Cruisin´ with the Hound: The Life and Times of Fred Toote

"They were all there, the pimps, the fags, the whores, the curious, the alcoholic, theweird of the late ´50s... blues lovers, Canadian bikers, thrill seekers, junkies, insomniacs,hepcats..." So begins "Down at the Kitty Kat," one of the 20-plus never-before-collected memoirs and yarns by Spain Rodriguez, one of the originalgang of Zap Comix provocateurs. Although he´s best known for his two-fisted tales of the chopper-riding Trashman,Spain´s blunt graphic style and uncompromising gift for caricature, renderedin eye-punishing slabs of black and white, work equally well for moresubtle fare - such as these memoirs of his misspent youth. Cruisin´ with the Hound ranges from Spain´s days as an innocent youngchurchgoer to his time as a member of the Road Vultures motorcycle gang, withstops along the way for his discoveriesof science fiction and other, more adult pursuits ("The Birthof Porn") - as well as the "The Education of an Underground Cartoonist,"describing his journey from a pimply Captain Marvel-readingscribbler to his arrival as a professional artist. But the heart of this collection is a cycle of stories (originally publishedin the acclaimed Blab! magazine) set during Spain´s teenagedays in the 1950s, often featuring the doomed, dot-eyed Fred Toot‚, awild, flaky character in whose company some of his wildest escapadesoccurred. Raunchy, hilarious, and often violent as hell, Cruisin´ with the Houndis an unsentimentally nostalgic trip to half a century ago - the anti-Happy Days, set to a true rock ´n´ roll beat.