[AYAOTD? Recap with Erin Callahan and...Ryan Larson?!] S04E09 "The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner"

RECAP

Frank tries to use one of Tucker’s comic books for kindling, which provides a convenient segue for Betty Ann’s tale about what it would mean if comic books weren’t fiction but guidebooks to another dimension.

Teen comic book artist Ethan is sifting through his latest pile of rejections when he stumbles upon an invitation to the grand opening of a new comic book shop. He meets shopkeeper Frankie and is surprised to learn she’s already heard of him. Frankie compares Ethan’s style to the great Sylvester Uncas and shows Ethan Issue #1 Volume #1 of The Ghastly Grinner, a comic book that frightened Sylvester Uncas so much he didn’t have the guts to keep working on the series. As a grand opening special, Frankie lets Ethan have the only remaining copy of The Ghastly Grinner. The next day, Ethan is supposed to be learning about microwaves in science class, but he’s too engrossed in the comic book to pay attention. In the story, the Ghastly Grinner turns everyone he encounters into a laughing, drooling fool. Ethan’s teacher snatches the comic book away and tosses it into a fishtank. Back at home, Ethan tries to dry out the soaked comic book in the microwave. He walks away to take a phone call from nerdy-girl Hooper, and an overloaded outlet causes an explosion. The microwave explosion brings the Ghastly Grinner into our world and turns Ethan’s parents into laughing fools. Back at the comic book shop, Frankie reveals that Sylvester Uncas was her father and that he was working on another issue when the Grinner captured him. She gives Ethan the unfinished issue and he and Hooper craft a plan to stop the Grinner, using microwaves and Ethan’s art. The Grinner almost wins, but Hooper saves the day with a big-ass eraser.

Betty Ann reveals that Ethan becomes a famous comic book artist and Gary declares the meeting closed.

REVIEW

T: The season four slump is broken! After three less than stellar episodes in a row, we’ve finally hit one of the series’ most popular stories.

E: Yes! And it’s a Ron Oliver classic! Once again, we’re basking in campy John Waters-meets-Tim Burton vibes and the glow of an absurd but terrifying villain.

T: Sorry Tucker, but you’re reading a comic book, that’s not a graphic novel.

E: There’s a difference, kids! And don’t let those highbrow dickwads tell you there’s something wrong with comic books.

T: Holy crap, Kiki starts the fire on screen! That’s like a big no-no for kids’ TV.

E: That honestly didn’t occur to me, but fair point. That said, it’s extremely hard to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together, so the chances of kids successfully imitating this are low.

T: Ethan’s like fourteen and trying to get work as a professional artist? Good for him!

E: Right? I love how incensed he is that he keeps being rejected. You’ve got time, kid, but yeah, it sux.

T: Comic Books Ink is a great name. This was back when I was collecting X-Men comics, so I recognize a lot of those covers.

E: I know next to nothing about comic books except what I’ve absorbed via osmosis from Troy, but I’d imagine the references here are legit. In addition to the store, Ethan’s room is a pretty rad poster-fest with lots of bold comic book colors.

T: Frankie calls Ethan “Cakes” and I love it. Do you think she calls everyone that? What a weird nickname.

E: So weird! And yet it weirdly works? I feel like it’s probably short for “babycakes” but that’s never made clear. It jives so well with her comics nerd meets Madonna meets gum-smacking-greaser energy.

T: Why is the Grinner’s saliva blue?!

E: No idea but it’s disgusting. As Troy already knows, I have a serious aversion to saliva. The sight of it makes me gag and it seems unnecessary here. People don’t have to be drooling to come off as realistic laugh zombies.

T: I wonder how much writer/director Ron Oliver drew on real life. He was a teen magician in Canada who moved to LA to make it in movies. You have to figure there was some rejection there. He even has Frankie give Ethan a great “screw what others say, you’re art matters” speech.

E: “Teen magician in Canada.” — I don’t know why but I just love this so very much. Why isn’t there a comic book series about a Canadian teen magician? Or is there?? In any case, as melodramatic as the opening scene is where Ethan tears up his rejections during a thunderstorm, it’s so deeply relatable to any creative person trying to achieve commercial success.

