Blab
Encyclopedia
Blab! is a comics anthology
edited by Monte Beauchamp. Though its primary focus is comics, it regularly features articles with non-comics illustration
and graphic design
. Early issues were published by Kitchen Sink Press
. Issues #9–18 were published annually by Fantagraphics Books
in a 120-page, 10" x 10" square format featuring both black-and-white and color art.
In 2003, Chronicle Books
published the book collection New & Used Blab!. As the title suggests, one half of the book consists of selections from previous issues while the other half (bound dos-à-dos
style) features new works by frequent contributors.
Several solo books by individual Blab! contributors have been published with the subtitle "A Blab! Storybook."
2007's issue #18 was the final edition of Blab!; in 2010, Last Gasp
published the first issue of the hardcover Blab World, which replaces Blab!
Comics anthology
Comics anthologies collect works in the medium of comics that are too short for standalone publication.- U.S. :- UK :British comics have a long tradition publishing comics anthologies, often weekly...
edited by Monte Beauchamp. Though its primary focus is comics, it regularly features articles with non-comics illustration
Illustration
An illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
and graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
. Early issues were published by Kitchen Sink Press
Kitchen Sink Press
Kitchen Sink Press was a comic book publishing company founded by Denis Kitchen in 1970. Kitchen owned and operated Kitchen Sink Press until 1999. Kitchen Sink Press was a pioneering publisher of underground comics, and was also responsible for numerous republications of classic comic strips in...
. Issues #9–18 were published annually by Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint...
in a 120-page, 10" x 10" square format featuring both black-and-white and color art.
In 2003, Chronicle Books
Chronicle Books
Chronicle Books is a San Francisco-based American publisher of books for adults and children.The company was established in 1968 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle. In 1999 it was bought by Nion McEvoy, great-grandson of...
published the book collection New & Used Blab!. As the title suggests, one half of the book consists of selections from previous issues while the other half (bound dos-à-dos
Dos-à-dos binding
In bookbinding, a dos-à-dos binding is a binding structure in which two separate books are bound together such that the fore edge of one is adjacent to the spine of the other, with a shared lower board between them serving as the back cover of both...
style) features new works by frequent contributors.
Several solo books by individual Blab! contributors have been published with the subtitle "A Blab! Storybook."
2007's issue #18 was the final edition of Blab!; in 2010, Last Gasp
Last Gasp
Last Gasp is a book and underground comix publisher and distributor based in San Francisco, California.- History :Founded in 1970 by Ron Turner to publish the ecologically-themed comics magazine Slow Death Funnies, followed by the all-female anthology It Ain't Me Babe, Last Gasp soon became a major...
published the first issue of the hardcover Blab World, which replaces Blab!
Contributors
- Doug AllenDoug AllenDoug Allen is an American underground cartoonist, illustrator, and musician. Best known for his long-running comic strip Steven, Allen has over the years collaborated with long-time friend Gary Leib on music, animation, fine art, and comics, including the two-man Fantagraphics anthology...
- Gary BasemanGary BasemanGary Baseman is a contemporary artist who works in various creative fields, including illustration, fine art, toy design, and animation. He is the creator of the Emmy-winning ABC/Disney cartoon series, Teacher’s Pet, and the artistic designer of Cranium, a popular board game...
- Marc Burckhardt
- Charles BurnsCharles Burns (cartoonist)Charles Burns is an American cartoonist, illustrator and film director.-Life:Burns is renowned for his meticulous, high-contrast and creepy artwork and stories. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, painter Susan Moore, and their two daughters Ava and Rae-Rae.His father was an oceanographer for...
- Rob & Christian Clayton
- Daniel ClowesDaniel ClowesDaniel Gillespie Clowes is an American author, screenwriter and cartoonist of alternative comic books....
- Sue CoeSue CoeSue Coe is an English artist and illustrator working primarily in drawing and printmaking, often in the form of illustrated books and comics. She grew up close to a slaughterhouse and developed a passion to stop cruelty to animals. Coe studied at the Royal College of Art in London, lived in New...
- Joe ColemanJoe Coleman (painter)Joe Coleman is an American painter, illustrator and performance artist.-Biography:He was born Joseph Coleman, Jr. in Norwalk, Connecticut to a World War II-veteran father and the daughter of a professional prizefighter.-Work:...
- Al ColumbiaAl ColumbiaAl Columbia is an American cartoonist, illustrator, writer, photographer, musician, and filmmaker.-Big Numbers controversy:At the age of 19 Columbia was hired to work as an assistant to Bill Sienkiewicz on Alan Moore's Big Numbers series...
- Howard CruseHoward CruseHoward Cruse is an American alternative cartoonist known for the exploration of gay themes in his comics.Cruse was raised in Springville, Alabama, the son of a preacher and a homemaker. His earliest published cartoons were in The Baptist Student when he was in high school. His work later appeared...
- Kim DeitchKim Deitch-Sources:* at Lambiek's Comiclopedia-External links:* Ford, Jeffrey. *Heller, Steven. **...
