It only takes one look at the cover of the debut issue of Lucky Peach to realize that this isn’t your typical food ‘zine. No glossy photo of an impeccably styled dish here; instead, there’s a dead chicken being held unceremoniously upside down by its feet, its pale, thin, pocky skin in places taut and wrinkled as it’s being lowered into a stock pot.

The remaining spaces around the chicken are filled in with hand-drawn doodles and chicken scratch teasers for the features inside: “Transmissions from the Desk of Harold McGee in Outre Space,” plus by an illustration of a space ship launching off; “Chicken Soup for Your Loved One,” accompanied by a squiggle of ramen noodles in a heart shape.

Part literary journal, plus serious food geekery, there’s more than a nod to the tradition of the renegade culture ‘zines of the Eighties that were a mash-up of cut-and-paste collage, words and art. The inside cover features a full-page illustration of a cut-away of a stomach by Scott Teplin; it’s filled with objects that appear throughout the issue: eggs, nuts, a take-out container, noodles, bacon, a horn, a Lucha Libre wrestler. … (continue reading)