The Book of Genesis, Illustrated

R. Crumb, one of the most influential illustrators working today, decided to take on a project that had not yet been attempted: to illustrate an entire book of the Bible. Most illustrators have worked with key moments of the Bible, but never taken an entire book and put it together in graphic novel format. Crumb does this down to the genealogies: everything is illustrated.

The use of Robert Alter’s translation of Genesis gives a freshness to Crumb’s work, for in a translation that is not really popular outside of academic circles the words catch you in ways you would simply gloss over the text in a familiar translation. The images are what grip you though, and they remind us of how joyous, chaotic, graceful, lewd, repulsive, grotesque, violent and beautiful the narrative of Genesis is. The plain, literal renderings Crumb provides are not an attempt to interpret the text through the lens of drawings, but instead to build a lavish tapestry of historical, religious, and cultural context around the text itself, something Crumb has done most admirably.

R. Crumb
The Book of Genesis, Illustrated
Norton
$16.47 (Amazon)