- Daniel Divox
- Mary FleenerMary FleenerMary Fleener is an American alternative comics artist, writer and musician from Los Angeles. Fleener's drawing style, which she calls cubismo, derives from the cubist aesthetic and other artistic traditions...
- Drew Friedman
- Camille Rose GarciaCamille Rose GarciaCamille Rose Garcia is a Los Angeles-based lowbrow artist. she produces paintings, prints and sculpture in a gothic, "creepy" cartoon style. She cites as influences Walt Disney and Philip K. Dick. - Biography :...
- Justin Green
- Bill Griffith
- Tom HuckTom HuckTom Huck is an American printmaker best known for his large scale satirical woodcuts. He lives and works in St. Louis, Missouri where he runs his own press, Evil Prints. He is a regular contributor to BLAB! of Fantagraphics Books. His work draws heavily upon the influence of Albrecht Dürer, José...
- KazKazKazimieras G. Prapuolenis, or Kaz, is an American cartoonist and illustrator, and one of the most renown living "underground" cartoonists in the world. In the 1980s, after attending New York City's School of the Visual Arts, he was a frequent contributor to the influential comics anthologies RAW...
- J.D. KingJ.D. KingJ.D. King is an American artist best known for his commercial art illustrations for companies including Absolut Vodka, Atlantic Records, Condé Nast Publications, Sony, and others.-Biography:J.D...
- Kris Kuksi
- Peter KuperPeter KuperPeter Kuper is an American alternative cartoonist and illustrator known for his autobiographical, social, and political observations.-Early life:...
- Terry LaBanTerry LaBanTerry LaBan is an alternative/underground cartoonist and newspaper comic strip artist. He is probably best known for his comic book series Cud, and his syndicated strip Edge City....
- Gary LeibGary LeibGary Leib is an American underground cartoonist, animator, and musician. Best known for the comic book Idiotland , Leib's work has also appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Musician Magazine, The New York Observer, RAW, BLAB! and as weekly...
- Jay LynchJay LynchJay Lynch is an American cartoonist who played a key role in the underground comix movement with his Bijou Funnies and other titles. His work is sometimes signed Jayzey Lynch. He has contributed to Mad, and in 2008, he expanded into the children's book field.-Early life and career:Born in Orange,...
- Mark MothersbaughMark MothersbaughMark Allen Mothersbaugh is an American musician, composer, singer and painter. He is the co-founder of the new wave band Devo and has been its lead singer since 1972. His other musical projects include work for television series, films, and video games....
- Gary PanterGary PanterGary Panter is an illustrator, painter, designer and part-time musician. Panter's work is representative of the post-underground, new wave comics movement that began with the end of Arcade: The Comics Revue and the initiation of RAW, one of the second generation in American underground comix...
- Archer PrewittArcher PrewittArcher Prewitt is an American musician and cartoonist associated with the independent music scene in Chicago, Illinois.- Music :...
- Spain RodriguezSpain RodriguezManuel Rodriguez , better known as Spain or Spain Rodriguez, is an American underground cartoonist who created the character Trashman. His experiences on the road with the biker gang, the Road Vultures, provided inspiration for his work, as did his left-wing politics.-Biography:Born in Buffalo, New...
- Sergio Ruzzier
- Mark RydenMark Ryden-Early life:Ryden is the son of Barbara and Keith Ryden, born in Medford, Oregon but raised in Southern California. He has two sisters and two brothers, one a fellow artist named Keyth Ryden....
- Richard SalaRichard SalaRichard Sala is an American cartoonist, illustrator, and comic book creator with a unique expressionistic style whose books often combine elements of mystery, horror and whimsy.-Biography:...
- Gilbert SheltonGilbert SheltonGilbert Shelton is an American cartoonist and underground comix artist. He is the creator of The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Fat Freddy's Cat, Wonder Wart-Hog, Philbert Desanex, Not Quite Dead, and the cover art to The Grateful Dead's 1978 album Shakedown Street.He graduated from Lamar High...
- Frank StackFrank StackFrank Huntington Stack is an American underground cartoonist. Working under the name Foolbert Sturgeon to avoid persecution for his work while living in the bible belt, Stack published what is considered by many to be the first underground comic book, The Adventures of Jesus, in 1962.He graduated...
- Gary TaxaliGary TaxaliGary Taxali is an illustrator living in Toronto, Canada.He was born in Chandigarh, India in 1968. A year later his family immigrated to Toronto, Canada. There his parent encouraged him to take art classes. In 1991 he graduated from Ontario College of Art and soon after began working as a...
- Chris WareChris WareFranklin Christenson Ware , is an American comic book artist and cartoonist, widely known for his Acme Novelty Library series and the graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he resides in the Chicago area, Illinois...
- Robert WilliamsRobert Williams (artist)Robert Williams is an American painter, cartoonist, and founder of Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine.Williams was part of the Zap Collective, along with other underground cartoonists such as Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton...
- Skip WilliamsonSkip WilliamsonSkip Williamson is an American underground cartoonist and central figure in the underground comix movement.Williamson is known for being the most political and satirical cartoonist of the underground comix movement.- Childhood :...