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Sep 29, 2015 Issue #54 - August/September 2015 - CHVRCHES By Hays Davis

Demons and Angels is the second of a three-volume retrospective exploring the work of underground cartoonist S. Clay Wilson. Spanning the ‘70s and up to the late ‘80s, Volume 2 joins the Checkered Demon and other Wilson creations during a period when the pioneering Zap Comix contributor found an audience with punk fans and other new converts.

Wilson’s fascinatingly detailed and unflinchingly dark art demands attention to even the smallest of his intricate frames. While underpinned with humor, rarely a scene or two passes without a character being maimed, abused, engaged in vivid sexual congress, or at least denuded. Occasional two-page explosions intertwine all of the above; imagine the teeming and playfully rowdy group scenes of Mad Magazine‘s Jack Davis boiled in black and reborn as seamy and violent.

With Wilson’s art, one can’t help but feel the pages to be a personal litmus test: am I amused? Stunned? Titillated? Revolted? Perhaps some readers would hesitate to reveal their reactions, though it’s a solid bet that they’ll turn to see what’s on the next page. (www.fantagraphics.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10