Prison Pit Book Three

blends creator Johnny Ryan's fascination with WWE wrestling, grindhouse cinema, first person action video games, Gary Panter's comics, and Kentaro Miura's "Berserk" manga into a brutal and often hilarious showcase of violence like no other comic book ever created. Even the lead character's name, which is only one letter away from "Cannibal Duckface" (hint: "Cannibal" is correct) is unprintable. is so deranged and twisted that even the author's plot description, while admirably reflecting the spirit of the book, has to be edited into a sea of asterisks in order to be bearable to normal human beings: "A mysterious new a**hole has descended into the Prison Pit. He's looking for Cannibal F***face and he wants revenge. Revenge for what? Probably for some f***ed up evil s***. But before he can get his hands on the CanMan he's got to battle his way through some pretty vicious motherf***ers. S***'s about to get real." Well, yes, .

"This thing is great and an essential read. It is important. Buy buy buy." Nick Gazin

"The Good: reminded me a lot of Gwar, professional wrestling and the comic strips my friends and I used to draw in junior high. ... It was gross as hell and filled with blood and gore and just straight-up repulsive juvenile humor. It was a lot of fun. The Bad: It's probably too awesome for a lot of people to handle. ... The Bottom Line: Dude, it's great. Just shut up and buy it. ...I'm giving an A and as soon as I'm done writing this review, I'm going to sit down and re-read it." Vice

"This week I started reading and... I... it... um... the thing is... it's... wow." Chad Derdowski Mania

"Johnny Ryan's is something I keep coming back to -- and not just because it's the only comic book I've ever seen that can actively liven up a party. It's a hilarious, visceral and quick read... for really dumb fun, this is pretty much unbeatable." Chris Mautner Robot 6

For splatter-movie fans and anyone trying to grok the splatter-movie ethos, not to be missed.Aggro, obscene, hilarious, compulsive: Prison Pit. It wasn't just the greatest comic of the year, it was one of those comics that operated like the end result of a math equation, a definitive answer to the question of what comics are, and what they should be. --Tucker Stone

Next to Jughead, Johnny’s about the best thing going on in comic books these days, so don’t be a chump and wait until they make some perverted documentary about him and he’s some hipster darling! ACT NOW!Johnny Ryan draws the bad pictures. Unapologetically and lots of ‘em and I hope to god he never stops. …Prison Pit… kinda’ sorta’ kicks serious ass. ... The story definitely puts the GORE in phantasmagorical… you can smell it from miles away. --Jared Gniewek

Book of ‘09... If the point of comics is f---ed up s--- happening, this is the best f---ing comic ever made. --Sean Witzke

Perhaps the best and also craziest comic Johnny Ryan has made yet. I hope he does 1,000 pages of this. --Jeffrey Brown

Next to Scott Pilgrim this felt to me like the western comic that’s got closest to properly understanding the energy of manga, rather than simply aping the surface elements. ... It’s the best art I’ve seen Ryan do in his career. --Brian Smith

Prison Pit is the best comic Johnny Ryan has ever drawn. It’s rich, clever, energetic, funny — I don’t think I’ve purely in-my-guts enjoyed another comic so much.... You’ve gotta see it to believe it. --Joe McCulloch

Refreshingly devoid of any literary or artistic pretensions, this first of what I hope will be many, many volumes nevertheless comes across as somehow one of the smartest and well crafted books of the year. No, really. --Patrick Markfort

[An] over-the-top, ultra-violent, gross-out juvenile, yet fun and hilarious book... The dialogue that does exist retains his comic sense of disjunction and fights are as demented as you’d expect. This is not a jokey book, but his humor is retained in subtle ways—if you can envision subtle Johnny Ryan humor. ... This is just a balls-out, funny, sicko, good time. My only complaint with Prison Pit is how quickly the story ends, but hopefully the subtitle (Book One) is a promise and not a joke. --Lincoln Michel

Unlike anything Ryan's done thematically… Prison Pit is a non-stop action comic. It's pretty successful in that regard, with imaginative character designs and some surprising battles... And although the genre is different, Ryan can't seem to deviate from a fascinating mix of sex and violence and bodily fluids. --Christopher Allen

