Webcomic / When Heaven Spits You Out

When Heaven Spits You Out is a series of graphic novels by Bourbonnais Comics that follows the story of 11-year-old Ryan Hanson, who lives in the rough inner-city of Baltimore with his mother, Jinny, younger brother, Mark, and his abusive, alcoholic father, Simon. The story, set in 1971, establishes Ryan's life of poverty and sadness in the decaying city, showing the relationship he leads with his parents and brother and how he survives day-to-day while set against the background of America's economic and social decline during the early to mid-1970s.

However, Ryan soon becomes acquainted with Janie Hanzlicek, a young and wealthy Jewish girl he meets at boarding school who was placed into his dormitory through a clerical error, and very soon she begins to help the troubled boy conquer his mental demons while also introducing him to a life of luxury, their friendship being forced to be kept a secret due to Simon's hatred of Jewish people, throwing the future they have together into doubt.

Though the comic was originally launched in 2019, during 2023 the series was restarted with a wholescale visual and story upgrade that has fleshed out many of the characters and situations, as well as altering the previous structure of chapters and the lengths of each volume.

In November 2021, the series was joined by a spin-off series called For Love Nor Money, which follows the story of Eamonn Lees, father of Ryan's childhood friend, Peter, and takes a more mature route, being a crime drama rather than a slice-of-life series with dramatic elements like When Heaven Spits You Out.

This comic has now been deleted.

