I was unimpressed with Sacha Baron Cohen’s faux documentary film BORAT, going in thinking that I was about to be presented with a biting, insightful satire on American attitudes in the waning years of our attempt at civilization. What I actually saw was pretty feeble, half-assed stuff that seemed designed to preach to the choir, and I left the theater wondering if fans of the movie had ever read Terry Southern’s THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN or anything by Mark Twain or Kurt Vonnegut.
And the thought of Vonnegut led me to remembrances of the take-no-prisoners underground cartoonists of my college days – Robert Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, Kim Deitch, et al – and the new guys who are, if anything, even more vicious than their predecessors. I pity the fool who doesn’t know the work of Peter Bagge, Evan Dorkin and, perhaps the baddest cat in the litter box, Johnny Ryan.
Ryan writes and draws ANGRY YOUTH COMIX, chronicling the pathetic life of his main characters, Loady McGee and his pal Sinus O’Gynus. Loady is a snarling, needle-nosed, zit-covered walking turd (though not literally) with the attitude of Vlad the Impaler in a Turkish harem, but none of the charm. Check him out in the WHAT’RE YOU LOOKIN’ AT?: VOL. I OF THE COLLECTED ANGRY YOUTH COMIX.
Ryan’s stories are surreal meanderings through the mind of a total sociopath, but one without enough ambition to end up on death row. The first tale in the book places Loady in his usual milieu: an American city where everyone exists either to brutalize Loady or be brutalized by him. There is nothing in the world unless it somehow relates to him.
The story is “The Whorehouse of Dr. Moreau.” Loady has been sponging off Synus for years and finally gets instructed to get a job or hit the road. Synus needs the space Loady is taking up for his collection of pets.
After watching his favorite movie on TV, Loady decides to follow Dr. Moreau’s path to success by changing Synus’ pets into a stable of dumb hookers and charging the nerds in town to boff them. The hottest of the lot – but drawn to look as hideous as Ryan can make her – takes a fancy to Synus, and he to her.
Just imagine you had a pet iguana and somehow it got turned into a woman and … need I go on?
This freewheeling (or should that be freebasing?) take on capitalism run amok, with side trips for a little degradation and depravity, is typical Ryan fare. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll projectile-vomit on that poor bastard sitting next to you on the bus.
This is satire becoming nihilism, finally throwing up its hands and mumbling, “Fuck it. How can you go to Hell when you’re already there?”
WHAT’RE YOU LOOKIN’ AT? is Johnny Ryan at his most unfettered and unflattering. It’s a lean, mean, anarchy machine. When you run out of kittens to drown and you need something just as edifying to do, go for it. –Doug Bentin
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