Fellowship of Absurdity: Artist Nicholas Gurewitch

A BOY, KNEELING AT his bed, asks God that when he wakes up, his gramps will be alive for just one more day. The next day he looks sadly at the empty rocking chair outside his home, while at a cemetery a voice calls out from a grave site. "Hello. Helloooo! Now just what the hell is goin' on here!?"

That comic, titled "One More Day," is part of Nicholas Gurewitch's often absurd, often raunchy and always funny comic strip, "The Perry Bible Fellowship."

Gurewitch, who will be signing copies of his new "PBF" collection, "The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories" at Atomic Pop on Thursday, started the strip while he was at Syracuse University.

The comic is beautifully illustrated with lush, vibrant colors that could lead people to mistake it for a children's strip.

The strip lampoons pop culture old and new, taking on "The Transformers" and Edward Gorey with equal aplomb, while producing some fresh, new bizarre ideas.

"PBF" can be found online and in alternative weeklies, which afford the cartoonist the freedom to create some shockingly perverse and downright raunchy comics.

"I've never encountered any issues with the City Paper or the NY Press, but that's not saying much; they're allowed to run anything," Gurewitch said. "I encountered censorship issues by the time I started doing it in my hometown paper, which is probably for the better."

» Atomic Pop, 3620 Falls Road, Baltimore, Md.; Thu., 7 p.m., free; 410-366-1004.

Art by Nicholas Gurewitch