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A - C

• '70s Hair: As this starts in 1971...
• The '70s: As the series is set in the 1970's, there are plenty of visual and spoken references to contemporary pop-culture, with certain events being used to mark dates as the story progresses without stating the date on-screen.
  • A discarded newspaper mentions the recent death of Jim Morrison, lead singer of the Doors, in Paris (July 3rd, 1971).
  • The launch of Apollo 15 takes place on Ryan's birthday (July 26th, 1971) and is viewed on TV by the kids and parents.
• Abusive Parent: A focal point of the story, Ryan and Mark are subject to verbal and physical abuse by their alcoholic father, Simon, with a few examples below:
  • In Part 1, Simon, having apparently relapsed into alcoholism, violently kicks Ryan against a wall which results in him receiving a broken arm.
• Adults Are Useless: A mixed bag. In some instances, adult characters provide much needed help to the main child characters of the story, including Ryan's mom, Jinny, and his next door neighbour, Shirley. In other instances, the characters directly hinder and threaten our protagonist, primarily Ryan's abusive dad, Simon.
• All Abusers Are Male: Appears to be the case, as Ryan's main tormentor is his dad.
• All Women Are Lustful:
  • Played with regarding Shirley, although she is a prostitute by profession, so how much of her work is out of genuine lust or merely to satisfy customers is debatable.
• The Alleged Car: The Hanson family's dilapidated and ageing 1960 Envoy Special, as pointed out by Shirley during their trip to the park.
• Animal Lover: While Ryan and Mark both love their little dog, Chessie, Mark appears to love him much more, which is reciprocated by Chessie who often gravitates towards him rather than his older brother.
• Apathetic Student: Scott is shown to have little care for the school system, simply being there for the prestige and nothing more.
• Art Evolution: From the original 2019 release, the comic has been completely refurbished and restarted from Part 1, adding more shading, textures, and realistic body proportions.
• Awkward Father-Son Bonding Activity: More forced upon the pair rather than as a form of making up, after breaking Ryan's arm, Simon is told to take his son out to the park for a day out and to walk their dog Chessie, with Shirley, and her son Shaun, in tow so as to make sure he doesn't get up to anything foolish.
• Back to School: Part 3 focusses on Ryan's journey to attend Port Royal High School.
• Baltimore: The setting of the series.
• Barbaric Bully: Scott is demonstrated to be vicious and cruel in his violence towards those around him.
• Barbie Doll Anatomy: Inverted. Janie and all other female characters are depicted anatomically correct from the front and rear, though the amount of nudity shown on-screen varies by the age of the character. For instance, Janie, as a pre-teen, is only seen nude from the waist up or from behind, while Shirley is shown with full frontal nudity due to her being an adult.
• Basketball: Ryan is shown to be an adept basketball player, easily tackling the ball from Peter and scoring hoops by using his significant height to his advantage.
• Being Good Sucks: Appears to be the way for Ryan early in the story, as despite Ryan being a kind and genuine soul, he always seems to be punished, either by the abuse of his father, Simon, or simply by the miserable reality that is his home.
• Berserk Button: Basically the entirety of Simon Hanson's character, who, in his drunken rage, violently takes out his anger on Ryan for no apparent reason.
• Beware the Quiet Ones: When undisturbed, Simon is illustrated to be very quiet and brooding, often stood alone and not interacting with anyone. However, once his drunken rage is unleashed...
• Big Brother Instinct: Ryan to Mark - he takes the fall for his little brother on multiple occasions, and works to protect and cheer him up whenever and wherever he can.
• Big Jerk on Campus: Scott, complete with a big mouth, big muscles and an even bigger ego.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Hanson family.
• Birthday Episode: Part 2 shows Ryan's 11th birthday, with a little party thrown, cake being served, party-games being played, and the Apollo 15 launch being watched live on TV.
• A Birthday, Not a Break: While the family has had a fun day celebrating Ryan's birthday, Simon promptly comes home to put an air of fear and awkwardness over the proceedings, though Jinny is able to dissuade him from causing trouble by saying she'll deal with him later on account of the fact that it is Ryan's special day.
• Blinded by Rage: Simon is shown to have no perception of what he's doing to Ryan when he's drunk, unable to see the pain and torment he's unleashing on his kids.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Among the Hanson Family. Ryan and Mark are both very blonde, Simon is brown-haired, and Jinny is a fiery redhead.
• Break the Cutie: Ryan and Mark on multiple occasions, including in the first chapter when Simon break's Ryan's arm, and he's confined to a cast for the entire summer.
• Boarding School: Port Royal High School, which Ryan attends from Part 3.
• Boarding School of Horrors: As compared to the original release, Port Royal High School was previously much more harmonious than how it is depicted in the 2023 re-release. Now there is a lot more bullying present within the boy's dorm, especially towards Janie.
• The Bully: Multiple examples of this character type throughout the series:
  • The most immediate to Ryan is his own dad who is a constant abuser of both his children and his wife.
  • Scott at Port Royal is demonstrated to be one from the very start, calling Ryan names and giving him a vicious beating when he tries to protect Janie.
• Bully Hunter: Dominic is shown to be this when he springs into action against Scott, regardless of the fact that he gets himself in trouble as well.
• Butt-Monkey: Poor old Ryan, no matter how good his intentions are in life, he always seems to end up getting violently assaulted by those around him.
• Central Theme: A life of quiet restraint trumps big egos and reckless abandon.
• The City vs. the Country: Ryan, Mark and Jinny take their first ever journey out into the country when Ryan has to sit the entrance exam into Port Royal, a trip that all three of them enjoy against the misery and vice of downtown Baltimore.
• Cool Car: Various examples as per Ryan's love of automobiles:
  • The Dino 206 GT that overtakes Ryan's clapped out old Envoy on the highway, with Shirley even commenting that she'd prefer to be in the sports car.
  • The 1971 Cadillac Eldorado that belongs to the Hanzlicek family.
• Cool School: Port Royal High School is shown to be a large and extremely fancy campus with teachers who are supportive and attentive to student needs.
• Covert Pervert: Covert to a point, Mark has an ingrained fascination with the female form, specifically below the waist, and illustrates this vividly when he not-so sneakily lifts up the pantsless Shirley's dress to get a look at her butt.
• Cut Himself Shaving: After receiving a broken arm from Simon, Ryan hides the truth by declaring that he clumsily fell over as to why his arm is in a cast.

