blod started in 2001 as a big fat, crudely designed zine that boasted a number of offensive chatroom escapades and website excerpts - most of it was internet-related, yet did not require any computer knowledge to be enjoyed. it was named blod on a whim; i had no idea at the time that it meant blood in german or that, when reflected in a mirror, it appeared as "bold." it was distributed only to friends in an edition of about 20. some people still have held on to their copies - lucky them, as it is very doubtful that blod one will ever be reprinted.

the saga continued later that year with the release of blod two, created mainly because of the popularity of issue one. number two still was mainly shared with a select group of friends, but a larger audience was forming. production values were still deliciously diy, although that never really changed even to this date. blod two was still really fat and clumsy, clocking in at 41 8.5"/11" pages.

blod three was when things started to get a bit more serious. created in december of 2001, it was 40 pages long, but was also really slickly designed, with a nice image collage cover and some really classic comedy that people just loved. it was also a bitch to produce, and costs ended up greatly exceeding revenue. such is often the case with running zines, though.

blod four came out in september of 2002, just in time for the toronto zine festival, canzine. copies were sold at canzine, and this is how blod started to spread. a very nice friend by the name of steve shits [check out the website for his terrific kaboom! press] bought a copy and said he really liked it. since then, i've realized that perhaps blod deserves an audience much larger than the one my limited web of friends permits. blod four also marked the start of many of the most coveted sections in today's blod, including "beverage reviews," "articles," and probably many more i can't remember. perhaps the most important aspect of number four is that it was pocket-size - small, but made complete by the use of smaller font and a more compact, efficient design.

blod five came out on christmas eve of 2002. it continued the pocket-size trend, except crammed even more content into the same space. despite the size 7.5 font, it was still remarkably readable. and funny. plus there were chocolate bar reviews.

blod six came out in april/may of 2003 and marked a big departure for blod as it contained the zine's first ever compilation. including comp-exclusive tracks by noise and experimental artists from across north america, it was quite a magical moment. the artists/bands were prurient, d-503, autio-ethik, xome, flatline construct, jeremy from boise, the slum pianos foundation, argus, and telesmata. blod six also introduced readers to a bunch of new features, including cookie reviews, poetry corner, and message board mayhem (the latter of which was actually a throwback to an earlier feature only in blod one).

and that's how blod came to be. i'm sure it was more than you ever cared to know. to date, the only sections that have stayed with the zine from the start were the chats, obscurity bizarrity hilarity, and lame jokes. to see what's coming in the future, click here.