View source for J. R. "Bob" Dobbs

{{Short description|Figurehead of the Church of the SubGenius}}
[[File:J.R. "Bob" Dobbs.png|thumb|J. R. "Bob" Dobbs]]
'''J. R. "Bob" Dobbs''' is the  [[figurehead]] of the [[parody religion]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Solomon |first1=Dan |title=The Church of the SubGenius Finally Plays It Straight |url= https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/the-church-of-the-subgenius-finally-plays-it-straight/ |website=[[Texas Monthly]] |access-date=19 May 2019 |language=en |date=2 November 2017|quote='''Dan Solomon:''' The SubGenius has been a put-on for so long. What's it like to drop that mask and tell the story in a real way now? '''Ivan Stang:''' It's fun for me. I've been keeping a straight face for thirty-five years. Your face gets tired. I really would not drop character for a long, long time.}}</ref>
the [[Church of the SubGenius]]. His image is derived from a collection of [[clip art]] distributed by the [[Bell System|Bell Telephone Company of West Texas]] in 1946.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rucker |first1=Rudy |title=Collected Essays: Note on "Bob's Three Miracles And Me" |url=https://www.rudyrucker.com/transrealbooks/collectedessays/#_Toc45 |website=RudyRucker.com |publisher=Rudy Rucker |access-date=7 December 2023}}</ref>

According to SubGenius dogma, "Bob" was a salesman who, in 1953, saw a vision of the god [[Jehovah 1|JHVH-1]] on a television set he had built.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chryssides |first1=George D. |title=Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements |date=2012 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Lanham, Md. |isbn=978-0810861947 |page=95 |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WA12nHRtmAwC&q=%22j.+r.+bob+dobbs%22&pg=PA95 |access-date=2014-10-05}}</ref> The vision inspired him to write or dictate the "PreScriptures" (as described in the ''[[Book of the SubGenius]]'') and found the Church. The theology holds that "Bob" is the greatest salesman who ever lived, and has cheated death a number of times. He is also revered for his great follies and believed to be a savior of "[[Church of the SubGenius#Conspiracy and "Slack"|Slack]]". He was assassinated in [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]] in 1984, though the Church claims that he has come back from the dead several times since then.

The quotation marks in "Bob"'s name are always included when spelling his name, according to the Church.

==Personal history==
According to ''Revelation X; The "Bob" Apocryphon'', "Bob" was born in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]], to Xinucha-Chi-Xan M. Dobbs (a [[pharmacist]]) and Jane McBride Dobbs.<ref name=apocryphon>{{cite book |title= Revelation X: The "Bob" Apocryphon| publisher= Fireside |date= 1994|isbn= 978-0671770068}}</ref> At an early age, he possessed a talent for making large amounts of money by [[J R|playing the stock market over the telephone]]. He married his wife Constance "Connie" Marsh in [[Las Vegas Strip|Las Vegas]] in 1955 and worked as a photographer's model while inventing and patenting novelty gag items. In 1957, he worked weekends doing [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical Christian]] preaching "strictly for the money".{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==Connie Dobbs==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Conniedobbs.JPG|upright|right|thumb|Connie Dobbs, the Blessed Anti-Virgin]] -->
Constance "Connie" Marsh Dobbs, the wife of "Bob", has become nearly as legendary in SubGenius circles as "Bob". Although "Bob" has been married to other women, spirits, deities, and inanimate objects, Connie is described in the SubGenius documentary ''Arise!'' as "his first, and ''still'' his primary wife." Connie, an actress and model who formed the Home for Slackless Children,<ref name=apocryphon /> is the patron of SubGenius women, and she is seen as a vision of true liberation for women. She refuses to submit to anyone (especially "Bob"). She is just as free-wheeling and promiscuous as her husband, although she has a more level head on her shoulders when it comes to domestic issues.<ref name="connie_scifi">{{cite web |url=https://scifi.radio/2022/06/30/church-of-the-subgenius-happy-100th-birthday-connie-dobbs/ |title=Church of the SubGenius: Happy 100th Birthday Connie Dobbs! |last=Loveshade |first=Alden |date=30 June 2022 |website=scifi.radio |publisher= SciFi Radio |access-date=7 December 2023 |quote=}}</ref>

Connie has been described as the "brains" of the couple who wrote at a 4th grade level when in 1st grade and let "Bob" copy her homework when they were children.<ref name="connie_secret_diary">{{cite web |url=https://www.subgenius.com/bigfist/women/X0002_connie.txt.html |title=Excerpts from the Diary of Constance "Connie" Marsh Dobbs |last=Star |first=Tarla |website=subgenius.com |publisher=SubGenius Foundation |access-date=6 December 2023 |quote=}}</ref> She is also said to be a shapeshifter<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.subgenius.com/bigfist/answers/faqs2/X0020_Who_is_Connie.html |title=Who is Connie?!? |last=Modemac |first=E.W. |date=11 July 2001 |website=subgenius.com |publisher=SubGenius Foundation |access-date=7 December 2023 |quote=}}</ref> who celebrated her 100th birthday, and sang, danced, and spoke, at a gathering in 2022.<ref name="connie_scifi" />

