Goblin's Armpit
Goblin's Armpit was a punk zine created by artist Sean "Goblin" Aaberg in 1988 and produced out of Oakland, California, U.S.A.
The zine began as a Warhammer Fanzine, but quickly changed into an aggressive, off-beat and weird punk zine inspired largely by Punk Magazine, Sniffin' Glue and The Church of the Subgenius. Sean stopped publishing Goblin's Armpit after he left highschool in 1994, but then revived the zine in a second volume in a new "Medieval Punk" mold. The new Goblin's Armpit featured a back to the land/post-apocalyptic leaning with a more crusty/heavy metal image. Goblin's Armpit changed again in 1998 as it moved away from Punk and turned towards a more 'diabolical' mindset. Goblin's Armpit ceased publication in 1998 after 22 issues.
Goblin's Armpit was originally co-edited by Sean Aaberg (writing as Jonny Gestapo) and Danny Shoup (writing as Thermadore Grenadine), with contributions from Andrew Horwitz (writing under numerous names) and Ezra Sage (writing as "The Nomad"). These other writers were eliminated as Sean became more intolerant of non-Punk view points. Goblin's Armpit was never music-focussed, but promoted Punk philosophy and art work.
Christine Boarts-Larson of Slug & Lettuce described Goblin's Armpit as follows. "This has risen to the top of my zine land become a favorite. A fine example of true DIY Punk - with a blend of studs and spikes and the punk rock look, talking about homebrewing cider and growing apple trees, appreciating nature and admiring medieval villages and Viking warriors... Anyone who doesn't quite know about real DIY punk rock, or realize that there is indeed a highly thoughtful side to punk's rebelliousness (that has nothing to do with Rancid) should get this zine and educate yourself."
R. Seth Friedman of Factsheet Five described Goblin's Armpit as follows. "Chaotic anger, strangeness and tasteless humor. Lots of stuff here - 92 pages of pure chaos."
Evan of Gibbering Madness described Goblin's Armpit as follows. "Probably my most favorite and looked forward to zine, Sean has kept up his Punk standards again! Goblin's Armpit is a medieval chaos feast chock full of idealistic rants, plots and schemes, useful info and thotty bits. Some of the most incredible Warhammer inspired Punk Rot artwork i've ever seen!"
Mike of Codger Zine described Goblin's Armpit as follows. "Definitely the best punk zine i've read, besides Cometbus of course."
While Goblin's Armpit was produced in Oakland, California, it never caught on locally, but was quite successful on the east coast where it was supported by Christine Boarts-Larson of Slug and Lettuce and the Crasshole Collective of Baltimore, Maryland.
