Twice-Told Tales of Unsupervised Existence

    (Rip Off, 1989)
™ and ©1989 Terry LaBan

Comic auteur Terry LaBan, today acclaimed for his work on Vertigo titles and twisted classics such as Cud, is an excellent example of someone becoming an overnight success after many years of struggle. Those interested in the underground comix roots of LaBan’s fertile imagination can turn to Unsupervised Existence, a biting portrait of a group of neurotic underachievers making their way through the depressing landscape of late 1980s Berkeley, California. Danny, an intellectual cab driver, makes the best of a loving but disfunctional relationship with Suzy, a frustrated perpetual student. Their tribulations ring true to anyone familiar with the time and place, and LaBan’s talent for grotesque characterization (both in art and writing) renders the entire picture in stark contours of unvarnished ugliness. Traces of LaBan’s influences—Robert Crumb, Harvey Kurtzman, Harvey Pekar, and possibly the Hernandez Brothers—are still evident in this early work, though LaBan has since developed his own highly personal style.
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