Blab! Vol. 17

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.