==Dobbstown==
According to Church lore, "Bob" and "Connie" travelled to [[Sarawak|Sarawak, Malaysia]], and founded his headquarters, a secret enclave there, called Dobbstown, where he often stays.<ref name="Cusack2010">{{cite book|last=Cusask |first=Carole M. |title=Invented Religions: Imagination, Fiction and Faith|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EoduVhGsfp0C&pg=PA86|access-date=4 August 2013|year=2010|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-9360-4|pages=86, 102}}</ref>

==Images of "Bob"==
[[File:Precursor to official J.R. "Bob" Dobbs image.jpg|thumb|This 1956 image bears similarity to the one created later depicting Dobbs]]

"Bob{{"'}}s image first appeared in the original SubGenius publication, ''SubGenius Pamphlet #1'' (a.k.a. "The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die"; 1979).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.subgenius.com/pam1/pamphlet_p1.html |title=Pamphlet #1 – page 1<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-09-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704030749/http://subgenius.com/pam1/pamphlet_p1.html |archive-date=2015-07-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Church of the SubGenius maintains the trademark and copyright on "Bob{{"'}}s image, though it has tried to avoid taking legal action unless absolutely necessary. "Bob{{"'}}s image is commonly seen on the [[Usenet newsgroup]] [[alt.binaries.slack]], where he appears regularly in images by many artists. Proper etiquette on the newsgroup dictates that credit be given where it is due, and acknowledgement of the ownership of "Bob{{"'}}s image by the Church is accepted by the regular newsgroup participants.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

The picture of "Bob" is also used in one of the earliest [[Linux]] distribution, [[Slackware]], created by [[Patrick Volkerding]], a member of the Church.

==Sacred Ikon==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Dobbsicon.svg|thumb|The Dobbs Ikon.]] -->
Around 2002, the Church adopted a new symbol called the "Sacred Ikon", which is a stylized cross consisting of three bars and a pipe, placed in a pattern that matches the eyes, nose, mouth, and pipe of "Bob{{"'}}s image.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://groups.google.com/group/alt.slack/browse_frm/thread/e00fc13ae9476fd0/6c177519ec8a5a6e?hl=en&lnk=st&q=#6c177519ec8a5a6e|title=AVI versions of Dobbs-mation on ABS|last=Stang|first=Rev. Ivan|date=Jan 31, 2002|work=alt.slack|publisher=[[Google Groups]]}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
Since his initial appearance, his face has appeared in numerous places around the world, and it has made [[cameo appearance]]s on everything from graffiti art on [[highway]] overpasses and as part of the graphical [[Atari ST character set|character set]] of the [[Atari ST]] operating system, to musical albums by many underground bands (and several popular mainstream rock bands, ranging from [[Devo]] to [[Sublime (band)|Sublime]]) and the occasional film (''[[The Wizard of Speed and Time]]''), TV show (''[[Pee-wee's Playhouse]]'') and cartoon (''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]''). There are also two German comics with "Bob" (''Future Subjunkies'' and ''Space Bastards'', both by [[Gerhard Seyfried]] and Ziska Riemann).{{Tone inline|date=February 2024}}{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

[[Robert Anton Wilson]]'s short story "The Horror on Howth Hill" involves a conversation between Dobbs and the mad scientist [[De Selby]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/threefistedtales00stan/page/168 |title=Three-Fisted Tales of "Bob": Short Stories in the SubGenius Mythos |publisher=Fireside |year=1990 |isbn=0-671-67190-1 |editor-last=Stang |editor-first=Rev. Ivan |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/threefistedtales00stan/page/168 168–181] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

J. R. "Bob" Dobbs served as the inspiration for the character of Professor Utonium in the cartoon ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]''.<ref>{{Cite tweet |number=1384490642915528704 |user=CrackMcCraigen |title=Confirmed. |first=Craig |last=McCracken |author-link=Craig McCracken}}</ref> The [[DC Comics]] character [[Will Magnus|Doc Magnus]] also bears a strong visual resemblance to "Bob".<ref>{{Cite web |author=T. H. R. Staff |date=2019-03-14 |title='J.R. "Bob" Dobbs and The Church of the SubGenius': Film Review {{!}} SXSW 2019 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/jr-bob-dobbs-church-subgenius-1194822/ |access-date=2024-08-22 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref>

In its January 1, 2000 issue, a ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' Internet-based poll named J. R. "Bob" Dobbs the {{Numero|1}} "Phoney or Fraud" of the 20th century, with noted journalist [[Geraldo Rivera]] placing second.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,995817,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930084857/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,995817,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 30, 2007 | magazine=Time | title=Readers Speak: Down with Geraldo | date=January 1, 2000 | access-date=May 5, 2010 | first1=Melissa | last1=August | first2=Harriet | last2=Barovick | first3=Val | last3=Castronovo | first4=Ellin | last4=Martens | first5=Desa | last5=Philadelphia | first6=Julie | last6=Rawe | first7=Chris | last7=Taylor | first8=Josh | last8=Tyrangiel}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{wikiquote-inline}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:J. R. Bob Dobbs}}
[[Category:American SubGenii|Dobbs, J. R. "Bob"]]
[[Category:Church of the SubGenius|Dobbs, J. R. "Bob"]]
[[Category:Fictional American people|Dobbs, J. R. "Bob"]]
[[Category:Fictional salespeople|Dobbs, J. R. "Bob"]]
[[Category:Fictional resurrected characters]]
[[Category:Fictional clergy]]
[[Category:Fictional murdered people]]
[[Category:Fictional prophets]]