No, I didn't take my monicker from that lead story.

I don't think I had mentioned it yet, but the most recent comicon here really delivered on the cheap book front: I got another couple metric tons of $1-2 books. Like working in a quarry lugging them around, though...One thing I grabbed pretty much on instinct, was a big run of Wasteland, which I've mentioned before here. It was a more experimental horror/existential dread book from DC; pre-Vertigo but would've been more at home there; from John Ostrander and Del Close. A friend was getting that, back when it first hit shops (maybe Waldenbooks, back in the day?) and I read his: the stories weren't all hits for me but some are still memorable, even years later. From 1987, Wasteland #1, all stories by Ostrander and Close, cover by George Freeman.

"Foo Goo" is a standout; as two bored and tired detectives investigate a rather Victorian looking crime scene, four corpses around a sitting-room table, another 'foo goo' party. The titular mushroom was supposed to deliver a high like seeing god, but would immediately kill the taster: so, did the mushroom actually deliver the high, or the painless death? The only way to find out for sure, was to taste it for yourself. In flashback, we see the four party-goers take their bite, for various reasons: doubt, chasing that high, entered a pact, and boredom. The cops, not seeing any of that, can only speculate: one seemingly accepts that the world doesn't make sense and people are dumb, while the other seemingly considers taking a bite of foo himself...(Art by David Lloyd.)

"R.ab." is a bit of a shaggy-dog/Future Shock number: in a techy, overpopulated future, a vapid young woman is tired of the crowds and wants to marry and improve her station in life. She finds a suitable mate, equally shallow but rich: they seem happy enough until the husband gets a friend at the Child Center to move their names up the list, getting them a child...that neither seems to have any interest in taking care of, which drives a wedge into their marriage. Discussing divorce with an official, neither wants to take custody, so an "R.ab." is suggested, as easier for everyone...except the kid, of course. (Art by William Messner-Loebs.)

Finally, "Sewer Rats" is "a bit of autobiography" from Del Close, which largely involves him tripping balls beneath the streets of Chicago, with what appears to be a butane torch taped to his head for light. That feels unsafe...(Art by Don Simpson.)

A weird, massively idiosyncratic title; some of which you can probably find in quarter bins anywhere, but the distribution was maybe off for a couple issues. Progressive Ruin mentions, there had been an error misprinting all of issue #6 as #5. From the show, I have #1-2, #4, #6-10, #12, #14, #16-18. We'll see if any more turn up!