Amazingly, I was sucked in by the whole enterprise, laughing and groaning and shaking my head. ... These are ugly characters in a gross situation, and Prison Pit treats them with all the indulgence and nastiness needed. --Mark Hale

[T]he single-minded commitment to vileness is so perversely pure that it goes right past lowest-common-denominator entertainment and on into snooty, fancy-pants art. ... Ryan’s world is essentially Waiting for Godot, from the bleak landscape to the slapstick violence. --Noah Berlatsky

I wish to add my voice to the chorus of those who really, really like Johnny Ryan’s left-hand turn into violent fantasy with the promise of more to come. I hope there are ten more. --Tom Spurgeon

While Prison Pit does, in fact, have a definable story throughout, it’s one that feels as though it were crafted in the margins of a spiral-bound notebooks stowed safely away in some backpack littered with the Sharpie penned names of metal bands. And though Ryan didn’t go so far as to in append a listening soundtrack to the back of this volume, one can almost certainly be assured that it contains its share of Cannibal Corpse and Slayer tracks. --Brian Heater

Johnny Ryan takes ideas and styles that have been knocking around the art comics scene for the last few years, and injects them with gallons of fun, attitude and humour. My favourite new comic of the year! --Richard Cowdry

"...[W]e see the inclusion of a new character, who, while just as violent and vicious as CF, is completely different in attitude and demeanor. Plus, he has one of the most amazing (and utterly grotesque) resurrection scenes I've ever seen.... All in all, it's another excellent volume." David Uzumeri Robot 6

Prison Pit blends Angry Youth Comix creator Johnny Ryan s fascination with WWE wrestling, grindhouse cinema, first person action video games, Gary Panter s Jimbo comics, and Kentaro Miura s Berserk manga into a brutal and often hilarious showcase of violence like no other comic book ever created. Even the lead character s name, which is only one letter away from Cannibal Duckface (hint: Cannibal is correct) is unprintable. Prison Pit is so deranged and twisted that even the author s plot description, while admirably reflecting the spirit of the book, has to be edited into a sea of asterisks in order to be bearable to normal human beings: A mysterious new a**hole has descended into the Prison Pit. He s looking for Cannibal F***face and he wants revenge. Revenge for what? Probably for some f***ed up evil s***. But before he can get his hands on the CanMan he s got to battle his way through some pretty vicious motherf***ers. S*** s about to get real. Well, yes, exactly. "

The balls-to-the-wall series returns with more action and mayhem like only Johnny Ryan can deliver--again starring CF, the shirtless outer space barbarian antihero who remains damned to the Prison Pit (a vast wasteland beneath the crust of a barren planet, populated by the worst of the worst, where violence is the only law and evil creatures roam free). Prison Pit is so deranged and twisted that even the author's plot description, while admirably reflecting the spirit of the book, has to be edited into a sea of asterisks in order to be bearable to normal human beings: "A mysterious new a**hole has descended into the Prison Pit. He's looking for Cannibal F***face and he wants revenge. Revenge for what? Probably for some f***ed up evil s***. But before he can get his hands on the CanMan he's got to battle his way through some pretty vicious motherf***ers. S***'s about to get real." Prison Pit blends Ryan's fascination with WWE wrestling, grindhouse cinema, first-person action videogames, Gary Panter's "Jimbo" comics, and Kentaro Miura's Berserk manga into a brutal and often hilarious showcase of violence like no other comic book ever created.

Johnny Ryan's mind-boggling prison planet/wrestling/monster/horror mash-up is back!

Johnny Ryan lives in Los Angeles, CA, with his wife and his daughter, where he creates the ongoing Angry Youth Comix series. His books include The Comic Book Holocaust, Johnny Ryan’s XXX Scumbag Party, The Klassic Komics Klub, What’re You Lookin’ At?!, Portajohnny, two books (so far) in the Prison Pit series, and four books (Blecky Yuckerella, Back in Bleck, Comics Are for Idiots, "Fuc- --u, -ss --le") in the Blecky Yuckerella series.