R. Crumb Genesis
September 18, 2009 5:44 PM Subscribe
R. Crumb - Genesis - The graphic novel At least it isn't Frank Miller. (yes, I know this is a link to a boing article, I hated doing this, but I couldn't find it anywhere else!)
This post was deleted for the following reason: posted previously -- jessamyn
wait...wait...
This post shall be cast out of the garden...
there... I feel better now...
posted by HuronBob at 5:53 PM on September 18, 2009
This post shall be cast out of the garden...
there... I feel better now...
posted by HuronBob at 5:53 PM on September 18, 2009
I think these are new, exclusive pages from the book, not available at the time of the previous post, so, I enjoyed it.
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 6:17 PM on September 18, 2009
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 6:17 PM on September 18, 2009
smileychewtrain is my new friend...! :) he has given my post a reason to live...
posted by HuronBob at 6:21 PM on September 18, 2009
posted by HuronBob at 6:21 PM on September 18, 2009
I like the post HuronBob. People tend to look down upon BoingBoing around here, but I don't think that means we need to shy away from linking to it. They do have awesome stuff pretty often. MetaFilter isn't Best Of The Web Except When Boing Boing Gets To It First, after all.
posted by JHarris at 6:42 PM on September 18, 2009
posted by JHarris at 6:42 PM on September 18, 2009
And the Lord rained upon BoingBoing brimstone and fire, and he annihilated all of its readers, and all those who wouldst provide links to them on Metafilter.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:49 PM on September 18, 2009
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:49 PM on September 18, 2009
I was really excited about this project when I heard about it, but now I'm disappointed. I guess I should have taken the title more literally. It does say it's R. Crumb's ILLUSTRATED Genesis. And that's exactly what he's done -- illustrated it in a very literal way.
It reminds me of amateur music videos I see on YouTube, like ones of Jonathan Coulton songs, in which each lyric is adapted into a visualization that just shows what the lyric says.
The song says, "Code Monkey like Fritos / Code Mokey likes Tab and Mountain Dew" and so the video shows you a hacker eating Fritos and drinking Tab and Mountain Dew. I don't get why people like to make or watch stuff like that. I feel like saying, "Yes, I KNOW he likes Fritos, Tab and Mountain Dew. The song already SAYS that. There's no need for a redundant visualization! Do something else with the images!"
Of course, Crumb is a brilliant craftsman, and I enjoy just looking at his pictures, but I don't see what he's added to Genesis? The text says "And they pressed hard against the person of Lot," and pushed forward to break down the door," and so Crumb shows us a bunch of guys pushing Lot against the door. The text says, "And the men at the entrance of the house struck with a blinding light," and sow Crumb shows us a blinding light.
I'm not saying his pictures should have gone against the grain of the text, subverted it or used it for its own ends. I'm saying that in a mixed medium like comics (or movies or theatre), each element should add something unique to the piece -- otherwise that element should be discarded. If the visual element doesn't add something unique to the story, then the story should just be a prose story, no?
In case you think I'm talking about the artist straying down some path far away from the text, I'm not.
I wish I had a copy of the lovely page I once saw from a Bernard Krigstein comic-book adaptation of a Ray Bradbury story. In the second panel, the text reads, "the executioner whirled his silver ax..." but we don't see the ax. Instead, we see frightened birds (not mentioned in the text) fleeing from the tree branches they had been perched on. Our minds are left to associate the sound of the ax with the terror of the birds. And we're also left to imagine the severed head rolling on the ground. The art augments the text by adding a little sensual detail that's in keeping with -- but isn't mentioned by -- the words.
posted by grumblebee at 7:15 PM on September 18, 2009 [3 favorites]
It reminds me of amateur music videos I see on YouTube, like ones of Jonathan Coulton songs, in which each lyric is adapted into a visualization that just shows what the lyric says.
The song says, "Code Monkey like Fritos / Code Mokey likes Tab and Mountain Dew" and so the video shows you a hacker eating Fritos and drinking Tab and Mountain Dew. I don't get why people like to make or watch stuff like that. I feel like saying, "Yes, I KNOW he likes Fritos, Tab and Mountain Dew. The song already SAYS that. There's no need for a redundant visualization! Do something else with the images!"
Of course, Crumb is a brilliant craftsman, and I enjoy just looking at his pictures, but I don't see what he's added to Genesis? The text says "And they pressed hard against the person of Lot," and pushed forward to break down the door," and so Crumb shows us a bunch of guys pushing Lot against the door. The text says, "And the men at the entrance of the house struck with a blinding light," and sow Crumb shows us a blinding light.
