Johnny Ryan’s work runs a broad range of styles and levels of sophistication, but for the most part it is an exercise in taboo-breaking that tries single-mindedly in nearly every way it is possible to shock and offend. There is an inherent comedy in this, but his work is not just funny because it overloads your senses with bizarre obscenity, filth, and almost unthinkable actions. There are plenty of puns and sight gags as well.
The underlying humor of Ryan’s comics tends to follow the style of the art. There is the ‘Kids Comics’ style of Blecky Yuckerellathat looks like it could have appeared in an alternate universe version of Richie Rich or Nancy, and tends toward twist endings that have one of the characters jumping in the air from surprise. The single-panel or series of single-panel gags that appear in Angry Youth Comix, that at first glance could appear in nearly any magazine or newspaper editorial cartoon page with heavy black lines and very clean art. The Prison Pit books are straight-up combat mutilation in an edgier, simpler style with high contrast and sketchier lines that bristle with action.
Ryan has also done a great deal of irreverent, kid-friendly work targeted at a younger and broader audience. His easy transition between work for adults and children is a matter of degrees, and reveals an important aspect of his work: there is a real understanding of humor and often a sense that there is a sort of meta-parody at work.
Ryan is also the creator two standalone collections of Comics and Literary parodies: Comic Book Holocaust and Klassic Komics Klub. A regular contributor to Nickelodeon Magazine, his work has also appeared in Vice magazine, The Stranger, MADmagazine, Hustler, and National Geographic Kids. His official homepage is http://johnnyryan.com/ and a great selection of his work can be seen at his Comic Art Collective pagehttp://www.comicartcollective.com/johnnyryan/ .
Volume 3 of Prison Pit is due out in October 2011, and Take a Joke!: the third volume of the collected Angry Youth Comixreleases in May and is available for pre-order now, through Fantagraphics.
-Rob
Rob writes about comics at his blog http://talkinboutcomics.blogspot.com/.
