20 cool psychedelic comics to read after seeing Thor: Ragnarok

BodyWorld (Cover image via Pantheon Graphic Novels)

13. BodyWorld

Now published in one volume by Pantheon, Dash Shaw’s BodyWorld got its start as a free online comic. Originally serialized online from 2007 to 2009, it wowed readers with a tale concerning a strange city, a psychedelic plant, and the possibility of telepathy.

Every bit of BodyWorld is worth examining. That goes for even the copyright page, which proclaims that the volume is for “ideal readers only!!!” and requests that you read the whole thing in bed while naked. Physical copies are also bound at the top of the page, making for a new reading experience.

The plot, as such, focuses in on gross, beleaguered Professor Paulie Panther. Professor Panther is a real creep. He’s mostly interested in eating up and smoking certain substances while trying to convince himself that he’s an intellectual behemoth. He arrives in Boney Borough, a post-future war planned community, to learn about a psychoactive plant growing near the town’s high school.

Turns out, if you smoke that plant, you can think the thoughts and feel the feelings of anyone near you. Smoke it with someone, and you can effectively communicate your feelings back and forth.

Things get dark

Too bad humans are as human as they are; meaning, Panther and his associates lead the story into dark territory fairly quickly. The identities of an aging quasi-intellectual, a sports star, a young girl, and a high school science teacher all start to meld together. The art begins to reflect this melting of borders, with its splotches of color, mixed facial features, and superimposed outlines, one on top of the other.

A comic is a pretty adventurous way to bring across this set of ideas. It’s maybe more easily experienced than explained. After all, how can you elucidate pure feeling on a page? Still, the gusto of Shaw’s art, writing, and execution of concept get as close as anything else.