions of people taking this so seriously is totally nuts,” he added. “The Bible doesn’t need to be satirised. It’s already so crazy.”

Crumb’s 220-page epic take on the Book of Genesis painstakingly mirrors every twist and turn, from God’s Creation of the world through the meanderings of Noah’s Ark and the adventures of Jacob of the “coat of many colours”.

The 66-year-old hero of underground comics who wowed the 1960s with “Fritz The Cat” and “Mr Natural”, said he took up the challenge 40 years later of creating another white-haired long-bearded figure “to illuminate the text of Genesis by illustrating every single thing that’s in there.”


http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/media/ALeqM5i79nGQlclWGI72QVmgd5PVKLYEHA?size=s2


http://rawstory.com/2009/09/subversive-cartoonist-crumb-zaps-bible/

Why the heck is he called "subversive"?





*

[hatrack]

1. He's "subversive" because it's impossible to imagine any Thomas Kincade prints in his studio

I mean, that's about what it takes to be "subversive" in America these days . . .

That, or supporting public option health care reform.

[panader0]

2. I love R. Crumb

I still have my old Zap comics.

[MuseRider]

4. I wish I had kept mine!

I did find a very nice coffee table book at a flea market. The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book. I love it.

[LuvNewcastle]

3. I'll be buying two of those.

One for myself and another as a Christmas present for my niece.

[deutsey]

5. I guess he's considered "subversive" because he dared step out of the narrow

corporate-sponsored path "cartoonists" are supposed to follow and went his own way.

[byronius]

6. Crumb is brilliant. But I think he's less subversive than common-sensical.

He's always been that way. People confuse his revelations about his internal weirdness with some sort of overarching political ideology, but he clearly shows himself to be a middle-of-the-road nerd with a deep respect for the unsung artists of the world. He's primarily a skeptic.

I own a lot of Crumb. Weirdo Magazine really shaped large parts of my being. Fascinating world.