Blab! #6

Blab! #6

by Monte Beauchamp, Doug Allen

Welcome to the preeminent anthology of the graphic design and illustration arts.BLAB!'s list of contributors past and present reads like a Who's Who of the contemporary visual art world, and each volume is an eclectic mix of the world's most exciting artists from both the fine art world and commercial fields. Conceived, edited and designed by five-time New York Festival of Advertising award-winner Monte Beauchamp, BLAB! has grown from a digest-size b/w fanzine begun over 15 years ago to an annual coffee-table showcase that bridges the ever-narrowing divides between high and low art as well as abstract expressionism and representationalism. Simply put, BLAB! is an objet d'art that has become a standard-bearer in the world of the professional visual arts. Included in this volume: David Sandlin's "Slumburbia," a four-page color panorama depicting the temptations of the American family unit; Sue Coe's "WOMD" (weapons of mass destruction), which focuses on the weapons that affect the planet every day, from poverty and pollution to AIDS, globalization, factory farming, the criminal 'justice' system, and ignorance (featuring text by Judy Brody); Documentary filmmaker and award-winning children's book illustrator Laura Levine recounts the bizarre case of the Picolo Midgets, a vaudeville circus act that traveled throughout America during the early 1900s; Spain Rodriguez delivers an autobiographical view of the origins of Playboy and the sexual fervor it spawned during 1950s America; Editor Beauchamp contributes "Kilroy Was Here," a history of World War II's big-nosed, chrome-domed, graffiti cartoon icon crudely scrawled on surfaces everywhere by G.I.s who travelled throughout the world; Marc Rosenthal's "What's Dat?" is a surreal, philosophical and social critique centered around the travels of a small graphic shape as it moves around our world; Mark Landman returns with another adventure of "Fetal Elvis"; And much, much more, including BLAB! regulars Gary Baseman, The Clayton Brothers, Drew Friedman, Blanquet, and others, all wrapped under a gorgeous cover by BLAB! sophomore Camille Rose Garcia.

About the Author:
: Monte Beauchamp has also edited The Life & Times of R. Crumb: Comments from Contemporaries from St. Martin's Press. His work has appeared in Print, Communication Arts, American Illustration, and the New York Festival's Annual of Advertising. He lives in Chicago, IL.

Genres: Comics

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1991

Reviews

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alcohol is the theme for this issue of Blab, with drink-centric comics from Richard Sala, Skip Williamson, Mary Fleener, Doug Allen, Lloyd Dangle, Spain Rodriguez, Frank Stack, Justin Green, and more.

Text pieces are down to just two: an article on alcoholic cartoonists by Monte Beauchamp and John Petrie, and “Babes On Broadway,” a chapter from a work in progress by Josh Alan Friedman.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greatest Blab! ever. Why?

>Richard Sala cover and feature "Where Is Christine Brooder?"
>A great Civil War-era feature by Joe Coleman
>Lloyd Dangle's true-crime tale of a crime of passion
>STEVEN by Doug Allen, sublime as always, in a drinking contest with Pulque The Cactus
>Frank Stack's great biography on Vincent Van Gogh
>"Down At The Kitty Kat" by Spain, about a juke-joint murder
>"Babes On Broadway" by Josh Alan Friedman, but most importantly:
>The amazing "Alcoholic Cartoonists" disturbingly illustrated by Dan Clowes, a sort of Hollywood Babylon of comics that needs to be seen to be believed. The full sleazy dope on geniuses like Wild Bill Everett (Sub-Mariner), EC Comics' "Ghastly" Graham Ingels juicing and culminating in Wally Wood's suicide from demon alcohol will linger in your mind for years to come!

[Drew Canole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice Richard Sala cover

Spain - Down at the Kitty Kat
Justin Green - Great Moments in Alcoholism
Richard Sala - Where is Christine Brooder?
Frank Stack - The Lying Ear

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much early 90's underground comix greatness in this edition of Blab. A Richard Sala cover and a story within as well as Sala's art adorning a Josh Alan Friedman story. The theme of the issue is drinking, alcoholism and as well crime and sex. There's a terrific Steven story by Doug Allen about Steven and the drunken cactus having a non-stop drinking contest to see who is the ultimate drinker. In the end it is the Steven reading public that is the winner. I love Steven. I have all the Kitchen Sink mag-sized comix and have read them all multiple times. There was even a couple of Fantagraphics comic-sized issues I have as well. I suspect there might be some other Steven volumes out there in the world. I must track them down. In addition to two of my fave comix dudes (Sala & Allen) from the 90's (and 80's and decades since) is one of my fave and underrated comix legends from the hippie era: Skip Williamson who has two stories. In addition to Williamson, there is a Spain story which is cool, but not one of his best. His art as always is fine. Also a great Lloyd Dangle recounting of a lurid Canadian drunken sex murder from the 60's. Dangle should've done more stuff like this. I love his seemingly slap-dash art style but his political satire strips he's more well known for are not my cup of tea. I almost forgot to mention a short and sweet two-page Mary Fleener memoir strip of her family's alcohol drenched hi-jinks which graces inside the front cover and inside the back cover. Daniel Clowes illustrates a Monte Beauchamp report on alcoholic comic artists. Great Clowes art but I'm not a huge fan of Beauchamp's writing style. He tries too hard to be showy and it's a little off. As an editor he's a genius at bringing together the top comix talent of the time though. Anthologies back in the heyday of 80's/90's alternative comix were the best. I loved 'em all.