D - H

• Darker and Edgier: Against the original 2019 release, the revised comic takes a much darker tone, with Simon's initial bout of abuse being illustrated in greater detail, while their surroundings and situation are demonstrated in a very bleak and very harsh reality.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: As this is The '70s, what is said and done, as well as the values system of the time, is very far removed from what would pass today.
  • Father Moynihan, Ryan's local preacher, illustrates his hatred of the modern, liberal mindset of the world in his hate-filled sermons, the content of which even Jinny finds disturbing.
• Dirty Kid: Several as illustrated early on:
  • Danny Dyer; a classmate of Mark's who's always sharing depraved and disgustingly detailed stories as to his father's sexual escapades with his various girlfriends.
  • Mark Hanson; primarily fuelled by Danny Dyer's obscene anecdotes, this only serves to increase his own engrained curiosity about the female form and the borderline perverted lengths he'll go to sneak a peek.
  • Peter Lees; Ryan's best friend from Baltimore who also shows a dirty side, as illustrated when, as a practical joke, he and his brother, Joey, after seeing Shirley and a trick getting lewd inside a Cadillac, drop their pants and take a leak on the windscreen.
• Downer Beginning: Within the first few pages, Ryan has his arm broken by Simon during a drunken rage.
• Drugs Are Bad: Illustrated less as the characters interacting with drugs, and more so people they encounter on their journeys suffering the consequences of drugs, as shown in the opening scene where Ryan passes a group of passed out hippies surrounded by discarded hypodermic needles.
• Dying Town: As shown in the first few pages, it is apparent that Baltimore is long past its industrial might during the early 1900s, and is now a stagnating, economically bereft city, where the cracks are filled with crime and unemployment.
• Dysfunctional Family: If it weren't for Simon, Mark, Jinny and Ryan would make a somewhat happy family.
• Dysfunction Junction: The entire Hanson family.
• Elaborate University High: Port Royal High School is shown to be a complex series of historic buildings converted for use as a boarding school, with a grand design featuring elaborate interior halls and stairwells.
• Elite School Means Elite Brain: Inverted. Port Royal is stated to be a highly prestigious school with a deep-seated tradition, but that doesn't mean everyone who goes there has the brains or personal standards to meet that reputation.
• Embarrassing Damp Sheets: In Part 2, Ryan wets the bed, which leaves him embarrassed and ashamed.
• Entertainment Above Their Age:
  • Mark has a fascination with the female form, and will try to sneak a peek at girl's privates whenever he gets the chance.
• Establishing Character Moment: Several during the course of the opening parts:
  • Ryan's first scene shows him walking home from elementary school alone, smiling despite passing broken down cars, passed-out junkies, sex shops and porn theatres, showing his solitary nature but also his upbeat ways in the face of such bleakness.
  • Jinny's loving nature towards Ryan is demonstrated immediately as she showers him with affection, and illustrates genuine care for his wellbeing despite their situation.
  • The first time we see Mark, he's listening intently to another one of Danny Dyer's dirty stories about his father and his various girlfriends, showing his fascination in understanding and seeing the naked female form and sexual encounters.
  • Simon's first appearance in the series shows him initially quiet and subdued, apparently having gone cold turkey for around six months, before relapsing that night and collapsing into a violent rage that leads to Ryan getting his arm broken.
  • The first words to come out of Danny Dyer's mouth are his recollection of his dad's sexual adventures the previous weekend, and about obscene anatomical facts about his new girlfriend.
  • The first time we see Shirley, the neighbourhood prostitute, she's head down servicing one of her customers in the front seat of a Ford Thunderbird.
• Establishing Series Moment: Within the first chapter, the dire poverty of Ryan's life, as well as the abusiveness of his father, are established and illustrated.