I'm not saying his pictures should have gone against the grain of the text, subverted it or used it for its own ends. I'm saying that in a mixed medium like comics (or movies or theatre), each element should add something unique to the piece -- otherwise that element should be discarded. If the visual element doesn't add something unique to the story, then the story should just be a prose story, no?
In case you think I'm talking about the artist straying down some path far away from the text, I'm not.
I wish I had a copy of the lovely page I once saw from a Bernard Krigstein comic-book adaptation of a Ray Bradbury story. In the second panel, the text reads, "the executioner whirled his silver ax..." but we don't see the ax. Instead, we see frightened birds (not mentioned in the text) fleeing from the tree branches they had been perched on. Our minds are left to associate the sound of the ax with the terror of the birds. And we're also left to imagine the severed head rolling on the ground. The art augments the text by adding a little sensual detail that's in keeping with -- but isn't mentioned by -- the words.
posted by grumblebee at 7:15 PM on September 18, 2009 [3 favorites]
grumblebee ... thanks.... interesting comments.
my intent with posting this was to alert this community to this project (this was the first I had heard of it).
Crumb's work was iconic when I was younger... this project, when we can view the complete work, will connect some pieces...... and, this late at night, I can't explain that any further....
I suspect, this will be less meaningful to those that didn't experience Crumb's work 30 years ago...
posted by HuronBob at 7:38 PM on September 18, 2009
my intent with posting this was to alert this community to this project (this was the first I had heard of it).
Crumb's work was iconic when I was younger... this project, when we can view the complete work, will connect some pieces...... and, this late at night, I can't explain that any further....
I suspect, this will be less meaningful to those that didn't experience Crumb's work 30 years ago...
posted by HuronBob at 7:38 PM on September 18, 2009
I must be using Digg too much and Mefi too little because I really want to Digg up Grumblebee's post.
In terms of biblical adaptations into comic form, I really liked Chester Brown's work on the subject.
posted by glider at 7:46 PM on September 18, 2009
In terms of biblical adaptations into comic form, I really liked Chester Brown's work on the subject.
posted by glider at 7:46 PM on September 18, 2009
I suspect, this will be less meaningful to those that didn't experience Crumb's work 30 years ago...
I've been a Crumb fan for 30 years. Which is why I did enjoy looking at his Genisis drawings. I love his craftsmanship and style, even if I don't think this is one of his most creative endeavors.
I am a bit upset by what I see as a general trend towards "illustration" these days (defined in the way I defined it above). To me, the "Lord of the Rings" films were failures in the same sense. People went on and on about them being visually stunning. I thought they were visually pedestrian and never surprising. They looked like every Tolkien calendar I've seen since I was a kid. They were made by a mind that read a book, had no personal take on it, and was just content to illustrate the story in the most literal way. What's the point? Add something to it or don't do it at all.
posted by grumblebee at 7:53 PM on September 18, 2009 [2 favorites]
I've been a Crumb fan for 30 years. Which is why I did enjoy looking at his Genisis drawings. I love his craftsmanship and style, even if I don't think this is one of his most creative endeavors.
I am a bit upset by what I see as a general trend towards "illustration" these days (defined in the way I defined it above). To me, the "Lord of the Rings" films were failures in the same sense. People went on and on about them being visually stunning. I thought they were visually pedestrian and never surprising. They looked like every Tolkien calendar I've seen since I was a kid. They were made by a mind that read a book, had no personal take on it, and was just content to illustrate the story in the most literal way. What's the point? Add something to it or don't do it at all.
posted by grumblebee at 7:53 PM on September 18, 2009 [2 favorites]
I have been a Crumb fan for 30 years too and as much as I love his work I don't understand the Bible project. I have nothing against the religious part: Homer's Iliad or Kerouac's On the Road would seem as pointless if treated as subjects of descriptive illustration.
And I agree with grumblebee's take on "Lords or the Rings". There is so much more in Crumb past work than just illustration that I recognize his hand but not his spirit. Like if the genius had left the bottle. Sad.
posted by bru at 8:22 PM on September 18, 2009
And I agree with grumblebee's take on "Lords or the Rings". There is so much more in Crumb past work than just illustration that I recognize his hand but not his spirit. Like if the genius had left the bottle. Sad.
posted by bru at 8:22 PM on September 18, 2009
« Older Some "bloody design consistency" on the... | You see this marshmallow? You don’t have to eat it... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by HuronBob at 5:52 PM on September 18, 2009