John Callahan (cartoonist)

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John Callahan (born during July of 1951 in Portland, Oregon), is a cartoonist noted for dealing with macabre subjects or physical disabilities, maiming and dismemberment. Rendered quadriplegic by an automobile accident, Callahan draws his cartoons by clutching a pen between both hands. His artistic style is simplistic and often rough, though still legible and humorous. It has been likened to that of William Steig, James Thurber, and Ben Wicks.

Callahan's cartoons deal with subjects often considered taboo. His black humor may be exemplified by the title of his "quasi-memoir", Will the Real John Callahan Please Stand Up?. The subject matter and treatment of his cartoons shares something with the work of Charles Addams and Gahan Wilson although it is much more aggressively and brutally shocking and twisted than even the Playboy cartoons of these cartoonists.

Two animated cartoons have been based on Callahan's cartoons, the first being Pelswick, a "For Children" show done by Nickelodeon, and the second being Quads, a Canadian-Australian co-production, which retains the violence, joie de vivre and political incorrectness of his cartoons. The main character, who "walked out of a bar, and into a car" as the theme song relates, is a quadriplegic who won a large settlement from the rich driver who ran over him, and lives in a mansion with his buxom girlfriend, gay Australian physical therapist and a cast of no-goodnik fellow-handicapees. Their outrageous adventures infuriate the neighbours which include an angry Sherman Tank of a Roman Catholic Nun, the milquetoast millionaire whose Rolls-Royce and money brought these self-styled freaks and gimps to the suburban enclave, and his domineering, snobbish, Joan Riversesque wife.

A proposed biographical movie, with Robin Williams in the title role, was in the planning stages in 2000 but was never produced.

Callahan is also a song-writer with his first CD due sometime in September of 2006. The London Indpendent calls his songs "Beautiful, but dark...". He writes all the music and lyrics himself and is backed up by many notable musicians. A dutch film crew recorded the studio sessions in which Callahan plays a simplified piano version of "Roll Away The Day". The album is produced by blues legend Terry Robb, with a special cameo appearance by Tom Waits. Callahan's website address is located at www.callahanonline.com

[edit] Works

John Callahan's books include:

Freaks of Nature
What Kind of God Would Allow a Thing Like This to Happen?
The King of Things and the Cranberry Clown (a children's book quite unlike the adult-oriented cartoons in his cartoon collections)
The Night, They Say, Was Made for Love
Do What He Says, He's Crazy
Digesting the Child Within
Do Not Disturb Any Further
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot