BAGGE: First we'll get the Census-type stuff out of the way... Where/when born?

RYAN: Boston, Massachusetts, November 30th, 1970.

BAGGE: Was your upbringing all sorts of fucked up?

RYAN: Yes. My parents were okay but they were really lazy. They only started potty-training me last month. It looks so easy on TV.

BAGGE: Are you still close with your family now, or do you hate them?

RYAN: Assholes.

BAGGE: What did you want to be when you grew up before settling on being a lowly cartoonist?

RYAN: First I wanted to be a cartoonist, then I wanted to be a physicist, then I wanted to be gay, and then a cartoonist again.

BAGGE: What comics did you read in your childhood?

RYAN: Lots of Marvel trash. I used to collect the worst comics, like Team America (that was a comic about motorcross) and U.S. 1 (that was a comic about trucking. I used to love trucking.).

BAGGE: What comics influenced you later in life?

RYAN: Ziggy... Yeah, that's it. Oh, and Anton Drek, too! But mostly Ziggy.

BAGGE: Why did you read such lousy comics back in the '80s instead of reading mine?

RYAN: Some guy I knew said your comic sucked and I took his word for it.

BAGGE: How did you come up with that crappy title Angry Youth Comics?

RYAN: I initially called it Goons on the Moon and then you sued the shit out of me, remember?

BAGGE: So how did the self-published AYC come about in the first place?

RYAN: I started doing AYC on 3 sheets of notebook paper and would copy it and mail it to a couple friends just for laffs. I was doing these about once a week for several months. These friends encouraged me to print it up "legitimately" in a comic book format with staples and stuff, so that's what I did.

I did the first 8 issues with this guy Matt Sanborn. He did reviews and interviews with porn stars, wrote fake hate-mail, and even did an interview with Edward Gorey. After 8 issues I think Sanborn was burned out-- he just wasn't producing anything. For issue #9 I waited over a year for him to put something together but he never did, so I ditched him. My first 3 issues were absolutely horrible. I think with #4 I started getting better, but I didn't hit my stride until #7.

BAGGE: What hopes or ambitions do you have when it comes to your comics?

RYAN: I want to make a comic that's really funny and stupid, with no redeeming value. I think there's a definite need for this type of entertainment in today's "artsy fartsy" comic book climate. I'm trying to make the kind of comic I'd like to read. My priority is to write a clear, interesting, easy-to-follow story...then I jam-pack it with all sorts of gags and funny stuff. Art is important to me too, but the story and gags are top priority. I try to keep the audience's attention for however many pages. I think I write stories from the perspective of someone with a short attention span. So I guess my ambition is to make a comic that lots of sleazy, barely literate people read.

BAGGE: Do you think you'll always do the type of "funny stuff" that you're doing now, or are you just gonna play it by ear?

RYAN: Well, right now I'm trying to write something really opaque and boring so's I can get one of them "Bea Arthur" grants like Ben Katchor.

BAGGE: Do you feel like you're part of a "cartoonists' community" now, or do you feel more like a "lone wolf"?

RYAN: Well, being a cartoonist is a lonely profession by nature -- you're working alone at your desk every day, so you're not interacting with others too much. As far as an all-embracing cartooning community, I don't believe there is one-- there are just a lot of little cliques. For the first 6 years I was drawing AYC, I had no idea what Rapidographs were, or Zipatone, or anything about the technical side of doing a comic. Only in the last 2 years, after finally meeting other artists, have I started to learn about that stuff. So I guess what I'm saying is that I prefer the way things are now to my "lone wolf" days.

BAGGE: What were your impressions of your first visit to the San Diego Comicon?

RYAN: I liked it. It's fun to get together with folks who do the same thing you do and meet artists whose work I've admired. And plus I finally got a chance to put on my Elfquest chainmail and let it all hang out.

BAGGE: Were you surprised by the positive reaction you got from so many "established" cartoonists down there?

RYAN: Yeah. I'm always pleasantly surprised when artists I admire approach me and say how much they enjoy my work. Especially artists who I wouldn't think would be into my stuff, like Adrian Tomine and Steven Weissman.

BAGGE: Does it concern you or give you pause when lilly-livered sissies and fey nancy-boys say your comics are too crude and offensive for their oh-so-refined tastes and contrived sensibilities?

RYAN: Their criticisms don't really matter, although sometimes I do find them infuriating. These "artsy" guys are responsible for making the scene as boring as it is. Comics used to be fun and crazy and weird and gross. Now, they're a serious art form and must be respected as such. It's as if everyone was having a big crazy orgy and then your grandparents walk in. They really sucked the life out of the party. It was because comics were viewed as trash that cartoonists had the freedom to do whatever they wanted. Comics were one of the few mediums where you could be as big an asshole as you wanted to be.

BAGGE: What brought you out to Seattle? And is she a good cook?

RYAN: My girlfriend. Yes.

BAGGE: Where you a virgin when you met the love of your life? Say yes.

RYAN: I was a gangbang virgin.

BAGGE: What made you decide to allow those self-righteous, know-it-all bastards at Fantagraphics publish your comic book? What happened to that DIY spirit, MA-AN?

RYAN: They were the first to offer to do it. Eric Reynolds just kept pushing my stuff down Kim and Gary's throats until they gave in and agreed to publish me. So I wanna give a shout out to my main man Eric! And what is this "DIY spirit" you speak of? Is that some kind of hippy thing?

BAGGE: Don't you think Dan Clowes sucks now that he's making some big-deal piece-of-shit Hollywood movie? So do I.

RYAN: Yeah! What's up with that shit?! But what's even lamer is cartoonists who only do their comics on the Internet! Whatta joke! This whole Internet thing is just another stupid fad, like the Rubik's cube. Mark my words, it'll be over in a year.

BAGGE: When are you gonna make some big-deal piece-of-shit Hollywood movie?