By JOE COLEMAN (Fantagraphics; 1982/2004)

The fact that this is the only solo comic book by the fringe culture legend Joe Coleman renders THE MYSTERY OF WOOLVERINE WOOL-BAIT a must read.  Often proclaimed one of the key underground comics of all time, it was initially self-published in 1982, and reprinted in 2004 by Fantagraphics Books, which incorporated Coleman’s six page short “Highay” (from BIZARRE SEX #6).

The only partially linear “story” is related in a highly fractured and symbolic manner, and powered by Coleman’s obsessive artwork, in which each page is packed with exuberantly freakish imagery that extends to the margins.  The dialogue balloons are equally oft-kilter, with deliberately misspelled words and lines presented on multiple planes (not all of them horizontal), all bunched into semi-coherent configurations like “Subconscious stegosaurus hauts (sic) the boulevard, cellophane kisses mouldy egg salad asshole” and “My soul’s intestine is gluttonously digesting a full course meal of cosmic revelations.”

The editorial introduction goes out of its way to praise the comic’s “mindbending menagerie of grotesqueries both real and imagined,” and how Coleman “uses the form of comics in ways that remain as conceptually innovative today as they were 22 years ago,” but makes no attempt whatsoever to summarize what passes for a narrative.  The closest we get to that is the final page, on which the “Clues to The Mystery” are explained (or at least pointed out).

It all begins with the decapitation of one Senator Albert Muro, whose head is subsequently kept alive in a jar.  In this state Muro decrees that he’d like to be transplanted onto the body of a well-developed gay performer, but an obsessed sideshow barker has other ideas.  He wants the senator’s head to join his lineup of human oddities, which is not an inappropriate desire, as most of those oddities were created by Frank, who runs a government-funded genetic experimentation lab—and who’s directly responsible for Muro’s current state.  Watching over it all are MARS ATTACKS! inspired Martians orbiting our planet who eventually make a most impacting appearance on its surface.

Also appearing are photographic depictions of the late B-movie legend Rondo Hatton, of interest to Coleman primarily because (as the “Clues to The Mystery” page makes clear) Hatton was afflicted with the chemical warfare-induced disease acromegaly, which resulted in a rather unconventional appearance.  Further real-life cameos are made by various serial killers (identified as “Men who let themselves be conducted by the rhythms of their instincts and sexual appetites”) and an anarchic swirl of assorted perversion and mutilation whose likes you won’t find in too many mainstream comic books.

“Highay” picks up three months after the events of THE MYSTERY OF WOOLVERINE WOO-BAIT.  Senator Muro’s head is back, having become a permanent sideshow fixture, as are Frank the mad scientist, the demented sideshow barker and the Martians, in a short narrative that’s even more outrageous than the preceding account, with cannibalism and exploding bodies added to the mix.  Family friendly this book obviously isn’t.