The Magic Bottle: A BLAB! Storybook

Book Description

A gothic fairy tale from one of L.A.'s most acclaimed painters.

An original, first graphic novel from the acclaimed California painter Camille Rose Garcia (her work has been shown in Juxtapoz, Art Issues and Paper, and exhibited in galleries and museums up and down the west coast), the first of a proposed series set in the fantasyland of the Lost World of the Peppermint Islands. In The Magic Bottle, Lulu Blackenshoe lives in a gray world dominated by factories, landfills and giant corporations. Nature has all but disappeared in her world, but no one notices because of the antidepressants they're on. Lulu (who never takes her medicine) feels an increasing sense of dread and despair, until her fate changes one cold day when she finds a magic bottle containing a map. Drawn by pirates long ago, this map shows the way to the lost world of the Peppermint Islands, sunk to the bottom of the sea 400 years ago in the great battle between the pirates and the capitalists. Suddenly, Lulu has the chance to save the last remaining wild animals on earth, but she'll have to battle the Peppermint Man and the Great Trading Company in order to defeat the capitalist machine out to ruin the natural world. With the help of her new octopus friend, Mr. Blue, they start their journey to save the Peppermint Islands from annihilation. This is the latest BLAB! storybook, a series of graphic novels showcasing artists from Monte Beauchamp's annual BLAB! anthology, presented in a faux-children's book format, though aimed squarely at adults and young adults.

Customer Reviews:

a treasury for the tiny pirate.......2007-01-03

What a pleasure it was reading this book to all three of my children. They hung on every word of this conscientious tale while imagination filled their eyes and heart. A grand addition to any book collection.

Old Jewish Comedians (A BLAB! Storybook)

Average customer rating:

Likeable Likenesses
old jewish comedians
Just A Fun Book
Nice but pricey
Genius

Old Jewish Comedians (A BLAB! Storybook)
Drew Friedman
Manufacturer: Fantagraphics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1560977418

Book Description

An illustrated celebration of the greatest Jewish comedians of the 20th century.

This comprehensive collection of portraiture of comedians born before 1930 includes the famous (Milton Berle, Groucho Marx, Jerry Lewis, Mel Brooks, Jack Benny), the not-so-famous (Benny Rubin, Shelly Berman) and the largely unknown (Al Kelly, Menasha Skulnik). The Reuben Award-winning Friedman presents a thorough visual history of these greatest Borscht-Belt comedians with 28 full-page portraits.

This is the latest BLAB! Storybook, a series showcasing sequential artists from the acclaimed anthology BLAB!. Each volume is presented in a beautiful 10" x 10" hardcover and full-color format.

Customer Reviews:

Likeable Likenesses.......2007-09-13

Drew Friedman's work falls into that category of "you either get it or you don't." For those of us who get it, this is pure gold. Besides being the state of the art in contemporary caricature, Drew puts a particular spin on everything he does. There's a lot of love in these portraits of aging comics, but there's still this warts-and-all approach that separates them from pure hero worship. Drew casts his Jewish comedians as wonderful funnymen to be admired, while still keeping them human (or perhaps even more than human). If the Everyman is covered in wrinkles and liver spots, then these larger-than-life Supermen have even more!

With today's comics almost always working blue, and the average comedy club or HBO special containing more four-letter words than a dockworkers convention, it's refreshing to see these old-timers (accent on the old) who were funny without being foul-mouthed. The days of these old-skool comedians is past, but their faces will live on thanks to Drew.

Like Levy's rye bread, you don't have to be Jewish to love this book.

old jewish comedians.......2007-05-22

A great find to give the elderly Jewish family members. My dad doesn't read very much anymore, but he appreciated this book. The images are clear and fun. I'm sure seeing these pictures brought back many memories of his youth.

Just A Fun Book.......2007-03-14

If you grew up in the 50's and 60's watching TV, having this short but sweet book on your coffee table to thumb through will bring a smile to you over and over. Being Jewish not required.

Nice but pricey.......2007-02-19

There's not much going on with this book. It is basically an homage with beautiful illustrations, but the lack of information leaves one wishing for a discount.

Genius.......2007-02-15

Drew Friedman is a genius. Probably the third or fourth most talented cartoonist of the last thirty years. Maybe the fifth. Definitely no lower than a very strong sixth.

