For his new solo show, This Shit Is for the Birdies (running through April 8 at Western Exhibitions), artist Ryan Travis Christian spent time studying the 1930s, a decade of grim headlines and brilliant political cartoons. While Christian’s drawings pay homage to the golden era of satire, the Warrenville resident also imbues his sketches with a personal doom-and-shroom flair. Plug the Line (above) blends a nameless character from a Betty Boop cartoon with the Russian words for “plug the line,” a phrase Christian plucked from a Wheel of Fortune episode.

“I like that it’s vague,” says the 33-year-old. “I never love things that are spelled out.”

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