T: It’s funny, but I swear there’s thunderstorms every time I get a rejection… All the people making fun of comic books are asses. Love the parents saying he’s addicted to comics while they’re stuffing their faces in front of the TV.

E: I’m trying to recall when cultural attitudes toward comic books started to change, and people began to realize that comics are art that deserves just as much respect as any other commercial medium. Troy would probably know better than me. Was The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay kind of a turning point? Or was it before that?

T: This is a gross simplification of your question, but Watchmen in the late ‘80s and Maus (1991) both won well-deserved widespread acclaim. Throughout the ‘90s, you have The Crow and Blade adaptations combining film and comics in a way that spread influence to new fans. Once Hollywood latched on with X-Men, there was a real push for gritty and adult comics.

E: Believe it or not, I totally forgot The Crow was a thing and remembering it just opened up a rather terrifying wormhole into my teenhood. I’ll just be over here, crying mascara-tainted tears for Brandon Lee.

T: I love that the whole episode feels like a comic book with the music and wipes. Even microwaving the comic book is such a comic book idea. Speaking of comic movies, you get a similar vibe in Ang Lee’s much maligned Hulk.

E: I feel like this is the episode Ron Oliver was born to write and direct. His visual style lends itself so perfectly to bringing a comic book to life.

T: “I think a person should know what they are and work with it.” – Hooper Picallaro for the win. She is such a fantastic character.

E: I normally bristle at stereotypical “nerd” characters, but Hooper won me over. She embraces her nerdery in a way that’s so much less toxic than Revenge of the Nerds or any of the “nerd makeover” movies that were popular in the ’80s and then again in the ’90s. I also love that her lack of a sense of humor makes her impervious to the Grinner’s power.

T: It’s her superpower! And I would have hated if she got a cool makeover. She’s already cool. They do have her dressing like a beatnik at Ethan’s signing, but it works.

E: I don’t think beatniks and nerds are mutually exclusive.

T: Okay, I have one complaint. Ethan doesn’t recognize Hooper’s voice or name on the phone, so she describes herself. Then she hears an explosion, so she walks to his house in about ninety seconds, establishing that they’re neighbors, right? THEN her parents show up and we learn Ethan and Hooper’s parents are good friends. So Ethan doesn’t know his parents’ friends’ daughter who lives next door?

E: This is the sort of ridiculousness that’s annoying but sort of works within the context of this wacky episode? Also, does he really not recognize her voice on the phone, or is introducing herself just kind of her thing? I mean, if my name were Hooper Picallaro, I’d say it as many times as humanly possible.

T: But she tells him they know each other from science class. Not, you know, neighbors who have known each other for years. It’s like if I called you up and said, “Hey, Erin, this is Troy Gardner, you know, the guy in Florida who you write AYAOTD? articles with?”

E: “Troy, is it? AYAOTD? Oh, that’s right! How are you?”

T: On the bus, Ethan pulls Hooper by the back of her head. I assume he was just supposed to pull her into the bus, but since he was already at the top of the stairs, blocking made him grab her like that, which just makes me laugh. Do you think the bus driver spinning his head back was an intentional reference to Flynn from “Phantom Cab?”

E: Head spinning is kind of a horror staple, but they’re both drivers so I’ll buy it!

T: So Sylvester Uncas thought up something from the void and it turned out to be real and came for him? Hasn’t every writer feared that happening?

E: Of course! Stephen King wrote a whole book about it! That said, here’s where we get to my one complaint about this episode. The world-building here is pretty messy. Betty Ann wonders aloud if comic books are actually guidebooks to another dimension. But in the episode it’s clear that the comic book itself has the power to change the Grinner’s dimension. So, which came first? Did Uncas create the other dimension, or just draw from it? If it already existed, why do comic books in our world have the power to change it? There’s a mind-melting chicken or the egg issue here that irks me but doesn’t ruin the episode.

T: Also there’s the whole fact that comic books aren’t made like that. The Ghastly Grinner wasn’t a series (would have made more sense if it was like issue 100 was planned to be the last) and it’s put together incomplete?

E: Comic book nerdery for the win.

T: I love that Hooper’s like, “Hey, Ethan, just do a whole lot of art really super quick to save the day.” All that illustrating takes time!