"Old Jewish Comedians" is a gem of a book. Buy this and "Warts and All" and while you're at it dig up the old Comics Journal issue with Drew's interview.

Average customer rating:

BLAB! Vol. 17 (Blab!)

Manufacturer: Fantagraphics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1560977760

Book Description

The preeminent anthology of contemporary painting, illustration, and cartooning.

BLAB! is an annual coffee-table showcase of fine art, illustration, and comix, and a gold-standard in the work of the professional visual arts. Most of BLAB!'s contributors through the years have gone on to huge success in the gallery world (Chris Ware, Camille Rose Garcia, Joe Coleman, Gary Baseman, etc.) and the current volume sharpens BLAB!'s cutting-edge like never before.

This volume of BLAB! features a cover by Jonathan Rosen, and: the BLAB! debut of popular artist Shag!; a full-color tribute to Bazooka Joe; Sue Coe and Judith Brody's "… And Not a Drop To Drink," an exploration of the destruction of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast by angry gods of wind and water against a backdrop of war; Greg Clarke's "The Pungent Gaul," a surprisingly harrowing story of a frenchman who smuggles illegal cheeses from his homeland into the United States and sells them on the black market; Michael Dougan's four-page color story about homeland security, paranoia, technology, international intrigue, and anxiety; "Nine Lives," Peter Kuper's story of the various ways he's almost died; more "Fetal Elvis" from Mark Landman; "Max Vesta, Matchbook Artist," the true story of the art and life of the unsung and little known (except to a few collectors and connoisseurs) master of the matchbook cover; Lou Brooks invites us into his "Garden of Tongue-listing Twimericks"—your mouth will never be the same; Peter and Maria Hoey's "Out of Nowhere," the story of Coleman Hawkins and Django Reinghart's years in pre-WWII Paris; plus stories by Tim Biskup, Gary Baseman, Fred Stonehouse, Marc Rosenthal,Spain, Mats!, and Sergio Ruzzier.

BLAB! is conceived, edited and designed by five-time New York Festival of Advertising award-winner Monte Beauchamp.

Average customer rating:

style over substance
Culture and Amusement a great combination

Blab! Volume 12

Manufacturer: Fantagraphics Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1560974575

Amazon.com

Inside Blab! #6's super-hip cover by Richard Sala, you'll find a showcase for cutting-edge cartoonists. Skip Williamson introduces us to his drunken cartoon libertine "Necropolis Keester." Doug Allen's lovable character Steven makes another Blab! appearance in "Steven--in the Showdown." Frank Stack and Joe Coleman have illustrated character "portrait" prose pieces. Party-girl Mary Fleener has a two-page strip on the inside-front and inside-back covers called "As American as Mom, Apple Pie and Martinis." In his skewed style Richard Sala presents his comics story "Where Is Christine Brooder?," featuring a washed-up detective, a mysterious "pillow killer," and a reference to Gogol's Bird Museum. And finally, balancing out the humor of Gary Lieb's "Pets That Drink" and Justin Green's "Great Moments in Alcoholism," is a sobering look at real-life alcoholic cartoonists (a profile by Monte Beauchamp, John Petrie, and Dan Clowes).

Book Description

Monte Beauchamp's annual darling of the graphic design and illustration world is back with its most spectacular collection of cutting-edge comics, illustration, and graphic design yet.

BLAB!'s list of contributors past and present reads like a Who's Who of the contemporary visual art world, including Mark Ryden, Chris Ware, Gary Panter, Joe Coleman, and many more. BLAB! is edited and designed by five-time New York Festival of Advertising award-winner Monte Beauchamp, whose work has appeared in Print, Graphis, Communication Arts and American Illustration. Under his guidance, BLAB! has grown from a digest-sized b&w fanzine he began over 10 years ago to an annual coffee-table showcase event of impeccable production values and master craftsmanship, an objet d'art that has become a standard-bearer in the world of professional graphic arts.

2001's Vol. 12 features stunning front and back covers by Christian Northeast, as well as color stories by Richard Sala, the Clayton Brothers, Northeast, Peter Kuper, Peter Hoey, Lou Brooks, Fred Stonehouse, and children's book illustrator Mike Bartolas, appearing in BLAB! for the first time. BLAB! stalwarts Gary Baseman, Drew Friedman, Spain, Blanquet, and Walter Minus are also back, along with BLAB! newcomer and Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh, who contributes a four-page color story, and several others.

