Five Things From the Archive

I was looking for something and poking around in our archives (or perhaps I should say “archives” since it’s really just boxes, shelves and file cabinets bursting with ephemera) and fell upon some real fun stuff. Quimby’s has such a rich legacy of weirdness and a lot of folks have come through here, either as employees, consignors, shoppers, event performers or friends. Here’s a few choice things I pulled for you today.

 

Shoplifters will be damned to hell. Who made this sign? Shappy? (RIP, good man.)

Mini-comics BFFS It’s designer and musician Paul Koob (on the left) when he was in the thick of his Hamster Man days and director/illustrator/designer Arthur Jones who similarly sold his comics 900 Lb Gorilla and Magic Pants here. 2002, baby!

Two experimental writers On the left is Shelley Jackson in the days of her tattoo short story project called Skin Project where people would get words to get tattooed on their skin and all the participants’ tattoos added up to a short story, around 2003. She was one of the first writers to really embrace hyperlinks as storytelling, which she did in her 1995 book Patchwork Girl. On the right is writer, Small Beer Press/Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet co-editor/Book Moon Bookstore co-owner, and MacArthur “Genius” Grant recipient Kelly Link. Her newest novel The Book of Love is awesome. I think this photo was roughly 2003-ish.

When I found this picture of Billy McCall and texted him with it, the main thing he had to say about it is how amusing the Goldfinger shirt is. Former manager of Uncle Fun, editor of Behind the Zines Distro, writer of Chicago Joe and the Ancient Pages, zinester extraordinaire and so many other things, we miss the fact that he left Chicago. He now resides in Albuquerque. This picture is probably 2004 maybe? He had just started running his Chicago-based mail order Loop Distro.

2005: When We Printed Out Articles Ahahahahaha this is hilarious to me! We got a mention in the Trib because they talked about Zisk editd by Mike Falloon, Mike Fournier & friends. And they have a yahoo address! This is the greatest thing ever. I apparently have grandparent tendencies if I was printing out articles. Well, long live paper, may bit rot rest in peace.

xoxo

Liz

Zine Club Chicago: Let’s Make Food Zines! with Special Guest Sarah Becan

Nov ’24
23
3:00 pm

Zine Club Chicago: Let’s Make Food Zines! with Special Guest Sarah Becan
3 p.m. Saturday, November 23, 2024
Quimby’s Bookstore, 1854 W. North Ave.
Free!

What better way to celebrate a season of harvest than with an artist who draws food? Chicago-based superstar Sarah Becan has been on the scene for years, and we’ve always been fans of her delectable and informative work. We’re thrilled to have Sarah as a special guest at Zine Club Chicago to talk about her career in culinary comics, which spans mini-comics, webcomics, restaurant work, and publishing. Sarah also will tell us about the weird things artists have to think about when illustrating food and making recipe comics, because she’s got plenty of experience. Plus, she’ll be hosting a free workshop! Bring a recip Bon appetit!

Please join us at Zine Club Chicago: Let’s Make Food Zines! with Special Guest Sarah Becan at 3 p.m. Saturday, November 23, 2024 right here at our shop, 1054 W. North Ave. in Wicker Park. Free!

We’ll provide zinemaking supplies and snacks. Recommended: Bring a short recipe of your choosing to make into a zine during the workshop.

Zine Club Chicago is a mask-supportive environment; we’ll have masks available if you’d like to wear one. Please note that seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Sarah Becan has been drawing comics since she was very small. Her food-based autobiographical webcomic “I Think You’re Sauceome” sparked a love of food and culinary illustration, and her work has since appeared in various publications, including Saveur Magazine, Eater.com, StarChefs, and the Chicago Reader. She is the coauthor and illustrator of Let’s Make Ramen!, published July 2019, and Let’s Make Dumplings!, published June 2021, and the most recent Let’s Make Bread!, coauthored with baker Ken Forkish, published May 2024. She lives in Chicago with her partner Niles and their cat Toki, and she would be very happy to do nothing but draw food all day. Find her on Instagram @sarahbecan

Zine newbies and longtime enthusiasts alike are always welcome at Zine Club Chicago. This free monthly event series is produced by Cynthia E. Hanifin and sponsored by Quimby’s Bookstore. Anna Jo Beck designs the monthly flyers, created the logo, and made the Zine Club Chicago Shout-Outs site, where folks can peruse and recommend zines we’ve discussed at our events: https://zineclubchicagoshoutouts.spread.name/

More info:

Zine Club Chicago social media channels: @zineclubchicago like here on IG and here on Twitter.

The Facebook Event Invite is here.

New Stuff This Week

 

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Zines

Make Up #3 $5

Austin Seance Quarterly Journal Fall 2024 The Fall Halloween Issue by Jake Cordero $5

Bovely’s Little Big Adventure $2

Moments of the Past by Clementine Penner $2

by Jerrry James: Buncha Balogney issues #1 & #3 $7 each, Phlim Phlam #1 $10

Comics

Mineshaft #45 $15

2 titles from Entropy Editions: Little Misanthropist: Chicago, IL by Gabriel Mason Howell $8 + Gods Sod House: Gypsum, KS by Cedar Van Tassel $10

Lifetime Library Lover: My Journey from Reader to Anticensorship Ringleader by Amanda Recupido, art by Rae Yung $3

Journey Agent #0 Dirt Cheap Honest to Goodness Tramp Tales by OW Wellerd $4

Back to School by Rudy Brumm $10

Chasing Yesterday by Boris Hartl, Steph C and Lucas Gattoni $2

New Wave Comics – Slane #5 by David Soileau $2

Graphic Novels

Dog Days by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim (Drawn & Quarterly) $24.95

Art Books

Giant Robot: Thirty Years of Defining Asian American Pop Culture edited by by Eric Nakamura, Francine Yulo, Tracy Hurren, Megan Tan and Tom Devlin (Drawn & Quarterly) $49.95 – Release date 10/29!

