Just Do It

Monsters From Under the Bed

by Holly Otterbein

Opening reception Fri., Sept. 7, 5-7 p.m., exhibit runs through Sept. 29, AxD Gallery, 265 S. 10th St., 215-627-6250, www.a-x-d.com

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Witches, wolfmen and zombies don't always have to be scary. As shown by the artists behind AxD Gallery's "Monsters From Under the Bed" exhibit, they can be whimsical, gender-bending creatures that inspire more enchanting daydreams than bed-wetting nightmares. The September show features works by Manhattanite Michael Broderick and Philly natives Mike Manley, Kimberlee Traub and Tom Whalen.

Broderick is a caustic illustrator who points out the obvious about superheroes, monsters and the whole comic book world: It's a tad homosexual. In I Seen It Out There in the Lagoon, a moss-colored mutant somewhat erotically pinches a pale boy's nipples underwater. Manley, a storyboard artist who worked on late-'90s Batman cartoons, creates comics featuring Home-Depot-smock-wearing zombies. Traub's pen-and-ink drawings are perhaps the most fanciful of the bunch; she finds inspiration in Paganism, Robert Smith clones and alpha females. Her black-and-white illustrations depict queens surrounded by teeth-bearing flowers and spiraling vines. Conversely, Whalen's works are a clean-cut hybrid of Western and Japanese comic art. Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster uses sunset colors to highlight dragons, birds and a red-eyed bear.

In conjunction with the exhibit and as part of Philly Fringe, The Absinthe Drinkers will perform a show aptly titled Songs From Under the Bed on selected nights at the gallery. The band promises go-go dancers, theatrical monster makeup, video projections galore and, for this Friday's "Monster Extravaganza" opening reception, a gin-tasting booth courtesy of Bluecoat Gin. Hey, nothin' scary about that.