• Extremely Short Timespan: This varies from part to part, with Part 1, for instance, covering the space of only 24 hours, while Part 2 covers the entire summer of 1971 from July to September.
• Everybody Smokes: Due to the setting of the series in the 1970s, smoking was far more prevalent than it is today, even among the younger characters:
  • Shirley is shown to be a smoker when she takes Ryan to the park.
• Fake Orgasm: Shirley often pretends to enjoy the company and sexual performance of her clients, but in reality she holds them in complete contempt.
• Fanservice: A few instances peppered throughout the series that are either played straight or used as gags depending on the situation:
  • At multiple points, Ryan, Mark, Peter and the others are depicted either naked or in their underwear. However, as they are child characters, this is NEVER depicted in a sexual manner and simply used either for jokes or due to the confined nature of where the characters live.
  • Shirley is shown either partially naked, fully naked or engaging in sexual activity with her clients, including exposed breasts, buttocks and brief glimpses of her genitals, although when she's not performing her job, she dresses modestly.
• Jinny is seen briefly topless in Part 2 when she's undressing in her bedroom as she continues to argue with Simon.
• Fan Disservice: While there are many instances of sexual activity and nudity among the female characters of the story, specifically Shirley Crispin, one cannot forget that, at the end of the day, she is still a prostitute who does this simply to feed herself and her young son, Shaun. Therefore, often her antics come across less sexy and more uncomfortable when considered in context, especially with regard to her reaction and of those around her.
• Fighting Back Is Wrong: Dominic discovers this when he challenges Scott after he beats up Ryan, getting put into detention alongside Scott even though he was acting with the best intentions. At the very least his punishment is far less than that for Scott.
• Free-Range Children: Despite the inherent danger of their hometown, Ryan and Mark, together with Peter and Joey, are shown to wander the streets of Baltimore without supervision.
• Friendly Rivalry: Ryan and Peter are shown to be fiercely competitive when it comes to basketball.
• Graceful Loser: Inverted in Part 1, when, after being beaten by Ryan at basketball, Peter decides to vent his frustrations by threatening his little brother with a wedgie for cheering on Ryan.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Simon - very little needs to be done to set off his fury, both sober or drunk.
• Hereditary Hairstyle: Inverted. Ryan and Mark have very blonde hair, while Jinny is a redhead and Simon has brown hair.
• High School: The series becomes this from Part 3 when Ryan arrives at Port Royal High School.
• Heroes Love Dogs: Ryan is the proud owner of Chessie, a Jack Russell Terrier who the boys love and adore more than anything.
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Shirley, a hooker who lives next door to Ryan, is shown to be a kind soul at heart who is an attentive parent to her son and loyal friend to Jinny, as demonstrated when she walks Ryan, Mark, Peter and Joey home from the park, and then escorts Simon and Ryan the day after the latter had his arm broken by his dad.
• Hope Spot: Amid the misery of his home life, Ryan, Mark and Jinny spend one day as a happy family when they take Ryan to sit the entrance exam at Port Royal High School, a day that all of them enjoy thoroughly out in the countryside away from the grime of Baltimore, with Ryan even having a passing introduction to Janie as their two cars squeeze along the narrow driveway to the school. This is all promptly undone upon their return home when Simon demands the keys to his car back, thus leading to a long and vicious argument between the two parents that goes on through the night, leaving both Ryan and Mark in tears.
• Hotter and Sexier: The revised version of the series takes a few more liberties when it comes to nudity and sexual discussion, as while sexual activity is shown, especially in the case of Shirley, it never goes too far to become distasteful. Vulgar sexual topics are discussed plainly, even by younger characters, but the details are never divulged to the point of excess.

