The Book of Genesis Illustrated
As literature, the biblical book of Genesis has it all: sex, violence, angels, war, murder, heroes, incest, world-wide disasters, spooky mystery, and a timeless story. All it needed was illustrations by the comic genius R. Crumb and you'd have a underground manga hit. And that's what this book is. Crumb brilliantly did not alter or omit any words from the scriptural text, and even toned down his drawings to a PG-13 rating. But man, is this strong drink. It will burn your eyelashes. Like it must have done 2,000 years ago. Now you have absolutely no excuse not to read the first book of the Bible.
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A cool tool is anything useful that is superior to comparable items. If you think this tool is inferior suggest a better one. You are welcome to insult a tool, but comments containing insults to individual people will be deleted. Corrections of fact are always welcomed, if stated politely. Recommendations of better tools are dearly wanted and may be elevated to the front page.
kostia
I got this for Christmas and I'm really liking it so far. His one-page introduction makes a great point about how the usual illustrated/comic-book Bible changes all the words around and still claims to be respecting the "word of God," but his version keeps all the words even though he doesn't believe it's the word of God at all.
Seriously..
In the beginning... This blog was about Cool Tools, actual useful devices that I could do things with... Now it just stinks!!!
Michal
In what way is this a cool tool? Please don't post obnoxious religious stuff.
Peter
Come on guys, Crumb doing the bible? That's just cool (and I'm an atheist).
Gaylan
Alright! Finally a comic book about some good fiction writing!
Davey
Mythology has been a pretty time tested tool for conceptualizing the permanent mysteries. It's only when it's marketed as something other than myth that it loses its toolness.
Edward Bryant
I'm with Peter, Gaylan and Davey; this is cool. R. Crumb doing Genesis...old iron-age mythology doesn't get any cooler!
Seth
I'm amused at the pagan reactionaries who doth protest a comic book that mocks God... It should alarm you that your ignorance has placed a stumbling stone in your path... perhaps God is awakening your seared conscience.
That said, this is still not a "Cool Tool"... Over the past few months this site has abandoned its "tool" roots and now is a quasi-political platform to express poster's lifestyles... a sad truth
derrick
Resembles a Jack Chick tract, but not as funny. Pass.
David B
It's a tool for accessibility. That's what some tools are for.
mark
The Bible is definitely a Cool Tool -- it's the ultimate rescue tool for a lost world. :)
PaulD
One of the things I learned in seminary is that churches have a life cycle. They start off vibrant and fresh, grow to be stolid and mature, eventually get to a waning stage, and then die. I've seen the same phenomenon on a micro level in two study groups that I've led. The Cool Tools community may well be going through the same cycle. It gets to the point that you can't please people no matter what you do and you realize that it's time to just let it go.
Matt
I find it obnoxiously provincial and closed-minded of some of my fellow commenters to make snide remarks about others' sincerely held religious beliefs. Listen, gang, it's just as true for you as it is for anyone else- it is unacceptable to mock others for cultural differences. Yours is not the only way to live. Look around. Learn some respect. Grow up.
Leroy
What's with all these generic books that have appeared recently on Cool Tools? This site is seriously losing focus.
tom
- This project's value may not be immediately apparent to a generation unfamiliar with Crumb's transcendent genius. He was a pivotal figure in the transformation of an American subculture in the 1960s from repressed automatons into open-minded seekers. Why do I want to revisit my cultural roots in this visceral fashion? Because it sheds a light on who I am. If you can't see the light here, look elsewhere. If you don't strive to understand yourself more fully, you will cease to grow.
Tim
Oh brother. Everyone objecting to this not being a tool needs to go back and look at the root of this site, The Whole Earth Catalog. Stop being so literal minded and you might learn something.
Lukas
@Tim I am with you here! The inclusion of this "tool" is completely coherent with that of the the old Catalog and Whole Earth Review criterion of that which is useful and relevant to humans. In WER that included computer programs (all of which are probably no longer useful).
There however you could flip a page if you found something unimportant or annoying. Here you may have wasted a finger click and a whole day's anticipation.
If so, my suggestion woul be to go back in time a little and explore some of the links under KK*, to the upper left here. You are sure to find something you missed before that strikes your fancy.
Stormbringer
It seems to me that this is Kevin Kelly's work, and if he wants to take a detour now and then, he's entitled to do it. If something isn't pleasing to a reader, the reader can remember that (a) he can start his own Weblog and see just how difficult it is to try to please every one, every time, or (b) simply wait for something that DOES please you. At any rate, looking for excuses to whine about religion is uncalled for.