Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary

"Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary" is a 1972 comic book by Justin Green. It was the first long autobiographical work to appear in underground comics, and was extremely personal, detailing Green's childhood struggle with a disorder which in Catholicism is referred to as scrupulosity and was later diagnosed as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This comic book influenced many other cartoonists of Green's generation to explore their own personal histories; Art Spiegelman said it made his novel "Maus" possible.

Binky Brown (the alter ego Green used in all of his autobiographical stories) exhibits compulsive behavior from an early age, but shortly before puberty he begins to develop an elaborate system of obsessions based on the fear that he will contaminate religious sites with his sexual thoughts. Eventually he begins to believe that "rays" from his penis (later emanating also from his hands and feet, and even from furniture) must be kept from striking churches or images of Mary. This disturbing psychological case study is portrayed with frequent touches of humor, as Binky also faces more usual challenges of adolescence. The story follows Brown/Green through his early twenties, when he finally achieves some control over his intrusive thoughts.

At the time he drew the book, Green did not know about OCD and described his condition as neurosis, which he blamed largely on his Catholic upbringing. After being diagnosed with OCD, Green softened his position on Catholicism—though he did not return to the Church—and, in his foreword to the reprinted edition, described the story as "a sin of youth ... [but] done out of internal necessity."

The original comic book is out of print, but is included in the 1995 collection "Justin Green's Binky Brown Sampler" from Last Gasp (ISBN 0-86719-332-8), which also includes Green's text essay on his OCD experience, "The Binky Brown Matter".

Quote

"You may deem my material as being too indulgent, morbid, and obscene. I dare say many of you aspiring revolutionaries will conclude that instead of focussing on topics which would lend themselves to social issues, I have zeroed in on the petty conflict in my crotch! My justification for undertaking this task is that many others are slaves to their neuroses. Maybe if they read about one neurotic's dilemma in easy-to-understand comic-book format these tormented folks will no longer see themselves as mere food-tubes living in isolation."