<DIV><DIV>From her first comics published in the Evergeen State College school paper to her influential weekly comic strip, <I>Ernie Pook's Comeek</I>; from her bestselling creative how-to memoir comic books, <I>What It Is </I>and <I>Picture This</I>, to her novels, graphic memoirs, plays, and awards in between, Lynda Barry has been part of the North American alternative comics scene for thirty years. <BR><BR><DIV>Fans around the world rejoiced at D+Q's announcement of <I>Blabber Blabber Blabber: Volume 1 of</I> <I>Everything</I>, which collects all of the seminal <I>Ernie Pook's Comeek</I>, some of which has been out of print for decades, and includes her earliest books, such as <I>Girls and Boys </I>and <I>Big Ideas</I>, and features an introduction penned by Barry, complete with photographs. <BR><BR>Reflective of the early 1980s before the appearance of Barry's well-known characters Marlys and Arna, the comics in <I><I>Blabber Blabber Blabber</I> </I>cover the more adult subjects of bad love, bad perms, being single, Prince, and miserable break-ups—resulting in one of the most oft-quoted Barry sayings: "Love is an exploding cigar which we all willingly smoke." </DIV><BR>Though Barry's early drawing style is most often described as "scratchy," her affinity for large swaths of text and narration; her fondness for exclamation marks, angular shapes, and cursive penmanship; and her uncanny ability to zero in on the very essence of life all within a few panels is as present as ever in this collection.</DIV></DIV>