Has there ever been a more politically incorrect cartoonist than John Callahan?
Last edited Sat May 5, 2018, 07:27 PM - Edit history (2)
The following is from a New York Times article from July 28, 2010 titled:
"John Callahan, Cartoonist, Dies at 59"
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/arts/design/28callahan.html
John Callahan, a quadriplegic, (recovering) alcoholic cartoonist whose work in newspapers and magazines made irreverent, impolitic sport of people with disabilities and diseases and those who would pity and condescend to them, died on Saturday in Portland, Oregon.
Like his friend, Gary Larson, creator of "The Far Side," Mr. Callahan made drawings with a gleeful appreciation of the macabre that he found in everyday life.
He was, however, a man who lived his life with disadvantages, some of them self-wrought, and he viewed the world through a dark and wicked lens.
"This is John...I'm a little too depressed to take your call today," the message on his answering machine said..."Please leave your message at the gunshot."
His cartoons were often polarizing: some found them outrageously funny, others outrageously offensive.
There was the drawing of a restaurant, The Anorexic Cafe, with a sign in the window saying:
"Now Closed 24 Hours a Day"
There was one showing a group of confused-looking square dancers unable to respond to the caller's instruction to "return to the girl that you just left," with a headline reading,
"The Alzheimer Hoedown."
There was the drawing of a blind black man begging in the street, wearing a sign reading:
"Please help me. I am blind and black, but not musical."
In another, a sheriff's posse on horseback surrounds an empty wheelchair.
The caption gave him the title of his 1990 autobiography:
"Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot."
And there was the drawing of an aerobics class for quadriplegics, with the instructor saying:
"O.K. Let's get those eyeballs moving."
At the peak of it's popularity, about a decade ago, Mr. Callahan's syndicated work appeared in more than 200 newspapers around the world, and many of them got used to seeing letters of objection.
A movie based on his memoir, "Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot," had it's world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last January.
It stars Joaquin Phoenix as Callahan, with Jack Black, Jonah Hill and Rooney Mara.
The film was directed by Gus Van Sant, who also wrote the screenplay, and is scheduled for release July 13, 2018.
(All the reviews I've seen were favorable)
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