Extremely violent, shocking
Italian comic.
Ranx is quite popular in
France and
Belgium, two countries with a long adult-comic tradition.
Ranxerox is an android-gone-wild, with only one weak spot: Lubna, a young drug addict. When he gets excited something "snaps" and this usually results in a lot of dead people. You really don't want to piss off this guy. In Ranx's cynical world, drug addicts, pimps and freaks rule an apathic world.
The drawings are impressive: Liberatore's raw, fleshy style really rocks and catches your eye in an instant. He's a gifted artist. Tamburini's stories are filled with brutal (often mindless) violence and sexual perversions. Only for an adult audience I'm afraid.
I lent the comic to most of my friends. Only a few appreciated it. People often stopped reading after a few pages and told me it was sick and I had a poor taste.
I think the exaggerated violence is always combined with black humor and a lot of irony. In fact the comic almost had the same effect on me as Pulp Fiction. People with an open mind will agree.
Two stories are translated in English:
- Ranxerox in New York (1984) (introduction by Richard Corben)
- Ranxerox 2: Happy Birthday, Lubna (1985)
English publisher: Catalan Communications