John Callahan, known for his dark, crude and morbidly funny cartoons has died.

Considering the shitty hand that life dealt him and the shit he brought upon himself, it’s a miracle that Callahan found anything funny. He never knew his birth parents and as a child was sexually molested by a female teacher. He turned to alcohol at the age of 14 to deal with the pain of having been abused. A full-blown alcoholic by the age of 21, he was involved in a car accident when the driver, a friend, ran the vehicle into a lightpole at 90mph. The crash severed Callahan’s spine, leaving him a quadriplegic.

What was a potentially hopeless situation became a profound turning point in Callahan’s life. He gave up booze and became an artist.  After a long period of physical therapy he was able to hold a pen in his hand. He started creating the cartoons that brought him notoriety and fans like Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, Bill Plympton and Gary Larson. His autobiography ‘Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot’ became a bestseller.

Callahan was 59 when he died on July 24th. The causes were complications of quadriplegia and respiratory problems. His politically incorrect slaps at the status quo and unflinching honesty will be missed.  John was the kind of turd in the punchbowl that keeps us from drinking the Koolaid.

‘I Think I was An Alcoholic’ was animated by Callahan and ‘Touch Me Some Place I Can Feel’ is a clip from a documentary of the same name about Callahan.