Meet Your New Favorite Demented Clown in Jaik Puppyteeth’s Pop

Clowns didn’t have the best pop-culture reputation before Stephen King’s It received a smash-hit cinematic adaptation last year, but the grease-paint-clad children’s entertainer at the center of Canadian cartoonist Jaik Puppyteeth’s debut graphic novel Pop isn’t supernaturally evil—he’s just an asshole who needs money. Inspired, like much of Puppyteeth’s work, by the darker side of 1950s Americana, Pop is a 52-page satirical examination of misanthropy and maladjustment with a guest appearance from Roy Rogers, America’s favorite cowboy do-gooder.

If Puppyteeth’s work looks familiar to you, you’re probably a fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race. His trademark keyhole pupils have graced t-shirts and album covers for reigning All Star Trixie Mattel and merchandise magnate BibleGirl, and his depictions of competing queens like Miz Cracker, Sasha Velour, Aja, Trinity Taylor and Shea Couleé regularly make the rounds among the show’s passionate fanbase. Beyond his ties to the drag community, Puppyteeth’s caustic, darkly comedic images—a woman clutching the Grim Reaper while saying, “I’m so glad I waited for Mister Right!”; a bed-sheet ghost exclaiming, “I felt more invisible when I was alive!”—frequently gain traction online, where gallows humor and self-deprecation inspire countless “it me” reposts.

Puppyteeth (and yes, that is a pen name) officially launches Pop tonight, Friday the 13th, with an accompanying reception at the Littman Gallery at Portland State University, but Paste readers can check out an exclusive five-page excerpt below. Pop is available for order on Puppyteeth’s website.