Angry Youth Comix, Vol. 1: What're You Lookin' At?

Angry Youth Comix (Collected Editions) #1

by Johnny Ryan

From the creator of the cult favorite Angry Youth Comix: the one-man MAD magazine strikes again!

The most acclaimed (and controversial) humor cartoonist to burst on the comics scene since Peter Bagge, Johnny Ryan mixes social satire with an absurdist sense of humor to come up with some of the most notoriously hilarious comics in the last five years, in the pages of his ongoing comic book series, Angry Youth Comix.

It's almost impossible to explain what makes something funny, but whatever it is, fans and critics agree that Ryan has it in spades. The book includes several stories featuring Ryan's signature creation, Loady McGee (and straight-man Synus O'Gynus), a misanthropic, acne-scarred hustler who finds himself in scams that would make Wimpy proud, and responds to almost everything with an endless stream of wisecracks, puns, and X-rated double entendres. Loady's ridiculous crackpot schemes—opening a brothel staffed by mutant lizards, get-rich-quick inventions like the "Pussy Hunter 6000," founding a comic book school, and selling used toilet paper passed-off as new, just to name a few—serve as perfect comic set-ups, and Ryan's art is crammed with visual gags and existential asides that brings to mind the great Will Elder (MAD magazine).

Needless to say, this is not politically-correct stuff, nor is it for children. Ryan's in-your-face humor spares no prisoners, as these stories indicate: "Hipler," a riotous satire of our "extreme makeover" era and celebrity culture; "Islamic Terrorist Spring Break," in which Ryan seemed to be single-handedly trying to counterbalance all of the self-censorship going on in the early post-9/11 media; and "Ku Klux Kuties," which tests just how far the usual doe-eyed visual tropes can be taken and still make you go, "Aww." The book also includes Ryan's most infamous strip to-date, "The Gaytriot," which caused a PC-stir when it was included in The Comics Journal's otherwise-sincere and serious "Cartoonists on Patriotism" volume in 2002.

The collection also features such absurdist classics as "Weight-Lifting Gophers," "The Deaf Chef," "Dolemite's Masters of the Universe," "1976," and a selection of single-panel gag cartoons titled "Johnny Ryan's 'Pukin's' and 'Spit-Ups.'" Find out why Ryan's work has been cited as a favorite of such luminaries as the late Edward Gorey, Simpsons producers George Meyer and Dana Gould, and cartoonists like Joe Sacco, Daniel Clowes, Peter Bagge, Coop, Gary Panter and many others.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics

176 pages, Paperback

First published November 24, 2004

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

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Immature scatological fun for all. This is the kind of shit that makes you not take things too seriously.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshingly crude and offensive.

[Brian Stillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Besides Spider-Man and Maggie, Loady McGee is the greatest comic book character ever.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably the grossest and most offensive comic I've ever read.