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Johnny Ryan




Title Creator Publisher Series Price
Kramers Ergot #8 Dash Shaw, Takeshi Murata, Robert Beatty, Sammy Harkham and more ... PictureBox Kramers Ergot $29.75
($32.95 list)
Ke8
Read more and comment... 		<<•>>  edited by Sammy Harkham  <<•>>  Starting out way back in 2000 as a plain ol' self-published, black and white comic book, Sammy Harkham's Kramers Ergot has been through some serious changes over the years.  In 2003, when Sammy went for broke (literally) and switched to a massive full-color book format with the fourth issue, Kramers was transformed from a simple comic book to a synecdoche/catch phrase for the exploding art comics scene.  The subsequent two issues followed suit and were published by art house publisher, Gingko Press.  Then, with the seventh issue the stakes were raised again with the gigantic, full-blown, original-old-school Sunday page size – a whoppin'' 16" x 21" – full color, hardcover published by Buenaventura Press that knocked people's socks off the world over; not least folks here in Pittsburgh, where we hosted the Kramers Tour at The BrilloBox to much acclaim.  Now, with the eighth issue, Kramers is being published by our pals at PictureBox and has entered yet another phase.  This time out – perhaps in keeping with its maturation – Kramers takes the form of an unassuming standard size hardcover sporting a tan cloth cover of deceptively straightforward design by Robert Beatty; one which nonetheless provides both visual and tactile pleasure to the reader and hints at what is to come, which is another all-star anthology featuring some of today's top cartoonists working in an environment where they feel comfortable taking risks.  An essay by Ian Svenonius, "Notes on Camp, Part 2" sets the tone with a hyperbolic sequel to Susan Sontag's famous essay, in which Svevonius traces a lineage for pop, camp and comics that centers on Warhol and goes back through to the Roman Empire. Then we are treated to a brand new Jimbo adventure by Gary Panter followed by new stories by C.F., Kevin Huizenga (who redraws the story "The Half Men" from the classic ACG series of the 1950s & '60s, Mysteries of Unexplained Worlds), Gabrielle Bell, Johnny Ryan, Time Hensley, Leon Sadler, Chris Cilla, Anya Davidson, Ben Jones and Sammy Harkham, himself.  The clear standout of Kramers Ergot 8 is the collaboration between Dash Shaw and Frank Santoro, "Childhood Predators."  This sixteen page story is a masterpiece of layout which was consciously composed as a series of eight two-page spreads by someone who really knows what they're doing.  Santoro displays his mastery of the medium by employing a host of techniques and methods to deliver a highly textured, subtly nuanced, and deeply felt look at an emotionally complex and politically fraught scenario that will amply reward repeated readings.  In addition to the comics, there are a pair of art portfolios featuring Robert Beatty's "retro-future" airbrush art, as well as a series of freakishly photorealistic digital artworks by Takeshi Murata, all of which are reproduced on bright glossy stock, in contrast to the flat off-white stock of the comics work.  The 40-page dose of Oh, Wicked Wanda! comics that closes out this issue is also printed on glossy stock to mimic its original appearance in the pages of Penthouse Magazine back in the 1970s.  Oh, Wicked Wanda was created by the British artist and writer duo of Ron Embleton and Frederic Mullalley as Penthouse's answer to Kurtzman and Elder's Little Annie Fannie, which ran in Playboy Magazine.  As with everything Penthouse, it is the same as Playboy, only more so; and in this case, the humor is decidedly British (as was Penthouse) with its international settings and casual conflation of kinky sex with Nazis.  We'd be curious to learn why the largest hunk of this issue of Kramers was devoted to these comics, so we hope Harkham will go on record as to his rationale and motivation here.  Regardless of what they may be, Kramers remains in the vanguard of contemporary comics and is indispensable reading for anyone who likes their comics challenging.
Hotwire #3 Glenn Head, Tim Lane, R. Sikoryak, Daid Sandlin and more ... Fantagraphics Hotwire $19.99
($22.99 list)
Hotwire3
Read more and comment... 		Hotwire 3 edited by Glenn Head If ever the third time is the charm, this is it.  Hotwire, the king-size comic book anthology of all new work marches forward in its unique, self-established tradition of wacky hi-jinx pieces designed to frazzle and freak. Highlights include a career high for Rick Altergott, an amazing new piece by Tim Lane, a rare full color Mack White work, a classic Mary Fleener tale, and the first new "masterpiece comic" by R. Sikoryak since his 2009 anthology of the same name – this one engaging Dennis the Menace to fill the shoes of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark – new pieces by Michael Kupperman, Max Andersson, Johnny Ryan, and editor Glenn Head, as well as a brand spankin' new David Sandlin story, "Infernal Combustion," that continues in the vein of his fabulous Swamp Preacher one-shot comic book of a couple years back. 
Prison Pit Johnny Ryan Fantagraphics $11.77
($12.99 list)
Prisonpit
Read more and comment... 		We have to say, from the looks of Prison Pit (Book One), that it appears that Mr. Ryan has been spending some quality time with the works of Mat Brinkman.  This work is quite a departure and long time Ryan readers may not know what to make of this violent (well, at least that's familiar), nearly wordless, quest-driven narrative set in a barren and nameless terrain.  Fans of hyperviolent role playing video games may have met their match with this one.
Comic Book Holocaust Johnny Ryan $9.95
($9.95 list)
Cbholocaust
Read more and comment... 		Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later.  The mischevious Mr. Ryan has pulled out all the stops to create the last word in jaded, cynical, parodic lampoons of all things comics in this collection of 128 pages packed with vented spleen.  Just about every comic strip, comic book series and graphic novel that a contemporary comics fan could be expected to be familiar with is given the works here.  Every scatological combination is employed and no one and nothing is spared.  The goal here seems to be to defend the western philosophical thesis that nothing is sacred, all is illusion and all illusions must be destroyed; along with its eastern corollary: nothing is true, everything is permitted.  While we are happy to grant Mr. Ryan his point, there is clearly a soul crushing aspect to this work.  The cover and title of this book are certainly fitting, as it is precisely the nihilistic disregard (also known as hate) of the beliefs and values of others that is demonstrated in this collection that was fervently embraced by the Nazis and led them to attempt to destroy all that they despised (which was just about everything).  We are, of course, grateful that Mr. Ryan has limited his targets to the creations of graphic imaginative fiction and that his only weapons are his pen and caustic wit, and that his victims are only lines on paper.  If the reader can manage the feat of viewing the entire work as a cautionary allegory of the dangers of yielding to the siren song of hatred, then, perhaps, CBH can act as a final solution and allow all involved to at last move on to more productive endeavors.