John Callahan – surely one of the few published quadriplegic cartoonists – is profiled by Michelle Theriault in the Statesman Journal, discussing how he went through both his disability, the physical limits it puts upon him and a battle with drink to find himself through art. The piece also discusses how controversial his work can be, often outraging various groups and leading to hate mail (in fact on his official site he has an icon to click on to read his hate mail) – even other disabled people have complained; one cartoon mentioned (though sadly not shown) pictured an Old Western posse in the desert near an empty wheelchair with the text “he won’t get far on foot”. As with all such things who gets offended and who laughs depends very much on the person, although as the article notes, the reaction of laughter or hate says as much about bigotries and perceptions in the reader as it does the artist. Callahan has his official site here where you can check out more work.
Mon, Jan 22, 2007
Comics and cartoons, General