I - P

• Improbable Sports Skills: Though Ryan is a quiet and reserved bookworm, he is also one heck of a basketball player, illustrated to be his only real endeavour when it comes to sports.
• Incomprehensible Entrance Exam: In order to enrol at the Port Royal High School, Ryan has to sit a very difficult entrance exam that even he admits was a struggle - he is however able to pass with an 82% grade.
• Injured Limb Episode: Almost the entire of Part 1.
• Inner City School: Ryan's elementary school at the beginning of the series.
• Interrupted Intimacy: Happens to Shirley and her trick when Peter and Joey choose to interrupt by way of urinating on the windscreen of their Cadillac.
• Irrational Hatred: Simon Hanson against his son, Ryan.
• Jerkass:
  • Simon is the abusive and violent father to Mark and Ryan who has no qualms beating his children violently whether he be sober or not.
• "Last Day of School" Plot: In Part 2, Ryan, Frank and Peter are shown getting up to mischief after their final day in Elementary School.
• Male Frontal Nudity: The male leads are often shown naked throughout the series, either due to them washing or sleeping nude. While characters such as Ryan and Mark are depicted as being in their prepubescent years at the start of the series, none of the instances where they are seen naked, either front or back, are done in a sexualised manner, and is more practical nudity given the nature of their situation:
  • In Part 1, Peter and Joey's frontal nudity are glimpsed when they urinate on the windscreen of Shirley's Trick's Cadillac.
  • Also in Part 1, Ryan and Mark are both seen naked briefly when having a bath.
  • Later in Part 1, Ryan is seen fully nude from the front when showering.
  • In Part 2, after wetting the bed, Ryan stands naked in the bathroom emotionally disturbed and embarrassed, where he also happens upon his father's hidden stash of beer. A clear view of Ryan's frontal nudity is shown as he pours the beer down the toilet.
  • Later in Part 2, Ryan and Mark are briefly seen naked in the shower as their parents argue outside.
  • Again in Part 2, Ryan and Mark are briefly seen naked from the front as they dry themselves off after playing with the opened fire hydrant.
  • More in Part 3 as Ryan is seen getting undressed and later drying off after a shower while trying to hide his nudity from Janie.
  • In Part 3 also we get a brief glimpse of Scott's genitals when he flashes Janie in the hallway.
  • Lots of frontal nudity in the shower room as Ryan washes up with the other boys.
• Meet Cute: Ryan and Janie, like ships passing in the night, meet for the first time as their two cars squeeze past one another on the Port Royal High School driveway.
  • Ryan eventually meets Janie in full when it is discovered she has been accidentally assigned to his dorm.
• Mood Whiplash: Frequently. Scenes go from ones of joy and fun to pain and torment in the span of a page or two, mostly due to Ryan's rapid mood swings or events around him that throw the mood into discontent.
• Movie-Theater Episode: On the last day of elementary school, Peter entices Ryan and Frank to sneak into their local cinema to watch Klute.
• Ms. Fanservice: Shirley Crispin. While her profession is a prostitute, and she is often seen either partially naked or engaging in sexual situations, her activities are played straight by virtue of the fact that this is the only way she can put food on her table - she's also shown not to be a brainless pin-up, and has a heart of gold when it comes to looking after her son, Ryan, Mark and their friends. Some examples of fanservice include:
  • In Part 1, we first see Shirley in the middle of having sex with a client in his Cadillac when she is interrupted by Peter and Joey. After being kicked out of his car, she is forced to walk home without any underwear, but uses this to entice further clients so as to compensate for her loss.
  • In Part 2, Shirley, to try and get more money out of her young client, strips naked in the street and pleasures herself off the wingmirror of his Dodge Charger while he masturbates to it. After he's finished and drives off, she is left naked in the street much to the scorn of her neighbours, but the understanding of Ryan and Mark.
• Naked People Are Funny: Several instances throughout the series:
  • Having lost her underwear when kicked out of her trick's car, a pantsless Shirley is briefly perved upon by Mark and Joey who lift her dress to get a look at her butt, though she shrugs this off. She later uses this state of undress to her advantage when trying to win over a new set of tricks on the way home.
  • After putting on an exhibition for a client in the street, Shirley is left standing naked and facing the scorn of her neighbours, though Ryan and Mark accept that this is something she has to do in order to get by, and both burst out laughing hysterically afterwards.
• Naked People Trapped Outside: Shirley, for a client, strips naked outside in order to get more money, much to the chagrin of her passing neighbours.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: After Simon breaks Ryan's arm, Ryan has to make out that his injury is due to his own clumsiness.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: Ryan (Noble) is polite, soft-spoken and has strong ties to history and tradition, while Mark (Roguish) likes to use bad language and is seen to be something of a pervert.
• Pants-Free: Having lost her underwear when she was kicked out of her trick's car, Shirley is forced to walk home in nothing but her dress, though she is able to use this bottomless state to her advantage when attempting to pick up new customers.
• Off to Boarding School: Inverted. While Jinny is the one organising Ryan being sent off to Port Royal High School, she is doing this for his own good so as to allow him a better chance at education and to get him away from his abusive father.
• Parents as People: While the series centres around Ryan, his parents, Simon and Jinny, are also fleshed out strongly throughout.
• Parental Issues: Ryan and Mark's violent relationship with their father.
• Persecuted Intellectuals: Ryan is almost immediately the target of Scott's wrath even before they've fully met.
• The Peeping Tom: Mark is revealed to be one due to his fascination with the female form, lifting up Shirley's dress in order to see her butt.
• Please Put Some Clothes On: After Shirley's striptease out in the street, her outraged neighbours pour scorn on her for doing such a display.
• Popular Is Dumb: Scott is seen to hold the social sway among the boy's dorm, but is a complete dullard with no standards and an overinflated ego.
• Popular Is Evil: Scott is seen to hold the social sway among the boy's dorm, but is shown to have no scruples and is willing to viciously beat up those around him to maintain his standing.
• Putting the "Pal" in Principal: The Principal at Port Royal is a friendly, considerate and caring man who wishes to do the best he can to accommodate students, as per Ryan and Janie.

