Broken Frontier

Dimethyltryptamine, commonly known as “DMT,” is a powerful hallucinogen that occurs naturally in human biology. Its effects when ingested are drastic, said to transport the mind of the user into a parallel universe beyond tangible conception. As one unknown source once said about the psychedelic: “Load universe into cannon. Point at brain. Fire.”

That’s sort of how I felt as I read Oren Kramek and Omer Goodovich’s new comic book, Ned the Chainsaw Guy, published by Big Dog Ink. This story is one wild ride, filled with offbeat sights and images that pack every single page. It’s such a lively book that I could almost hear all of the commotion as it unfolded.

Ned the Chainsaw Guy tells the story of Ned who, well, I don’t really know how to explain him. Nor do I have any idea how to explain his purpose in the book. He’s something of a hybrid between Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Jason from Friday the 13th, and Guts from Kentaro Miura’s epic manga series Berserk. Bounding around the cityscape of Dis, Ned wields a two-handed sword that doubles as a very large chainsaw. His face is concealed with an eerie mask framed by his long, blood-red locks.

His companion is a humanoid bull whose name I repeatedly missed in all of the wall-to-wall action. Ned doesn’t like to waste his days: he is constantly slaying soul-sucking demons in the shape of little girls. Sugar and spice and everything nice—I think not. But eventually, like everyone after a hard day’s work, he retreats out of town to his favorite strip club. Exactly why Ned is there, I again don’t know. My head was spinning from the book’s visual contents so much so that I missed the smaller plot points.

Yes, I could go back and reread certain sections for clarification, but I don’t want to. I’m afraid trying to make sense out of this psychedelic trip through madness would muddle the fun. Ned the Chainsaw Guy won’t be for everyone, but I encourage all readers with an adventurous spirit to look into it. Creators Kramek and Goodovich took a chance, and as far as I am concerned, they have succeeded. The story is fun if sometimes incoherent, the art is enticingly chaotic, and the colors are beyond vivid. (Kramek contributed the colors to Penny for Your Soul, another Big Dog Ink book that I raved about.)

Don’t be shy and have some fun: check out Ned the Chainsaw Guy #1.