Customer Reviews:

style over substance.......2004-01-06

blab is a very attractive book/magazine. it employs some of the most talented artists and designers in america today (chris ware, jason baseman, among many others...look them up, you may recognize their work if you don't already know them), doing short comic stories and illustrations, as well as one or two pieces of short text fiction and maybe an article or two. it is fascinating, and beautiful. the book is oversized, and is as coffee table ready as comics get without being a hardcover book. my only critique is that some of the stories are hollow, leaving me apathetic, lacking the meaning that, say, drawn & quarterly manages to give to their work. still, anyone who enjoys contemporary art, comics, or design, will at least find this lush book exciting.

Culture and Amusement a great combination.......1998-07-02

I have a friend who complains that there is nothing left of art and culture. Actually, I've heard it many times from many friends, and although many would balk at calling comics (the little drawings and word balloons) art, I can't find a reason to distinguish it otherwise. Blab is a platform for this form of art, and more. It's culture and wonderful insight, it made me wish I could draw - I found myself wishing modern films were this interesting! I hope they can do many many more.

Average customer rating:

Read this book!
A must-read book for the general public
Great book
Fantastic book!
No wool over her eyes

Sheep of Fools: A BLAB! Storybook
Sue Coe , Monte Beauchamp , and Judith Brody
Manufacturer: Fantagraphics Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1560976608

Customer Reviews:

Read this book!.......2006-01-19

The definition of a great book surely includes the ones not just that you couldn't put down, but the ones that will change your lives forever.
Buy this book=- you'll never again think of buying a wool sweater.

A must-read book for the general public.......2006-01-05

Sheep of Fools is such an important topic, thank goodness someone is writing on this subject to educate the general public of the abuses animals raised for their meat and their skin endure. Society has become numb to feeling compassion for beings other than human, especially en mass. The lonely lamb wandering the fields searching for it's mother kindles a soft spot in many a person's heart. But raise that lamb in a factory farm, lined up with hundreds of other sheep, their fate to end up on our plates as lamb chops, and all we can do is salivate. We have become a nation in which "ignorance is bliss" defines our reaction to the pain and suffering we inflict daily on animals. Sue Coe, Monte Beauchamp, and Judith Brodey, will hopefully open some eyes to the atrocities we excuse as satisfying our palates, and that one day soon, we will all realize that these animals are not put on this earth for human beings to exploit, rather they are sharing this world with us and the sooner we realize that, the sooner the violence can stop.

Great book.......2006-01-05

Seldom does one pick up a book that they can't put down and then rush to order one for all their friends.

Such is the case with Sheep of Fools.

Sheep are fantastic wondrous animals and it is too bad that we (before this book) lacked the opportunity to question whether or not we should be eating/wearing them.

I know that I will never again want to cause them harm and will proudly go forth in my fleece (cotton!) sweaters and my tofu has never tated so good.

Fantastic book!.......2006-01-05

I too once wore wool and subsidized abuses to sheep (like eating lamb chops), until I had the opportunity to actually meet a ewe, and her baby, many years ago which changed all that.

I wish that a book like this had existed when I was growing up so that I could've had a head start on a cruelty free lifestyle.

This is a must read for every compassionate person out there!

No wool over her eyes.......2006-01-05

Thank goodness for truth-tellers like Sue Coe. As in her earlier books, she sees past industry propaganda and tells the truth about how animals are abused out of the public's view. Such creative and gripping story telling - no, make that truth telling - are in short supply today. I love her images, even though they make me shudder and sometimes cry. If you never thought about where your wool or lamb chopes come from, this is a book that will expand your understanding and awaken your compassion. Thanks to all three authors for writing and illustrating this honest look at the sheep industry.

Average customer rating:

awesome camille rose garcia art!

New & Used BLAB!

Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0811840263

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.