R - Y

• Real Is Brown: Set in 1971, brown is represented prominently throughout the series.
• Restrained Revenge: Ryan has a lot of resentment against his dad for the abuse he's suffered, and in his own way, after finding Simon's secret stash of beer behind the toilet, Ryan promptly pours it all away. While Simon is furious and threatens him with death, Jinny compliments him for having the guts to do something like that.
• Scenery Porn: The comic captures a wide variety of long-gone scenes from the seventies.
• School Forced Us Together: Ryan and Janie, who come from vastly different backgrounds, are forced together through a quirk of circumstance. Due to a mistake on the paperwork that put Janie down as 'Jamie', she has been assigned to Ryan's dorm, and the two are forced to work together to overcome the barrier of gender both inside and outside their room.
• The Scream: Ryan, after Simon breaks his arm.
• Shameless Fanservice Girl: Shirley Crispin. Simply as a requirement of her job, she has to remove her clothes and engage in sexual activity with clients. She, however, is unfazed by this despite the scorn and condemnation she receives from those around her.
• Shout-Out: The racially fuelled speech given by the lesbian protesters in the park when Ryan and Shirley visit quote part of the speech of Simple Savior from the film Coonskin.
  "The Cop is White! The Rent is White! The Landlord is White! Your Pain is White!"
• Show Within a Show: The family watches a lot of TV throughout the series, with actual films, TV shows and news reports being illustrated in various scenes to help set the tone and immersion.
• Single Mom Stripper: Shirley raises Shaun by herself, and is forced to be a prostitute so as to ensure her son gets fed.
• Sleep Cute: Ryan, after having spent the entire night awake waiting to be seen in hospital after Simon broke his arm.
• Slice of Life: The story largely follows the everyday life of Ryan as he tries to endure an ever-changing world.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: The series illustrates both the innocence of being young in the 1970s (before mobile phones and the internet), but also shows the urban, social and economic stagnation of the United States; especially in Baltimore.
• The Stoners: Plenty of occasions where hippies are seen abusing drugs and suffering their effects, either passed out in the street or babbling nonsense.
• Stoners Are Funny: Due to the series being set in the early 1970s, there are no shortage of hippie's openly smoking drugs and getting up to weird antics as a result.
• Street Walker: Shirley Crispin.
• Struggling Single Mother: While Jinny is married to Simon, he might as well not be there for what little he does, therefore a majority of the work raising Ryan and Mark, as well as bringing home the family income, falls upon her shoulders.
• Tiny Schoolboy: Dominic is shown to be considerably shorter than those around him, but is also extremely tough and takes no nonsense from anyone.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Ryan is demonstrated to be a kind and caring person, but is constantly abused and hurt by his father.
• Train-Station Goodbye: Ryan as he says goodbye to his family and friends at Baltimore before heading off to Port Royal.
• Urban Hellscape: Baltimore.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: When Ryan and Jinny are waiting in hospital, a pair of drunks also waiting to be seen are shown covered in blood and vomiting all over themselves.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Ryan has a lot of ideals in his head when it comes to how the world should be, although they are often smashed by the realities of what life actually is.
• Working-Class Hero: Ryan Hanson.
• Working-Class People Are Morons: Played with in many cases. While not every working class person in the series is depicted as stupid, Ryan, Peter and their respective families being fine examples, there are still plenty of morons to choose from in the dark streets of Baltimore, including junkies, alkies, violent criminals and deluded hippies.
• Would Hurt a Child: Simon has no qualms about violence towards his children, especially Ryan.
• Wretched Hive: Ryan's home of Baltimore is illustrated to be crime-ridden, impoverished and filled with vice, a place in which he and his family just barely get by.

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