Granton does it again with well-drawn daily diary comics about Portland and trotting/biking around North America. Shawn reflects on the medium, his volume of productivity or lack thereof, an Amtrak trip to parts east, going to comic and zine events, researching and writing an article about Critical Mass and Bike Summer in his hometown of New Haven, CT, a series of self addressed postcards, and much more. Nice to see some regular output from this zine artist.
Jack T. Chick is a very strange and well-meaning but offensive man who has been distributing "religious" tracts in the form of small comic books for the past 50 years. You've probably seen them in the park or on the bus. They are about how everyone is damned to go to Hell unless they have the exact same beliefs and lifestyle he has. Ironically, the majority of Chick's biggest fans are those he numbers among "the damned", namely people who are only interested in his works solely as humorous kitsch or sources of insight into a strange paranoid mind. Strangely again, his comics are among the most violent and sexually exploitative available, not to mention some of the best drawn and written.
Like a super issue of John Marr's "Murder Can Be Fun" - this book creates the ultimate researched reference to Chick's works. Included are guides to identifying and purchasing different printings of Chick tracts and comics, synopses of every tract Chick ever published, even outlines of the slight variations between different versions of each tract (e.g. changes in dialouge made to reflect changes in culture or Chick's increasingly open hostility to Catholics). Also included is a paranoid History of the World According to Jack Chick pieced together from all of his tracts (including how the Catholic church supposedly created Islam as a means of destroying the Jews), interesting quotations, a list and synopses of parodies as well as articles and books written about Chick, a biography of the secretive Chick pieced together from various sources, a history of his publishing company, etc.
Also included is an envelope containing 5 actual Chick tracts, including one that is horrifyingly homophobic, one that is both extremely violent and moving, and a couple outlining his philosophy of "it doesn't matter how much good or bad you do during your life: as long as you "accept Jesus as your saviour" during the last nanosecond of your life".
Moe Bowstern has brought us the inside story about being a woman who fishes commercially for years. If that doesn't seem fascinating to you, you have another thing coming. Moe is an amazing storyteller and reveals much about the history of commercial fishing in Alaska through a very descriptive and personable narrative that can be understood by any layperson. She tells great stories of the crews she's been involved with and their dynamics as well being a woman involved in a very male dominated profession. Moe has a passion for fishing and the sea and she shares this with you in her zine. This is her story of being on the job and "how she got xtra tuf" on a few different episodes of labor disagreements that held up work (technically not "strikes") over many years. Fascinating reading as she combines her artistic and DIY sensibilities with the labor tactics in order to achieve the fishermen's goals and get everyone back to work! The book sports a fancy letter pressed cover by Third Termite Press with 30 different colors schemes. Winner of the 2007 Lilla Jewel Award! ISBN 0-9726967-7-6
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A new issue of Xtra Tuf that's audible! It's a CD of Moe telling stories about her life as a commercial fisher-woman. Moe sings songs too, and does spoken word like pieces. This CD answers the question, "Does Moe want to get you in a skiff?" The answer is yes! This is for fans of fishing and being sung to sleep. Limited edition covers by Icky A. and accompanying CD artwork by Carolina Paquita.
This is a really weird one that's surprisingly useful. From Canada comes this instructional Yoga guide written for "dudes". I'm pretty sure that's dudes in the figurative sense, as in, "we're all dudes here. " Anyways, it's basic yoga moves paired with clip art of Richard Simmons from his "Reach" exercise record. The instructions are such that you could actually learn some basic yoga from this zine, and maybe get a laugh while doing it.
A split issue of two Australian zines, "Westside Angst" and "You." The You. side is a bunch of letters about heavy metal, including one about extreme head-banging. The Westside Angst side is dedicated to Motorhead and breaks down the author's favorite songs. He explains what they mean, and what life lessons you can learn from them. Who knew that the song Rock and Roll had so much in common with the theories of Judith Butler?
Second Edition! The history of the first ten years of Microcosm Publishing, told in graphic detail! For the first time ever, read about how we got to where we are today through working long hours at low (or no) pay! Join us on our journey through starting out in a bedroom, putting out records, growing, moving to Portland, publishing books, growing, moving into an office in Liberty Hall, amassing more zines than anyone could ever konw what to do with, and more. A fun foray into getting inspiration and perspective for making your own projects. Entries written by Joe Biel, Alex Wrekk, Franco Ortega, Marc Moscato, Siue Moffat, Peter Aaron "Thug" Green, and more. Cover by Alan Lastufka.
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Everyday I admire more and more the longevity of this comic. Carrie is stylistically so talented, and she's hit her stride doing daily comics. I've probably said this before, but I find diary comics so comforting. I don't know Carrie personally, but I feel like I do! And not in a creepy stalkery way, just in a "wow I can't believe somebody's willing to share all of these really personal experiences" way. It's the day-to-day mundane activities like eating dinner jumbled together with the intense events like friends getting cancer and pets getting sick. It creates a composite that perfectly captures life as a human being. Having someone else's document of that is pretty f-ing cool.