Customer Reviews:

awesome camille rose garcia art!.......2004-01-28

this book has the peppermint man story by camille rose garcia.the print at the m k gallery is around $500 dollars.the camille rose art makes this book worth it for me!bLINkY

Average customer rating:

Love it!
Hardly revolutionary, but pretty.
Let's start a new book category and call it BLAB!
Let's start a new book category and call it BLAB!
Zany illustrations and art deco

BLAB! Vol. 11 (Blab!, 11)
Monte Beauchamp
Manufacturer: Fantagraphics Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1560974079

Book Description

Fueled by the front and back cover paintings of Mark Ryden, the outsider art movement's leading contemporary painter, Vol. 11 broke new sales records for our preeminent anthology of the graphic arts. BLAB!'s list of contributors past and present reads like a Who's Who of the contemporary visual art world. Vol. 11 earned raves from both Print and Graphis magazines. BLAB! is edited and designed by five-time New York Festival of Advertising award-winner Monte Beauchamp. Under his guidance, BLAB! has grown from a fanzine begun almost 20 years ago to an annual coffee-table showcase of impeccable production values, wild experimentation and master craftsmanship. BLAB! is an objet d'art that has become a standard-bearer in the world of professional graphic arts.

This volume features leading contemporary cartoonists and illustrators like Gary Baseman (creator of ABC's Teacher's Pet), Christian Northeast, the Clayton Brothers, New York Times art director Steven Guarnaccia, Zap artist Spain Rodriguez, Richard Sala, Jonathon Rosen, Peter Kuper, Doug Allen, Drew Friedman, and many others. Vol. 11 and also include a feature on the popular Krampus devil cards that comprise the accompanying Fantagraphics title The Devil In Design (also edited by Beauchamp). Fully illustrated throughout with 42 pages color.

Customer Reviews:

Love it!.......2006-09-02

I am a collector of these little books! They're very strange and inspiring at the same time.

Hardly revolutionary, but pretty........2003-05-18

Just look at the lovely cover by Mark Ryden. It's practically impossible not to like his work even though the "ironic" juxtapositions of fluffy bunnies and raw meat, etc were NEVER really clever or thought-provoking and have since become mere conventions. So for most of the stuff in a typical issue of BLAB - a rather aptly named journal indeed. It's supposed to look as though it's being incendiary or at least cutting-edge, but it's really just so much hot air. Not that I'm not recommending it. It has always functioned as a showcase for my favorite commercial illustrators - Ryden, Christian Northeast, Gary Baseman, Camille Rose Garcia, Fred Stonehouse, blabblabblab - and thus there are always at least a couple pages of technically interesting artwork per issue. But I say "technically" because there is just not a whole lot going on conceptually with BLAB. It's just a bunch of pretty weirdness. It's the literary equivalent of "Liquid Television." But I don't know that anybody was expecting anything else out of it...nor should they, really. Fans of Ryden or Baseman know what to expect.

Let's start a new book category and call it BLAB!.......2002-01-09

BLAB! sets a new standard in printed art media. One most often finds this beautifully crafted book displayed along with comic books and comics anthologies, graphic novels, etc,...when in fact, it's obviously none of the above. BLAB! exists in a realm beyond these other categories of which I am also an avid connoisseur. It's an amusement park ride that I'll savor to take upon my first glance at a new cover when it appears at a local bookstore! But what makes BLAB! truly special, aside from the highest degree of artist/writer talent, is it's remarkable eccentricity in design and conception. Blab! is the definitive wunderbook! Congratulations, Monte!

Let's start a new book category and call it BLAB!.......2002-01-09

Zany illustrations and art deco.......2001-03-06

The black and white and color cartoons of the social commentary/cartoon book presentation Blab are presented in an oversized, eye-catching publication. Zany illustrations and art deco illustration make for a hard to describe yet appealing presentation.

Average customer rating:

Blab! : Blab No. 7

Manufacturer: Kitchen Sink Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0878161945

Amazon.com

Each issue of Blab! gets better and better, and Blab! #7 sets another high-water mark. There are two Chris Ware "Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth" stories: one on the inside covers and another 11-pager on the inside. Ware's unbelievably bleak, depressing, lonely stories are almost always overshadowed by his incredible design and illustration. Many of the Blab! regulars are back: Richard Sala with his rhyming examination of nutcases ("Psychodrama"); Doug Allen with another great Steven tale ("Bang"); Spain's underground reminiscence ("The Shadow of Fred Tooté"); Mary Fleener's tale of a white-trash woman gone mad ("Ashes of Passion"); and the wonderfully funny "Necropolis Keester in Psychobabylon" by Skip Williamson, which includes the great line, "Madam! As much as I have enjoyed your company I fear I must be off inasmuch as we have spent your entire life savings on Harvey Wallbangers." The real bonus of Blab! #7 is the new talent, specifically Terry Laban, who weaves a satirical cautionary tale called "Porn," and Marc Trujillo, whose "Tales from the Land of Plenty" is a wonderful rumination on banality.

