Monthly Archive for June, 2010

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Free Minicomics!

minisLocal small press comics publisher Short Pants Press has announced a monthly minicomics treasure hunt.  Short Pant’s publisher Sarah Becan has collected tons of minicomics over the years through purchases, and trades, and doesn’t know what to do with them.  So each month she’s bundling up a dozen of them and hiding them somewhere in Chicago.  She’ll take a photo of the hiding place and post it over various means of internet broadcast for you (including twitter).  All you have to do is be the first person to actually go and grab the treasure!  Get your swash buckling on, the first bundle of comics booty will be hidden this weekend!

Sarah Becan is the author of the Xeric Grant winning Complete Ouija Board Interviews, and the dream-themed series Shuteye.  Short Pants Press has also published comics by Grant Reynolds, Corinne Mucha, Jeremy Tinder, Becca Taylor, Neil Brideau, Robert Stevenson, Bernie McGovern, and Jason Robards.

Mike Faloon, James Jay and Jonathan Messinger

Jul ’10
10
7:00 pm

Mike Faloon, editor of the world-famous Go Metric! zine, celebrates the launch of his new book of stories, The Hanging Gardens of Split Rock: Stories, out now on Gorsky Press. Faloon is on tour with fellow Gorsky-ite James Jay (The Undercards), and will be joined by Chicago guy Jonathan Messinger (Hiding Out).

According to conventional wisdom some goals are best not pursued. The characters in The Hanging Gardens of Split Rock have yet to learn this. Pocket Hercules taps into the power of the ancient wonders to mend a broken heart, with some heavy metal to help. Little League coach Gary Shouldice probably goes too far in motivating his son. Leon Rayner serenades a girl he barely knows with his week-old punk band. From small town watering holes to veterinary clinics to jam band festivals the people portrayed in The Hanging Gardens of Split Rock are undeterred in the pursuit of their dreams. And maybe they should be. Deterred, that is.

The Performers:

Mike Faloon has paid the bills as a DJ, dishwasher, drummer, and school teacher. He is the publisher of two zines (Go Metric, Zisk) and a contributing writer to magazines such as Chunklet, Razorcake, and Roctober. His work has also appeared in The Zine Yearbook (Soft Skull) and The Overrated Book (Last Gasp). He lives in Brewster, New York with his family.

Poet and essayist James Jay lives in Flagstaff, Arizona where he has worked as a bartender, fire fighter, dish washer, janitor, furniture mover, and the like. He has taught poetry in high schools, jails, and universities. Currently, he is the Executive Director for the Northern Arizona Book Festival and the Managing Editor for Two Dogs Press.

Jonathan Messinger is the co-founder of Featherproof books, co-host of the Dollar Store reading series, Books Editor for Time Out Chicago and author of the short-story collection Hiding Out. He’s currently at work on Hiding Out 2: Hiding In, and Hiding Out 3: Don’t Stop Hiding.

For more info:    Mike Faloon: http://www.gometric.typepad.com/ James Jay: http://jamesjay.org

Jonathan Messinger: http://featherproof.com

Tesco Vee and Steve Miller from TOUCH AND GO: The Complete Hardcore Punk Zine ’79-83

Jul ’10
17
7:00 pm

Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson launched Touch and Go fanzine in Lansing, MI, in 1979, and set out to chronicle, lambaste, ridicule, and heap praise on the new punk happenings. In laughably minuscule press runs by today’s standards, T & G was made by guys within the Midwest scene strictly for the edification of scenesters and pals in other cities like DC, Philly, Boston, LA, SF, and Chicago. Inspired by Slash and Search and Destroy and writers like Claude Bessy and Chris Desjardines, TV and DS pumped out twenty-two naughty, irreverent issues, spawned a legendary independent record label, and brought fame and fortune to the best bands in the land, including:  Black Flag, Minor Threat, the Misfits, Negative Approach, the Fix, the Avengers, the Necros, Discharge, Die Kreuzen, Poison Idea—any punks worth their weight in glorious black and white.

