Thursday, October 22, 2009

Graphic Bible


When I was a teen a young illustrator was producing counter-cultural and risque comics such as Fritz the Cat. R Crumb is now in his later sixties and he has come up with an interesting and perhaps controversial project, his version of the book of Genesis. Actually, it isn't really his version because he is sticking to the King James Version of the text, all fifty chapters worth. Because he is the illustrator there are plenty of buxom women and bare-knuckle dust-ups. This is definitely not a book for children. I find it interesting that Crumb portrays God in an anthropomorphic image, the old male with a white beard.

Crumb doesn't really explain why he has chosen the first book of the bible because he certainly doesn't believe it is the word of God. There is lots of action though and he comments that we would do a lot better paying attention to the message of Jesus than the blood and gore of Genesis.

I understand what he is saying, but the sibling rivalry of Cain and Abel, the exile and reconciliation of Jacob, and the movement toward forgiveness with Joseph and his brothers are archetypal stories. These themes are repeated constantly in literature and films.And there is powerful poetry and mythological weight in the creation story and Noah and the ark.

What are your thoughts about using this format to unfold the story? There are much more "child-friendly" comic book or graphic novel versions of the biblical stories. Does Crumb's Genesis intrigue you?

1 comment:

Laura said...

Interestingly the Globe was just covering newer methods of teaching writing in the classroom, and a computer based comic strip program was described as an alternate way to approach teaching writing, which was finding success. The education system seems to have realized we all learn differently, and even our Sunday Schools are getting better at using varied methods of sharing biblical themes from reading to cooking to crafts to drama and science. I'm not a graphic novel fan ( we did just use one with our teens on Sunday morning) but makes sense to keep our faith living and growing with, and into, each generation.