An Alphabetical Ballad of Carnality

David Sandlin’s An Alphabetical Ballad of Carnality, a single-issue comic from Fantagraphics that debuted in 2006, is a dense, illustrated alphabet book for adults, each letter a doorway into a lurid, intricately drawn scene of sin and desire. Sandlin, the sole artist and writer across this brief run, unleashes a chaotic, carnivalesque vision that blends pulp grotesquerie with fine-art technique. Though it stands alone, the book’s visceral, unapologetic exploration of bodily and moral excess marks it as a singular artifact of the mid-2000s alt-comics scene.