Prison Pit: Book Five

Prison Pit #5

by Johnny Ryan

CF still isn't dead, but can he survive the Holocaust Brothers? First he's got to destroy his arch-enemy, the seemingly indestructible Slitt, who happens to be the only one who knows how to get the hell out of the Prison Pit.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Humor, Fantasy, Science Fiction

125 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 8, 2014

About the author

John F. Ryan IV (born November 30, 1970, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American comics creator, writer, and animator. In a throwback to the days of underground comix, Ryan's oeuvre is generally an attempt to be as shocking and politically incorrect as possible.
Ryan started his career self-publishing Angry Youth Comix, a series of eleven mini-comic issues from 1994 to 1998. In 1998, he began showing his work to Peter Bagge, creator of Hate comics, who introduced the material to Eric Reynolds of Fantagraphics. In 2001, Fantagraphics began publishing volume 2 of the series.
Among Ryan's creations there are the comic strip Blecky Yuckerella and the comic book series Prison Pit.
In animation, Ryan has worked as story editor for the Looney Tuness and co-created the Nickelodeon show Pig Goat Banana Cricket with Dave Cooper. Ryan and Cooper have collaborated on a number of comics as well, usually under the pen name 'Hector Mumbly'.
Ryan's illustrations have appeared in MAD, LA Weekly, National Geographic Kids, Hustler Magazine, The Stranger, and elsewhere. Ryan has also done work for clients such as Nobleworks greetings cards, Rhino Records, and Fox TV. His comics have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese and French.

Reviews

[Tony Vacation · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with the previous four books, Prison Pit, Book 5 is Johnny Ryan’s artistic expression of violence and bad taste. Something of a narrative tethers each of these books together: an indestructible convict called Fuckface is dropped onto a roadwarriorian penal planet, at which point our “hero” commences with murdering and/or fucking everything that he comes in contact with. It’s funnier than it may sound in abstract. Ryan’s drawings are crude and look as if they ejaculated out of mind of a horny, violent 13-yeard old with ADD. The dialogue is sparse and course and usually is just one character telling another character how they are about to totally fuck their shit up. Dismemberments, eviscerations, burnings, decapitations, bludgeonings, urethra penetrations, and explosions are all par the course. Logic is discarded like a used condom as tentacles, second and third heads sprout out of wounds, spilt alien blood melts appendages only for said lost appendages to grow back inexplicably, and everyone dresses like a pro wrestler or a bondage enthusiast. Either you’re on board with the mindless glee with which this series presents absurd depictions of violence or you’re not. Your choice.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Dante were alive today, he would say, "Yes!" in thunder to Johnny Ryan's Prison Pit series. Endlessly inventive, repulsive, retributive, and beautiful, Prison Pit is funny and foul, an eternal nightmare that deserves a life on the big screen--preferably in breath-taking black and white. What's it about: random acts of more or less meaningless violence in a desperate attempt to leave a hellhole of a planet. Presumably to go elsewhere to commit meaningless acts of violence.

[Nick LeBlanc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haven't been able to get my hands on Vol. 3 & 4 yet, so I jumped ahead to 5 and feel like I didn't miss all that much. Still dumb, violent, funny, and compelling with cool art. FF is still doing his Road Warrior thing, though in this one he gets a new get-up. I look forward to reading the conclusion (even if I have a suspicion as to what might happen). If anyone wants to unload Vol 3&4 on me, send me a message.

[Printable Tire]

I know I read one of these books a million years ago and I think I liked it and was familiar with the territory. Even so there wasn't a lot to like here. Art seemed really cheap to me as well as the jokes. And after the big buildup of the Holocaust Brothers, they get killed in like fifteen seconds. Fun to take out of the library but I wouldn't ever spend money on it.

[Chad Brock · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75

[Sean Harding · Rating 2 out of 5]

So the penultima volume in this series sees more of the same gross out violent behaviour and well more of that really.

[James Andre · Rating 5 out of 5]

The never-ending Mad Max style mutant brawls in this series have been perfect. Johnny Ryan's past gross-out body humour has evolved into haunting, brutal body horror. Psychedelic yet filled with guts, this is how exploitation tales should be.

[Brian Dickerson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The end? I don't have a clue. Seems there are still unresolved issues... I will say this for Johnny Ryan characters, they are durable! CFF has grown on me over 5 books. He might be my favorite cannibal in wrestling equipment that I've ever encountered.

[Ruz El · Rating 5 out of 5]

If David Cronenberg, David Lynch and William S. Burrows collaborated on a wrestling comic, it would be Prison Pit, but not as good.

[Roger Mexico · Rating 5 out of 5]

Watch out for the "Holocaust Brothers"!