ED THE HAPPY CLOWN ...Vampires, religious anxiety and inter-dimensional poop

The indie cartoonist Chester Brown started making a name for himself in the 80s, with the publication of his self-published Yummy Fur. From those pages originated the short, four panel cartoons that eventually became Ed the Happy Clown, a crude made-up-on-the-fly adventure about... well, a naked vampire lady, religious guilt, Ronald Reagan's head on the tip of a penis, and an inter-dimensional portal in someone's butthole.

We'll talk about these madcap elements, but we'll also confront some of the more troubling aspects of Brown's graphic novel, like his racist depiction of pygmies.