Ray and Joe: The Story of a Man and His Dead Friend and Other Classic Comics

Charles Rodrigues’s singular, macabre humor is collected in this Fantagraphics volume, gathering his classic one-page gag cartoons and comic strips. Running for a single issue in 2013, the book showcases Rodrigues’s distinctive, deadpan art and his fondness for morbid jokes, often revolving around death, religion, and the absurdities of everyday life. It serves as a key entry point for readers unfamiliar with his decades of work for publications like National Lampoon and The New Yorker, preserving the legacy of a uniquely bleak comedic voice.