Graphic Lit: Bad meaning good

“My kid could draw that!”

No doubt you’ve heard that phrase spouted at a modern art gallery once or twice. Perhaps you’ve even uttered it yourself, along with a snarky, “That’s not art.”

We tend to have set-in-stone notions about what constitutes art, and can get riled up when confronted with something that doesn’t meet our expectations.

Comics fans in particular can be a conservative lot, trumpeting the ability to render a contorted, physically perfect human specimen above all else.

But does a high degree of artistic skill and craftsmanship automatically result in the ability to make great comics? After all, comics are as much about pacing, timing and narrative dexterity as they are being able to make pretty pictures.

Take the case of Rory Hayes, for example. Hayes was a member of the underground comics movement of the 1960s, though he tends to get relegated to the background, behind more well-known figures such as Robert Crumb.

Hayes is finally getting his due in “Where Demented Wented,” a collection of his work from Fantagraphics Books edited by Dan Nadel and Glenn Bray.

Part of the reason Hayes slipped under the radar was because he wasn’t as prolific as his compatriots. Nor did he have their artistic chops; his art, at least initially, comes off as amateurish and stiff. His early death, at the age of 34 in 1983, no doubt played a part as well.

But probably the biggest reason he never achieved much recognition was due to the intensity and stark horror of his unique vision. Here was an artist who gazed into the abyss and drew what he saw.

Hayes’ initial comics were gory homages to the EC horror comics of the 1950s, usually featuring knife-wielding teddy bears plotting horrible things.

The turning point seems to be his attempt to do a sex comic. Hayes used the opportunity to pour out every misogynist and misanthropic fear that welled inside him, resulting in the most unerotic (and just flat out grotesque) pornography in history.

From there on out, Hayes’ comics become more psychedelic and narratively disjointed, but also more gripping and fascinating. Panels blend into one another; stories end in abrupt violence, bodies mutate and transform, heralding the apocalypse.

There’s the strong sense of exorcism at work here, that Hayes was driven to put this material on paper, perhaps hoping that by giving his demons voice he could silence them.

That didn’t work. Hayes eventually died of a drug overdose, as the heart-breaking afterword by Hayes’ brother Geoffrey (also an artist), reminds us.

Hayes’ work is not easy to digest or what we tend to traditionally think of as accomplished. But it is visionary and compelling all the same. The guy knew what he was doing.

While some cartoonists make art out of the meager talents God gave them, others strive to deliberately be as sloppy and crude as possible.

That’s certainly the case with “Tokyo Zombie,” an uproarious, grotesque manga by Yusaku Hanakuma.

Hanakuma is a member of the “Heta-Uma” or “bad, but good” school. Popularized by Japanese artist King Terry, it’s a movement dedicated to drawing as primitively as possible, the better to keep any technical gloss from removing your work’s “soul.”

As you might guess from the title, “Tokyo Zombie” is a horror story, albeit with rotting tongue held firmly in cheek.

Fujio and Mitsuo are martial arts-addicted tough guys who suddenly find themselves having to kick-punch their way out of a zombie apocalypse brought on by industrial waste buried in a literal mountain of garbage.

Circumstances force the pair to separate. Fast forward a few years. Fujio finds himself battling zombies in an arena for the pleasure of the wealthy few who control. What are the odds a zombiefied Mitsuo could show up to battle his old friend? Apparently pretty good.

As gory and profoundly silly as “Zombie” is, it’s also a heap of fun, provided you don’t take these sorts of things too seriously. Indeed, hard to imagine a more proficient artist being able to mine as much gold with the material as Hanakuma does here. His art may seem sloppy and primitive at first glance, but it’s always assured.

Copyright The Patriot-News, 2008

Graphic Lit: The undergrounds return

The 1960s, as everyone knows, was a seminal time, though you may not be aware of just how seminal it was in the magic land of comic books.

Just as Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles redefined people’s ideas about pop music, so, too, did artists such as Robert Crumb and titles such as “Zap Comix” redefine the notion of what was permissible in a 32-page funny book.

The “underground comix” movement, as it has been since dubbed, brought sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll to the comic pamphlet. Suddenly, artists started giving their id free rein and produced some confrontational, psychedelic and occasionally brilliant work. You can draw a straight line from those early, trippy books to the ambitious graphic novels we see on the shelves today.

While the ’60s and the underground movement may be long gone, the artists haven’t rested on their laurels. Many are still active and producing work equal to or better than their earlier material. Here’s a look at four recent books that celebrate the work of these baby boomers:

“Shadowland”
by Kim Deitch
Fantagraphics, 176 pages, $18.95.

Kim Deitch has always been one of the most interesting and unique artists of the underground generation, and “Shadowland” cements that reputation.

The book is a collection of interrelated stories Deitch did during the late 1980s and early ’90s, and focuses on the Ledicker family, owners of a traveling carnival, and their adventures through the early half of the 20th century.

Space aliens, rampaging elephants, lost pygmy tribes, diving pigs, conspiracy theories and silent film stars all blend in Deitch’s tales, as a variety of oddball characters weave in and out of the plot and each other’s lives.

It’s a mindbending, intense journey at times, but one well worth taking, as “Shadowland” is one of Deitch’s best works and one of the finest books of the past year.

“The Art of S. Clay Wilson”
Ten Speed Press, 154 pages, $35.

Of all the underground cartoonists, Wilson was always the most out-there, the one willing to go to places that others would wisely fear to tread. His panels are always full of huge crowds of people — usually pirates or biker gangs — committing intense orgies of sex and/or violence.

This slim collection of art unfortunately doesn’t include very many of Wilson’s comics. It’s mostly focused on his paintings, drawings and sketches, many of them recent. While it’s a nice supplemental book for fans who already own the artist’s more significant work (i.e. the comics), I can’t recommend it as an introductory volume. Those with the strength of stomach and heart to seek out his work should look elsewhere.

“The New Adventures of Jesus” by Frank Stack
Fantagraphics,
144 pages, $19.95.

Stack’s “Jesus” comics actually predate Crumb’s “Zap” by a good few years, though the latter is more widely known. This book collects all of the “Jesus” stories, which Stack continued up to and including today.

The book begins as an insolent take on the New Testament, but Stack quickly uses the Messiah as a counterpoint to the madness of modern life. A holy Voltaire of sorts, Jesus goes up against Hollywood, academia, the legal system and even the Reagan administration.

Stack’s satire gets sharper and more savage as the years progress, showing up most folks’ selfishness and narcissism. By the book’s end, when Jesus asks his Dad if he can get a head start on the Last Judgment, you think that’s not such a bad idea.

“You Call This Art? A Greg Irons Retrospective”
by Patrick Rosenkranz
Fantagraphics, 296 pages, $29.95.

Despite his artistic prowess, Greg Irons never achieved the recognition of many of his peers, most likely because of his death in 1984.

Hopefully, Rosenkranz’s book will raise the artist’s stature somewhat, as it includes a good deal of Irons’ stories, drawings, commercial work and a well-written account of the artist’s life. Irons’ work could be violent and gory, but also exquisitely detailed and rendered with a true craftsman’s care. He’s not someone who deserves to fade into obscurity.

Copyright The Patriot-News, 2006