John Callahan (cartoonist)
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John Callahan (born 1951 in Portland, Oregon), is a cartoonist, artist, and musician noted for dealing with macabre subjects and physical disabilities.
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[edit] Accident and career
Callahan was rendered quadriplegic by an automobile accident; he draws his cartoons by clutching a pen between both hands. His visual artistic style is simplistic and often rough, although still legible. 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 aggressive than even the Playboy cartoons of these cartoonists.
Two animated cartoons have been based on Callahan's cartoons: Pelswick, a children's show on Nickelodeon; and 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 fellow handicapees. Their outrageous adventures infuriate the neighbours which include an angry nun, the milquetoast millionaire who originally ran over the main character, and his domineering, 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.
[edit] Other careers
John Callahan is currently working on a nudes and portrait project, shown in several galleries throughout its progression.
Callahan is also a songwriter. He released his first CD in 2006. The London Independent 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 musician Terry Robb, with a special cameo appearance by Tom Waits.
[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
- Get Down!!
- Will the Real John Callahan Please Stand Up? Lurid Revelations, Shocking Rejections, Irate Letters, With an Introduction by Robin Williams
