A sacred tome for those who spent their youth finding humor in the gross-out antics of booger flicking, belching your name and the secret art of SBDs.
EDITED BY: Charles Kochman
COVER ART: Tom Bunk
PUBLISHER: Abrams Comicarts
COVER PRICE: $19.95 US
RELEASE DATE: April 1
If you were a delinquent whose childhood consisted of finding constant humor in the gross-out antics of booger flicking, belching your name and the secret art of SBDs then you (much like I have) will find Abrams Comicarts latest book to be a sacred tome of those forgotten times. Entitled simply GARBAGE PAIL KIDS, the book marks the first time ever that the first 5 series of stickers have ever been collected in one place (provided you don’t own the actual stickers) – each in full color and glossy detail as the garbage gods intended them to be – and bound in a wax paper dust jacket.
Speaking of “garbage gods” the book is appropriately bookended with an introduction by Art Spiegelman as well as an afterword by John Pound. As one of the original GPK artists, not to mention the creator of Maus, Spiegelman kick things off with the origins of the Garbage Pail Kids concept and how the series eventually offered a counterculture for little deviants such as myself to attach themselves. It’s an eclectic narrative of the events leading to GPK’s success, but one supported by Pound’s recollection as he fondly remembers making life-altering decisions “like whether barf should be smooth or chunky.”
While the rest of the book is dedicated to the cards (and rightfully so), it would have been nice to heard a few more perspectives from those that worked on the series as well as highlighting some of the behind-the-scenes concept sketches. Granted, this is a minor complaint given that you will still spend hours looking through the artwork as alone and Abrams does make up for it in presentation. As I mentioned earlier the book comes bound with wax paper which conceals a photo of Topps trademark stick of gum on the hardcover. Also hidden inside are a pack of bonus stickers that include “limited-edition ‘Lost’ Garbage Pail Kids stickers from the Topps archives.” Well worth the $20 bucks price of admission – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
