Synopses & Reviews
Lovers of art comics will know Hans Rickheit from his smashing graphic novel
The Squirrel Machine (2008), but Rickheit has, for over a decade, been producing his own self-published comics -- reaching into the deepest cupboards of the back-mind and culling these strange artifacts. He has been a basement- dweller, gallery troll, and a purveyor of forbidden notions. Originally distributed into the world as Xeroxed pamphlets, these "underground comix" reflect the true nature of its nomenclature: Here are the archeological findings of the subterranean ruins of the psyche. Finally, these scattered elements have been compiled into a compact, lushly illustrated bedside reader. Give your cerebellum a tug and become a spelunker of the subconscious as we trespass
among the scorched archaic wastelands of the offspring of apes and fools. Here we find the profane, beautiful progeny of prurient ideals. Immerse yourself in the nocturnal meanderings of unnamed protagonists. Ponder the uncomfortable sexuality of the twins, Cochlea & Eustachia. Recoil at the doings of a dwarfish malefactor in Hail Jeffrey, or simply stare at the pretty pictures. Suffice to say that readers of
The Squirrel Machine will not be disappointed.
The author instructs you not misuse this tome. Poke it gently with a long stick, if you must. Careful, it might ruin the carpet. Placate it with a belly-rub or sweet pastry before it attacks the children. Don't worry, your tongue won't stick. If it fits, don't shove it in too quickly. Keep it as your own cherished object; a shameful, guarded secret. The filter for reality's blinding glare. Detritus of the Under-Brain. The Unspeakable Thing You Always Knew.
FOLLY: The Consequences Of Indiscretion. By one of the most inscrutable and discomforting cartoonists alive.
Review
"Applying draftsmanship resembling Rick Geary's in the series to a plot often as confounding as the dream transcriptions of Rick Veitch's , Rickheit tells the late nineteenth-century story of brothers Edmund and William Torpor, aging recluses in the denouement framing a long central flashback to their boyhood and adolescence.... Very dreamlike, rather Hieronymus Boschian, only wryly Freudian--a disquieting, disgusting, entrancing reading experience." Noel Murray The A.V. Club
Review
"Rickheit's artwork is stunning, from the beautifully disgusting instruments to the ornate architecture. It's like steampunk crossed with the animal-appropriating art of Damien Hirst or Ebony Andrews, with complicated machines adorned with the heads and torsos of unfortunate livestock." Booklist
Review
"This darkly disturbing, brilliantly drawn story is the first major publication from cartoonist Rickheit, whose earlier works garnered him a Xeric award and a cult following... Though not for the faint of heart, this obscure tale will offer rich rewards to the right kind of reader, one who appreciates grotesque horror, angry mobs and the creative explosion of a repressed Victorian sexuality." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Between the heavy cross hatching and almost wood-carved appearance of Rickheit's art and his fixation on the degraded physical form, often looks like a Jan Svankmajer film or Tool video adapted by Geof Darrow or Jim Woodring.... Folly is a gorgeous but uncomfortable collection best enjoyed a few pages at a time." Garrett Martin
Review
"... serve[s] as a good introduction to Rickheit's beautifully ugly visions, of a world where cute girls and humanoid stuffed animals commit atrocities against oozing flesh. ...Rickheit excels in making nightmares lucid.... The single-mindedness of Rickheit's approach -- and the level of detail he applies to it -- is impressively horrifying." Paste
Review
"[] is a deranged cabinet of curiosities, full of biomechanical tanks, writhing organic matter, amorphous monsters birthing adorable kittens... and pseudo-Victorian apocalyptic landscapes. It would all be too oppressive if Rickheit's sense of humor weren't so addictive....dry humor undercuts the richly drawn horror of ... The result is a narrative mosaic that pairs sumptuous, horrific imagery against a strange but lighthearted sense of humor." Boston Herald
Review
"This is a world of pure imagination, of subconscious desires let loose with an acutely detailed drawing style. And ultimately, it's a perfect work for those who refuse to float away from their bodies but are ready to let their heads go wherever one can find the new." Publishers Weekly
Review
"I mean this in the nicest possible way but self-confessed obscurist Hans Rickheit is clearly not all there in the head.... Definitely the type of read to make you wary of opening doors. . . as Hans frequently surprises his characters, and us readers, by taking you somewhere you'd never expect, nor probably want to go to." Invisible Mike HTMLGIANT
Synopsis
- Originally distributed into the world as Xeroxed pamphlets, these "underground comix" reflect the true nature of its nomenclature: Here are the archeological findings of the subterranean ruins of the psyche. Finally, these scattered elements have been compiled into a compact, lushly illustrated bedside reader. Give your cerebellum a tug and become a spelunker of the subconscious as we trespass among the scorched archaic wastelands of the offspring of apes and fools. Here we find the profane, beautiful progeny of prurient ideals. Immerse yourself in the nocturnal meanderings of unnamed protagonists. Ponder the uncomfortable sexuality of the twins, Cochlea & Eustachia. Recoil at the doings of a dwarfish malefactor in Hail Jeffrey, or simply stare at the pretty pictures. Suffice to say that readers of The Squirrel Machine will not be disappointed. The author instructs you not misuse Folly: The Consequences of Indiscretion. Poke it gently with a long stick, if you must. Careful, it might ruin the carpet. Placate it with a belly-rub or sweet pastry before it attacks the children. Don't worry; your tongue won't stick. If it fits, don't shove it in too quickly. Keep it as your own cherished object: a shameful, guarded secret. The filter for reality's blinding glare. Detritus of the Under-Brain. The Unspeakable Thing You Always Knew.
Synopsis
A collection of cartoonist's self-published comics.
About the Author
Hans Rickheit was born in 1973 and grew up in New England, lived in the basement of an eccentric art gallery/performance space called the Zeitgeist Gallery from 1997 to 2002, and currently resides in Massachusetts. He is the author of the graphic novel Chloe, the comics series Chrome Fetus, and has appeared in various anthologies, including Paper Rodeo, Hoax, and Kramers Ergot.