The Book of Genesis (comics)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Book of Genesis is a best-selling comic book illustrated by cartoonist and comic book artist Robert Crumb that purports to be a faithful, literal illustration of the Book of Genesis from the Hebrew Bible. It reached #1 the New York Times graphic novel bestseller list and on the Christian books list at Amazon.com.
Given Crumb's past body of work, and his professed rejection of religion, many assumed when the book was announced that it would be a satire or otherwise profane or subversive send-up, and were surprised or disappointed to find it "straight-faced". Crumb "resist[ed] the temptation to go all-out Crumb on us and exaggerate the sordidness, the primitivism and the outright strangeness" found in the Bible -- the depictions of sex are explicit, but not gratuitous. In his introduction to the book, Crumb writes he has "faithfully reproduced every word of the original text," each word hand-lettered. The book's cover contains the warning, "Adult Supervision Recommended for Minors".
The book has been controversial, particularly for the explicit illustrations of scenes of sexual intercourse described in the text itself. In critical circles, it has drawn fire over whether and how literal the illustration job is, or should be.
