From Booklist
In lieu of Blab 14 comes this two-for-one combo of half new stuff and half reprints from earlier numbers of the premier avant comics showcase. (After finishing one-half, you must flip the book top-over-bottom to read the other right-side-up--a circumstance that the, er, stunning cover art makes explicit.) As usual, the artwork is technically awesome and awesomely mannerist. Standouts among the new selections are Blanchet's grim folktale takeoff "Sweet Teddy," in which all the figures are silhouettes; Mark Landman's twisted "Fetal Elvis!" done entirely in lurid Day-Glo hues; Richard Sala's German-expressionistic rendering of a Scandinavian folktale; and the funniest piece, "The Paper Grin," by the writer-artist trio Charles Paul Freund and Peter and Maria Hoey, which incorporates mordantly twisted parodies of conventional comic strips. The reprints, though generally outshone by the new stuff, notably include Julien Mandel's art nouveau photo-comic, in which a lovely nude strikes balletic poses, and a portfolio of satiric drawings by Boris Artzybasheff (1899-1965). Ray Olson
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Book Description
"Like the New Yorker - for mutants." --Los Angeles Reader New BLAB!, meet Used BLAB! Together they make the most impressive and expressive illustration and comics compendium around. BLAB! is the annual forum for a diverse roster of the finest illustrators of our day to do essentially as they please, a publication that carries the proud tradition of unfettered graphic innovation into the future. The "used" side of this book brings together the finest of BLAB!, including the work of such luminaries as Gary Baseman, Peter Kuper, Blanquet, Christian Northeast, the Clayton Brothers, and more. The "new" side features never-before-seen work specially created for this book, with contributors including Haley Johnson, Sue Coe, Jonathon Rosen, Spain, and an introduction by neo-Dada pop star Mark Mothersbaugh. The many faces and voices of BLAB! are reproduced in a resplendent back-to-back package that provides multiple points of entry. A best-of collection, an art and design manifesto, and a new kind of visual art form in itself, New & Used BLAB! is the best survey of progressive illustration today.


About the Author
Monte Beauchamp is the editor and creator of BLAB! He lives in Chicago, where he works in advertising as an art director. Mark Mothersbaugh is a composer, cartoonist, and lead singer for the band Devo. He lives in Los Angeles.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

New BLAB!, meet Used BLAB! Together they make the most impressive and expressive illustration and comics compendium around. BLAB! is the annual forum for a diverse roster of the finest illustrators of our day to do essentially as they please, a publication that carries the proud tradition of unfettered graphic innovation into the future. The "used" side of this book brings together the finest of BLAB!, including the work of such luminaries as Gary Baseman, Peter Kuper, Blanquet, Christian Northeast, the Clayton Brothers, and more. The "new" side features never-before-seen work specially created for this book, with contributors including Haley Johnson, Sue Coe, Jonathon Rosen, Spain, and an introduction by neo-Dada pop star Mark Mothersbaugh. The many faces and voices of BLAB! are reproduced in a resplendent back-to-back package that provides multiple points of entry. A best-of collection, an art and design manifesto, and a new kind of visual art form in itself, New & Used BLAB! is the best survey of progressive illustration today.