A Taste of Venison: A BLAB! Storybook (BLAB! Storybooks)

Average customer rating:

A Taste of Venison: A BLAB! Storybook (BLAB! Storybooks)
Gary Baseman
Manufacturer: Fantagraphics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1560978368

Book Description

A new BLAB! picto-novelette by the popular graphic artist Gary Baseman.

An original graphic novel from Gary Baseman, the Los Angeles painter, TV/movie producer, toy designer, and three-time Emmy award winning creator and executive producer of the critically acclaimed animated series and film Teacher's Pet, whose artwork appears in The New Yorker, Time, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and on the best-selling game "Cranium." Entertainment Weekly magazine named Baseman as one of the 100 Most Creative People in Entertainment.

A Taste of Venison recounts Baseman's running away from his imprisoned life in Los Angeles to the wilds of Western Europe where he encounters the beautiful, wild deer-creature, Venison. Upon commencing to nurture and heal the wounded Baseman, Venison then turns on the distraught and attempts to devour him. "Was I being saved or was I the feast?" Baseman later contemplates.

A Slice of Venison is a journey into a tormented psyche. It's a story about desire (which rules the earth), monsters (whom destroy the innocent) and the innocent (who, in turn, manage to hurt the ones they love).

This is the latest BLAB! storybook, a series of graphic novels showcasing artists from Monte Beauchamp's annual BLAB! anthology, presented in a faux-children's book format, though aimed squarely at adults and young adults.

Darling Cheri (A BLAB! Storybook) (Blab Books)

Average customer rating:

Cheri cheesecake

Darling Cheri (A BLAB! Storybook) (Blab Books)
Walter Minus
Manufacturer: Fantagraphics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1560976888

Book Description

A stunning and sensuous storybook about love.

Darling Chéri is the sensually illustrated story of a young career woman who awakens one morning to not only the light of an early dawn but also to the realization that love has left her current relationship. Immediately she begins penning a brisk farewell note to her soundly sleeping boyfriend before pursuing the love that has since left.

Celebrated throughout Europe for his captivating illustrations of fashionable and scantily clad females, Walter Minus' colorful work has appeared in Cosmopolitan, Marie-Claire, Elle, The New Yorker, Maximal and L'Entreprise, and in countless advertising campaigns including Chanel, Coca-Cola, AirFrance, Nissan, Mercedes, Renault and Kodak. This is his first American book. This is the third BLAB! storybook, a series of graphic novels showcasing artists from Monte Beauchamp's annual BLAB! anthology, presented in a faux-children's book format, though this volume is aimed at older readers.

Customer Reviews:

Cheri cheesecake.......2006-10-16

It could almost be taken at first glance as an illustrated children's book. But no, the protagonist of this story is a young woman who is leaving a tired relationship and is leaving images of herself -- either in photographs or simply her lover's heartbroken memories -- behind, both in (and slightly out of) fashionable lingerie.

That's pretty much the extent of the plot of this hardcover volume from the Blab! picto-novelette line from Fantagraphics. The text is simply the young woman's farewell note, in which she succinctly explains her reasons for scampering off as he slumbers in unknowing afterglow: "I am leaving you because our love has already left." Each page boasts an illustration of her modeling various tasty bedroom outfits, and each page carries a brief phrase from the book-length note. But the purpose of this Walter Minus publication isn't really the note so much as the art, which presents our green-eyed beauty in a half-cartoony, half-realistic pop-art style. She pouts, she scowls, she smiles coquettishly, she poses in artful angles to reveal every half-dressed nuance of the body he's lost.

"Darling Cheri" is not a graphic novel so much as it is a brief vignette. It's not for readers looking for action, suspense or character-driven plotting; it's slim slice of cheesecake that briefly sates the senses and is gone.

by Tom Knapp, Rambles.NET editor

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