Tabloia  TABL   (Salt Peter, 2005) ™ and ©

It’s obvious Tabloia’s creators (“True Tales for the Sophisticated Pseudo-Intellectual”) had fun creating this anthology comic book by way of supermarket tabloid. The fun is infectious, although, sadly, none of this issue’s four tales manages to sustain the humor beyond its first few pages.

They get props for the attempts. The Lump starts with an amusing nod to the preface of Universal’s 1931 Frankenstein. “Dick Hammer, Conservative Republican Private Investigator” is not nearly as one-sided as its title suggests, poking fun at the left as well as the right. “Doctor DeBunko” is a droll send-up of naysayers of the supernatural.

My favorite tale is “Spluhh! The Thing Who Burst from an Exploding Volcano!” which draws inspiration from the monsters Jack Kirby used to draw for Tales to Astonish and other pre-Marvel universe titles. They even got Dick Ayers to ink this one.

Add a trio of splendid pin-ups by Mike Allred, Tom Yeats, and Gene Colan to the mix and you have a pleasant comic book which delivers a few laughs and shows promise.

— Tony Isabella

		Notes	Writer	Artist
	Tabloia #572 Date: Cover Price: $3.95 NM Guide: $3.95 1 copy available for $3.95	actually issue #1	Chris Wisnia	Various
	Tabloia #573 Date: Cover Price: $3.95 NM Guide: $3.95 No copies available	issue #2	Chris Wisnia
	Tabloia #574 Date: 1/1/2005 Cover Price: $3.95 NM Guide: $3.95 1 copy available for $3.95		Chris Wisnia
	Tabloia #575 Date: 4/1/2005 Cover Price: $3.95 NM Guide: $3.95 2 copies available from $3.95		Chris Wisnia
	Tabloia #576 Date: 7/1/2005 Cover Price: $5.95 NM Guide: $6.00 2 copies available from $5.95	Extra-Special 48-Page Giant; b&w	Chris Wisnia	Dick Ayers
	Tabloia #577 Date: 2/1/2006 Cover Price: $9.95 NM Guide: $10.00 1 copy available for $10.00	b&w	Chris Wisnia	Mike Allred, Gene Colan, Tom Yeates, Steve Rude, John Severin, Irwin Hasen, Bill Sienkiewicz, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Mario Hernandez, Ryan Sook, Ramona Fradon, Tony Millionaire, Sam Kieth, Mike Mignola, Dick Ayers
	Tabloia #578 Date: Cover Price: $0.00 NM Guide: $2.50 No copies available
	Tabloia #579 Date: Cover Price: $0.00 NM Guide: $2.50 No copies available
	Tabloia #580 Date: 12/1/2006 Cover Price: $2.50 NM Guide: $2.50 1 copy available for $2.50	Collecting stories from Tabloia #214 & #232; B&W	Chris Wisnia	John Severin, Dick Ayers, Sam Glanzman, Russ Heath
	Tabloia #581 Date: 1/1/2007 Cover Price: $2.50 NM Guide: $2.50 1 copy available for $2.50	Collecting stories from Tablioa #172 & #181; B&W	Chris Wisnia	Chris Wisnia, Dave Gibbons, Al Feldstein, Peter Baffe, J.H. Williams III
	Tabloia #582 Date: 8/1/2007 Cover Price: $11.95 NM Guide: $12.00 1 copy available for $12.00	Collects Doris Danger Greatest All Out Army Battles #1, Doris Danger in Outher Space #1	Chris Wisnia	Chris Wisnia, Dave Gibbons, Al Feldstein, Peter Baffe, J.H. Williams III, Shag, Mike Allred