For narrative art-loving New Yorkers who groove on sequential art and visual antics, your chance for a live dose of BLAB! is near. Tomorrow night, a retrospective culled from the periodic anthology's 24 years in print opens at Society of Illustrators.

Left: Cover illustration for Volume 9 copyright 1997 Gary Baseman; right: cover illustration for Volume 12 copyright The Clayton Brothers; courtesy Monte Beauchamp.

Each year, Chicago-based graphic designer and art director Monte Beauchamp invites 25 or more visual artists to contribute to BLAB! a selection informed by Beauchamp's distinctive vision and aesthetic. At the outset a visual exploration of comic illustration. the beautifully produced publication has expanded to include the work and vision of acclaimed illustrators and artists including Chris Ware, Gary Baseman, Sue Coe, Camille Rose Garcia, The Clayton Brothers, Peter Hoey and Maria Hoey, Geoffrey Grahn, Steven Guarnaccia, Jonathon Rosen, Owen Smith, SHAG!, Joe Sorren, Ron English, and Mark Ryden, among others.

BLAB! also features selections of vintage graphics, such as Depression-era matchbook covers, obscure product labels, and pre-1920 European postcards. Though it has continued to reflect Beauchamp's passion for storytelling, BLAB!'s character is resolutely visual.

"It's like a party on paper" says Beauchamp. "It's the perfect venue for both artists and readers to indulge themselves in a world where everything is permitted, and here such artists as Gary Baseman, Peter Kuper, and Mark Landman expose their deepest thoughts and fantasies. "Our process," he continues, "is sort of a visual alchemy. We don't ask for preliminary sketches or layouts. That would dilute the work."

The BLAB! retrospective will run from March 24-May 1, 2010 at Society of Illustrators. 128 East 63rd Street, NYC. The Opening Reception is Friday, March 26th at 6:00 pm. To RSVP, please contact Jessica@societyillustrators.org or call 212-838-2560.

BLAB! Founder Monte Beauchamp is an award-winning art director/graphic designer whose work has appeared in Graphis, Communication Arts, SPDA, Print, American Illustration, and The Society of Illustrators Annual. His books include: The Life & Times of R. Crumb (St. Martin's Press), Striking Images: Vintage Matchbook Cover Art Chronicle Books), The Devil in Design (Fantagraphics) and New & Used BLAB! (Chronicle Books).