JON: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL ARTIST: A review of PRODUCT OF SOCIETY [THE FILM]

According to a high school career placement test, comic book writer/illustrator Jon Michael Lennon should have been a farmer. Thankfully, he said, “Fuck that,” and went to work on PRODUCT OF SOCIETY instead. If he hadn’t, who would have filled in the vacuum of such an artist of questionable taste?



Matthew Zingale, working toward a Masters degree, directed and edited PRODUCT OF SOCIETY [THE FILM], a look at Lennon’s life, art, and opinions, and he couldn’t have picked a better subject. In fact, he revels in Lennon, trying to reinforce the offensive ideas of the PRODUCT OF SOCIETY comics by trying to make the viewer as uncomfortable as possible. For example, Zingale leaves things in that other documentarians would edited out, like whenever Lennon coughs or pauses or loses his train of thought. There is even a scene when someone knocks on Lennon’s door, and they stop filming for him to see who it is. There are awkward silences and unsettling close-ups. This isn’t cleaned up and prettified for easy consumption; this is LIFE.

Lennon’s love of comics started with superhero books. To this day, he’s still got a thing for Supergirl (as evidenced in a scene where he holds a mini-bust of her, rubbing a finger all over her surface . . . ALL OVER). However, everything changed when he encountered books like PREACHER and JOHNNY THE HOMICIDAL MANIAC. With these two titles, he learned that comics don’t just have to be about superheroes; they can be about anything.


Armed with this knowledge, he starts making his own comic books. He says at one point that he got into this field to “draw and get laid.” Some people might find issue with his subject matter, but to his credit, he tried to do something a bit cleaner by illustrating a children’s book. He quit, though. “I have no wholesomeness in me because my soul is black.”


He is full of self deprecating moments like this. As he works on something with the TV playing in the background, he makes it a point to talk about how alone he is. He lives on his own with only a cat for a companion. Then, later he confesses to smoking too much. “No one said suicide had to be quick and easy,” he says.


He is clearly an angry man. Even though he tries to keep politics out of his work, he readily admits to being an anarchist. He makes sure everyone knows that he doesn’t play the Democrat vs. Republican game because “everybody sucks.” He says that our society is so bad off that it needs to be torn down and built anew, and considering how many people he’s killed in PRODUCT OF SOCIETY, this attitude definitely comes out in his work.


“I close my eyes and that’s the madness that comes out.” Too true.


Is Lennon flawed? Yes, but then again, so is every man. Lennon is more than just a man; despite his locksmithing day job, he is above all else an independent artist, and this is especially highlighted during the second half of this film, which takes place at Wizard World Chicago.


Lennon sits at his table, trying his best to sell his product to adults (and to avoid children whenever possible). But what happens? Not many people buy, which is the sad song of the independent artist. Granted, when all is said and done, he sells more books than he thought he would, but it’s still not enough to compete with even a small comic book company. He doesn’t break even on his work, much less make a profit. He pays Kinkos a shitload of money to print them up, not to mention whatever he spent to get into WWC, and he doesn’t even come close to making his money back.


Yet on the first day, he gives out copies of his book to his companions in Artist Alley. He gives a free book to prospective customers in the hopes that they’ll come back later and buy something. He says at the end of the film that he will keep doing this, so long as he has the money to continue printing the books.

From a business perspective, the man is insane. But he’s an artist. He arts again and again and again. He will continue to art as long as he’s alive, because this is something he loves. This is where his heart is, and that, too, shows in his work.


So the next time you’re in Artist Alley and you see Jon Lennon, stop by and say hi. That money you were going to use to pay some dipshit who has never worked for DC to draw Catwoman sucking Batman’s dick? Spend it on PRODUCT OF SOCIETY instead. You’ll save money, and you’ll save yourself from a stagnant intellectual life. More importantly, you’ll save Lennon by putting food on his table and allowing him to art again.

PRODUCT OF SOCIETY [THE FILM]
Directed by Matt Zingale
Produced by 13:26
80 minutes

[DISCLAIMER: In the interests of full disclosure, I should mention that Jon and I have been friends for several years, and in the near future, the new issue of PRODUCT OF SOCIETY will contain a story based on an event from my own life (adapted and illustrated by Leo Perez). One of my TABARD INN bumper stickers (CHOOSE DEATH) even shows up in this film. And though it was not used in the movie, Matt shot footage of me interviewing Jon at WWC. I can, in all honesty and objectivity, say that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. If it sucked, I’d have said so, and I’d have stated my reasons as to why. Then again, I don’t see how I could have NOT liked it. Jon and I have the same weird questionable taste, which is what brought us together in the first place. This movie works because it’s the unadulterated truth. Nothing is glossed over. Jon isn’t afraid to show us how he lives, and Matt isn’t afraid to film it. Do you want to know how it is to be an independent artist? Check out PRODUCT OF SOCIETY [THE FILM], and you won’t be disappointed. You’ll also find out why I used the word “art” so strangely at the end of this review.]