T&G4T&G3T&G2T&G1

balloon-proof

I was inspired by how fearless and together Touch and Go were. They were really wild and extremely funny.”—Henry Rollins

“It was really one of the first times anyone outside of Washington really paid us any mind. The fact that Touch and Go took an interest in us really blew us away.”—Ian MacKaye

“Anyone who’s ever published a true DIY fanzine owes at least a small debt to Touch and Go.”—Decibel

For more info: http://www.touchandgobook.com

Weekly Top 10

1. Wilson by Dan Clowes (D+Q) $21.95 – We have a few signed copies left from the event on Saturday! Better hustle if ya want one!

2. Henry And Glenn Forever by Igloo Tornado (Microcosm) $4.00 – The gay love of Henry Rollins and Glenn Danzig? I’d get in that van.-EF

3. Is It the Future Yet by Corrine Mucha $3.00 – What does the future hold for you? Well, I predict you will fall madly in love with Corinne’s amazing new mini-comic, Is It the Future Yet?, which she made ‘specially for Quimby’s! I see you laughing out loud at the fresh psychic hijinx and time-travel schemes that grace every delightful page. I can see your love for this comic growing rich, deep, and strong and you will find it brings you much good luck and happiness as years go by…Yes, my friend, the future looks very bright indeed! AVAILABLE ONLY AT QUIMBY’S!

4. To Teach The Journey In Comics by William Ayers and Alexander Tanner Ryan Alexander-Tanner (Teachers College Press) $15.95

To Teach

This graphic novel brings to life William Ayers’s bestselling memoir To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher. And he’ll be here to talk about this Saturday, June 19th at 7pm! These illustrated stories begin with Ayers’s early days teaching kindergarten and follow this renowned educational theorist on his “voyage of discovery and surprise.” Readers meet fellow travelers from schools across the country and watch as students grow across a year and a lifetime.

5. Mojo #200 Jul 10 $9.99

6. Tales Designed to Thrizzle #6 by Michael Kupperman (Fantagraphics) $4.95

7. The Selves by Sonja Ahlers (D+Q) $19.95 – Collageria of of well brushed merkins and precious patchwork womanhood-EF

8. I Was a Teenage Comic Nerd by Liz Prince $3.00 – Everyone has something to be embarrassed about. For Liz Prince, it’s this collection of comics that she worked on during her pre-college years. These early stories include Liz developing crushes on boys, digging quarters out of trashcans, and dealing with insomnia. They’re lighthearted, strangely endearing, and show how far Liz has come from.

I Was A Teenage Comic Nerd

9. Proximity #7: A Catalog of Strategies $6.00 – An Art Communi-que on the Communit-tay- Chicago-centric yet limitless in scope, this issue is a Catalog of Strategies, split nicely between a recource/contact directory and focus articles pertaining to group and interventionist art. Useful on all fronts, and tremendously engaging too. -EF

Proximity #7 A Catalog of Strategies

10. Killing Time Before the Party Comics About Playing in a Band by People Who Play ed. by Justim Melkmann (Melkmann Comics) $3.00 – Comics ‘thology about playing in a band by people who play in bands. Posers go home.

Killing Time Before the Party

“Wilson” Snack Receipt Proves There Is Order In The Universe

In an Unusual Cosmic Comics Alignment, “Wilson” sold Liz snacks for Daniel Clowes’ Wilson signing yesterday! Regard:
wilsoncu
Weird, right? Well, being right-proper nerds, and it being a Wilson signing, we had Mr. Clowes sign our copy of this strange “Wilson” receipt:
signedwilson
…He also signed so many books we were all amazed he still had hands when it was over. We have a small supply of signed copies of the book still available, so pick one up quick if you missed yesterday’s event. And when you stop in you can gaze in awe at Thee Actual Snack Receipt displayed proudly and prominently on our “Wall of Holy Mysteries” in the back of the store.