E: I suspect that, like me, Hooper can draw stick figures. She has no frame of reference for this.

T: The climax is so bizarre but they pull it off. Hearing an epic superhero battle instead of seeing it sure does cut down on the production budget.

E: It sort of imitates the experience of reading a comic book, right? Except Hooper actually gets to impact the world of the comic with her hilariously oversized eraser. Which catches fire. Love it.

QUEER OR NOT?

T: Frankie Uncas is a lesbian, right?

E: I definitely picked up some queer vibes, sort of in the same way that Rizzo from Grease frequently gets read as queer?

T: It wasn’t around at the time, but the “Ghastly Grindr” joke would play as a gay joke today.

E: LOLOLOLOLOL.

TRIVIA, USELESS TRIVIA

T: Comic Books Ink features cardboard cutouts of the Crimson Clown, the Watcher, the knight from “Bookish Babysitter” and “Dark Dragon” Keith.

E: Yes! Love these references!

T: Betty Ann’s meta-loving streak from “Bookish Babysitter” continues - on the back of the Ghastly Grinner comic, there’s an ad for Are You Afraid of the Dark? (and Ren and Stimpy!).

E: Speaking of “Bookish Babysitter,” Frankie definitely reminded me of Belinda, the mysterious witch turned babysitter from that episode. For a second I thought they might’ve been played by the same actress.

T: And so obvious that we haven’t mentioned it yet, but the Ghastly Grinner himself is heavily inspired by the Joker.

MODERNIZE ’90s CANADIAN KIDS

T: Is Hooper on the spectrum? I think she works as great representation if so.

E: Interesting! You could definitely push her character in that direction and make it explicit. Everything else here is sort of timeless, right?

WHOA! A WILD GUEST APPEARS!

Ryan Larson: Ryan Larson here, Troy was kind enough to invite me over. Why, you may ask? Well in case you all don’t know, I’m the founder and editor over at Ghastly Grinning, a horror media hub with one goal: make horror happy. I grew up watching Are You Afraid of the Dark? and this episode obviously stuck with me. “The Ghastly Grinner” is a really important episode for me because it helped galvanize two passions that had already started to form for me that would go on to impact my life in major ways, all the way to the present day. See, the first comic book I ever read was Uncanny X-Men #159, where Marvel’s Merry Mutants face off against Dracula, and in one fell swoop I became a fan of horror and superheroes both. This episode of AYAOTD?, that was watched at a formative age, helped solidify that. More horror! More comics!

It also would have stranger, deeper running ramifications that I never even realized but because of the Grinner (and Wolverine) my favorite costume color combination, yes that is a thing, is blue and yellow or blue and gold. To no one's surprise, my favorite Goosebumps book is Attack of the Mutant. Horror and superheroes are not easy to mix, it’s been tried numerous times and doesn’t always work out. The Joker is a great spot for that, obviously, and if you are really looking for something contemporary, check out The Immortal Hulk.

It’s because that scarcity of these two genres intermingling that this episode is even more important. The worlds don’t collide that often and part of that is because it’s hard to do. However, they did it brilliantly here, which is why we’re still talking about it twenty years later. I always wish someone had done a Grinner graphic novel, or even an Are You Afraid of the Dark? one. The Grinner would go on to appear in two more episodes as a continuing comic and is even mentioned in the new series that premiered last year but outside of that, he lives on in our memories. Maybe I’ll just have to pitch that Midnight Society comic again…

T: Thanks for joining us this week, Ryan! An AYAOTD? comic would be the best. Just imagine issue 13: “The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner vs. the Crimson Clown!” If you’re not following Ryan on Twitter, he’s @RyanLarson and be sure to check out GhastlyGrinning.com.

E: He’s also the co-founder of the We Are Horror zine. Go subscribe on their Patreon!

JUST GIVE IT A NUMERICAL RATING ALREADY

T: How do you even rate something so coocoo bananas like this? It’s funny, it’s bizarre, the Grinner is creepy. It’s one of the most iconic episodes of the entire series, and yet I have a few quibbles that drop it to a very impressive 9.5 OUT OF 10 CAMPFIRES.

E: World-building issues aside, I get why this is one of the most beloved episodes. 9 OUT OF 10 CAMPFIRES.