I Was A Teenage Religous Fanatic: Special U.S.A. Edition
Q-Ray
Reviewed by Darren Hick

Q-Ray's Australian autobiography (I'm assuming it's autobiographical, anyway -- this guy just knows way too much about the subject for it to be pure fiction) serves as a nice counterpoint to my review of Dr. Doctrine's Christian Comix , featured in Thrown To The Wolves a little while back. Where DDCC is confused and philosophical, I Was a Teenage Religious Fanatic, though the product of a still-developing cartoonist, is poignant and engaging.

IWATRF presents the story of the narrator's recruitment and indoctrination into, and eventual disillusionment with and ejection from the Christian youth movement, bracketed and set up by the framing story of the self-same narrator's budding romance. The background story is not all that it could be -- weaked by its choppy goal-oriented nature, and made to seem all the much more one-dimensional through its juxtaposition with a truly dynamic, personal narrative.

Q-Ray's work manages to delve into the cult-like, obsessive, and all-too-frequently hypocritical nature of organized religion. There is no question that Q-Ray harbors synicism towards his chosen subject, but manages nonetheless to present (again, I'm assuming) his experience with the bizarre, radical Christian youth movement from a strong, reflective, and often humble position. His work succeeds, in a mere 36 pages, to uncover (in an almost neo-journalistic sense) a vast display of the sideshow idiosyncracies of what is probably the largest cult on the planet: ex-hippy "Jesus Freaks," youth groups, Christian heavy metal, Catholic school, and more than I can name here. Where so many other missives on Christianity are as irritating and off-setting as the tracts they combat, IWATRF plunges the depths of its subject matter with sensitivity and frightening verisimilitude, only rarely wavering into unfortunate bouts of anti-Christian rhetoric.

This terrific little story is fettered only by Q-Ray's still-developing art style. Though his drawing is, at times, absolutely perfectly suited to his story, he too often resorts to an overly simplistic, shorthanded cartoon style that only manages to detract from the strength of his narrative. There is no question that he is a skilled artist, but he's still learning.

I anticipate more of Q-Ray's work, and hope to see his artistry develop to the same strength as his narrative style. I wonder, though, if he has any more stories that can compare to this one.

I Was A Teenage Religious Fanatic is a combination of issues #2 and #3 of Wang, Q-Ray's 6 issue comic book series. Though he has not provided me with details regarding prices and ordering, you can contact him at P.O. Box 612, Sth Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3205, or via e-mail at qray68@hotmail.com.