(J.R. "Bob" Dobbs) The confidently-smiling, fatherly visage smoking the Pipe represents J.R. "Bob" Dobbs (1930-1984, 1985-?), the Living Slackmaster, the Saint of Sales, the Prophet of Profits, and High Epopt of the Church of the SubGenius. In 1949 Dobbs (then a humble aluminium-siding salesman in Texas) was watching late-night TV. As he went to adjust the picture, Dobbs saw a dazzling white light; he felt a strange tingling sensation and his whole body went rigid. He lay unconscious and unmoving for several hours. The next day, he became aware of strange voices speaking to him; voices which identified themselves as beings from Planet X ( Xists), and the "space god" Wotan-l ("Ra-l", "Thor", etc). J.R. "Bob" Dobbs knew then that he had a mission. He founded the Church of the Subgenius to save all who would follow him from the coming Weird Times.