Carrie McNinch's daily mini comics about her life in L.A. This issue features: depression, tarantulas, rattle snakes, acupuncture, drinking, and cats. We always look forward to getting these in the mail.
You Idiot is hysterically funny!!! Once a zine, now a collected book, You Idiot is Nate Ganglehoff's biting and accurate commentary on Christian video games, anti-drug strategies, and Hulk Hogan's rap album, among other comedy gems. It's all the funny comments you wish you'd made about record-burning preachers who try to exorcise Satan from Journey records. This book is seriously hilarious.
Every week since 2001, our anonymous friend from Melbourne, Australia, writes a letter or publishes a letter from a friend about something in their life. He photocopies it, puts it in hand-stamped/spray-painted/block-printed envelopes and leaves them about! This book collects the first 5 years of car accidents, deaths, cheating spouses, suggestions on how to spend your day, and much much more. A gorgeous collection of things you would otherwise never see again. Mail art at it's finest.
This zine is great!!! Every week, our anonymous friend from Melbourne, Australia, writes a letter about something in his life. He then photocopies it, puts them in hand-stamped/spray-painted/block-printed envelopes and leaves them about! He's been doing this every week since November 2001! We're lucky enough to have been sent some issues to distribute, but due to postal delays and time-constraints, can't keep up with the weekly format. But we can send a random issue to you whenever you order! This is mail art at it's finest.
I couldn't stop laughing when I read this little bundle of joy - Matt and Cathy tell you about all of the things they did as children that would upset their moms! Their moms were particular tight wads and things like Mad Magazine collections, the Chipmunks X-mas album, dating ANYONE, not calling home, eating food from other's plates, sex in movies, writing on shoes, sleeping in, getting a punk haircut, closing the bedroom door, eating a giant donut on vacation with the family, and this zine. The highlight may quite probably be the end where mom reviews records. This zine is instantly gratification laughs!
Like a fanzine grab bag, the Zine Yearbook is a collection of reprints from some people's favorite picks of zines published in a given year. This collection from 1999 represents a powerful time capsule of zines that would otherwise be lost, forgotten, or confined to the closets of those lucky enough to find them in their original incarnations. Let's face it - zines disappear and are very difficult to replace!
Includes: Alice is an Island, America?, Amusing Yourself to Death, Antipathy, Avow, Burn Collector, Cheapskate, Contrascience, Cooties, Drinkdrankdrunk, Enobled Mind, Fucktooth, Guinea Pig Zero, Here Be Dragons, Hodgepodge, Holiday in the Sun, I Defy, Inside Front, Kurt Cobain was Lactose Intolerant Conspiracy zine, Marketing Ploy, the Match, Miranda, Monozine, Nebulosi, Punk Fiction, Retard, Rumpshaer, Scenery, Secret Files of Captain Sissy, Sharkpool, Sissy, Skyscraper, Slant, Slave, Slow Leek, Synthesis, That Girl, Throwrug, Universal Citizen, and Used To.
Collected zines in these pages include Complete Control, Spectacle, Fucktooth, Ten Things Jesus Wants You to Know, Scenery, Doris, Antipathy, Here Be Dragons, Slave, Temp Slave, Yard Wide Yarns, Wonderful Broken Thing, and many more.
Highlights include instructional articles, personal stories of Abortion, the Columbine shootings, extensive interviews with owners of independent stores, Vanilla Ice, Fugazi, and Brian D (Catharsis, Crimethinc). An excellent grouping with a series of articles for virtually any reader.
"This is a book about zines. This is about recognizing the truly amazing stuff we've created that exists in the underground."
Includes: A Reader's Guide to the Underground Press, Alabama Grrrl, Antipathy, Arsenal, Black Sun, Rev. Rich Mackin's Book of Letters, Chick Pea, Cien Fuegos: A Hundred Fires, Distress Signals, Doris, Drinking Sweat in the Ash Age, Eat the State!, Eco-zine, Emergency, Engine, Fishpiss, Guinea Pig Zero, Her Heroes Aren't Gone, Here Be Dragons, Hodge Podge, I defy, I Hate This Part of Texas, Monozine, Personality Liberation Front, Phoenix Was a Mistake, Punk Rock Resume, Question Everything, Challenge Everything, Rejected Band Names, Rumpshaker, Sharkpool/Real Overdose split, Sneer, Ten Things Jesus Wants You to Know, The Tangent, Thursdays Are an Empty Day For Me Now, Visible Woman, and Walkie Talkie.
Volume 2 continues the investigation with in-depth interviews with 12 more unusual publishers. Features interviews with Slant, 8 Track Mind, Tiki News, Candi Strecker, Bruno Richard, Dishwasher Pete, McJob, Murder Can Be Fun, Temp Slave, International Mail Art, RKC, and Arthur Cravan. A good historical understanding and theory companion to Stolen Sharpie Revolution. **super special low price**