Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles
This latest entry in the "Attitude" series focusing on unsung and under-seen cartoonists is by far the best one yet. I've never seen Swaab's work before, but after reading this sick, twisted, lurid, disgusting masterpiece, I'll be seeking it out actively from now on.
Swaab's work mainly in the NEW YORK PRESS and some alternative weeklies, and whoever those weeklies are, they have my respect and appreciation for their courage. Mr. Wiggles himself is a drunken, drug-addled, multi-perversity laden pederast... and a talking teddy bear, I might add. He rooms with a sad sack named Neil who is alternately reviled by Mr. Wiggles or sexually assaulted by him in his sleep.
I swear to God... this stuff really is hilarious!
What Swaab does is use the fact that Wiggles is a teddy bear to subvert and take the edge off of the horrors that real life throws at us every day. The things the bear says would be stunning in their level of filth if they came out of a human, but you can't take anything too seriously from a teddy bear. He real lesson here is that horror can come from the least expected places, and if you don't laugh sometimes, it may just drag you down into the dark.