Soil Air Reverence by Colin Martinez $20

The Theatrical Adventures of Edward Gorey : Rare Drawings, Scripts, and Stories by C. J. Verburg $50

Music & Film Books

From Shining Light Press: CHUNKS Hardcore Fanzine Anthology $18 + HARDWARE Hardcore Fanzine Anthology Second Printing by David Koenig and Brett Beach $45 + POSITIVE INFLUENCE Hardcore Fanzine Anthology by Anji Bee $18

Jukebox Photographs 1967-2023 by Michael Goldberg (Hozac) $33.99

This Aint No Disco: The Story of CBGB by Roman Kozak and photos by Ebet Roberts (Trouser Press) $22.95

The Worlds of Wes Anderson: The Influences and Inspiration Behind the Iconic Films by Adam Woodward $35

Magazines & Newspapers

Creem $25 each: #8 Goes to the Movies, #9 Gone Country

The Anarchist Review of Books #8 $6

Sexxxy

Dirty Mag – A Zine July 2024 by Alex B. and Dittos Domain $10

Fiction Books

Kayfabe by Chris Koslowski (McSweeney’s) $28

Dear Dickhead: A Novel by Virginie Despentes $28

Lit Journals, Chap Books & Poetry

The First Line vol 26 #3 Fall 24 edited by David & Robin Labounty (Blue Cubicle Press) $6

Some Poems #2 by Clementine Penner $2

The Day We Met in Earthly Time by Gary Gautier $10.99

For the Young at Heart

Emily (and Jerry and Lucy): Emily’s Family Fun Tales by Rocco DiCaro $15.99

Fruit on the Go: A Coloring Book by Clementine Penner $18

Don’t Know Where to Start? We’ll Make it Easy For You!

Browsing the store can be overwhelming, especially if it’s your first time in. We recommend checking out our staff picks section! Located right underneath our fabulous LGBTQIA+ shelves, (sorry to those with weak knees) our staff faves are filled with gems selected by our expert team of zine makers and readers. Next time you’re in the shop, check out some of these standout titles handpicked just for you!

 

Shotgun Seamstress: The Complete Zine Collection by Osa Atoe

We’re huge fans of zine anthologies, especially this beautiful collection of one of our all-time faves: Shotgun Seamstress by Osa Atoe! Shotgun Seamstress began in 2006 in Portland, OR out of necessity. From the author: “The zine came out of the experience of being the only black kid at the punk show.” Each issue highlights Black punk bands, artists, and musicians, many of them friends of Atoe or musicians and artists she looked up to. The layout style is timeless and the interviews, comix, and zine and album reviews highlight underground Black musicians and artists by bringing them to the forefront.

Feminist Art Punks: Riot Grrrl, Zines, and the Radical Power of Self Authorship by Katie Kiesewetter

A syllabus zine that includes resources, writing prompts, and ways to map your own feminist history in a radical and self-guided way. You really can’t go wrong with zines by local zine maker Katie Kiesewetter, which we have plenty of titles in stock at the moment!

Staring Contest Essays About Eyes by Joshua James Amberson

A memoir written in essays, all about your eyeballs! Joshua James Amberson writes about pseudoxanthoma elasticum, a rare eye disease he developed early in his childhood that later turned into an obsession. Amberson bares his soul and writes about the frustrating trips to oncologists and the fear of possibly losing his sight earlier than planned. The pop culture references about eye disabilities in the media (think Mr. Magoo, Lisa “Left Eye Lopes,” and the song “Betty Davis Eyes”) make this book a truly fascinating read! Joshua James Amberson is also the founder of one of our favorite book and zine distros, Antiquated Future.

First Good Time by Aim Ren Beland

From the author: back in august ’22 I asked the trans community to share their joy with me “because we deserve joy and we deserve to see depictions of our selves being joyful”. First Good Time is the zine born of those submissions; a collection of portraits, drawn by myself, of trans folks with a line about why they feel joy, or in what ways they feel joy. First Good Time is also a Zine-A-Month March 2024 release.

Prisoners’ Inventions by Angelo and Temporary Services, published by Half Letter Press

What began as a penpal exchange between Marc Fisher of Half Letter Press and Angelo, a Californian prisoner, this collection features Angelo’s illustrations of inventions he had seen in prison. This is a great resource for prisoners and their friends on the outside.

Red’s Review of Revolting Prostitutes by Red S.

Part book review, part resource of sex worker organizing movements and groups in the US and beyond, this is an important zine about the release of the book Revolting Prostitutes the Fight for Sex Workers’ Rights by Molly Smith and Juno Mac. We are fans of book reviews that turn into full blown zines, especially radical zines about sex workers rights!

Rain Barrel #4 by Jordan Sea

From the author: An extra vulnerable one. Examining the intersection of anti-aging and anti-fat bias. And am I asexual?

Jordan is a zine counselor for Zine Club Chicago‘s Zine Camp, co-host of The Zine Report, a monthly podcast, and friend of the store.

thanks for reading!!! <3 Angel

@angel.xoxoxoxox

Quimby’s October Newsletter Available Now

Read it here and make sure you sign up to get it in your inbox at quimbys.com.