New Stuff This Week

Published on September 21, 2024 0 Comments

 

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Zines

Political Monsters: How Presidents Influence Horror Movies by Tea Krulos $5

Angelic Confessions #3 by angel xoxo $5

100 Swims: Last Summer’s Diaries by Hurley Winkler $13

Through Walls #2 $16

August African Athority $3

Zines by Honetii: There’s A Time and Place for This Sort of Thing $8, 01 A Vocaloid Fanzine $5

New stuff from Ed of The Word Distro: Ed Reviews Stuff #2 $2, Touring America the #2 Pencil Edition – A Pencil of the Week Collaboration $3

I Never Played Catch With My Dad and Now Hes Dead So I’ll Never Have To: 121 Jokes by Zach Mason $6

Transmutations – An Early Memoir $2

Good Advice From Kaiju #2 Eating Disorder Treatment and Recovery $2

Sabotage Noise #1 Compiled Interviews $3

Clara Dixon: Poet Printer of Early American Anarchism $3

Comics

No Pants Revolution #8 Acceptance by Andrea Pearson $8

Horror Movie Tinder by Tori Bowler (Silver Sprocket) $14.99

The Promo: Roadworks From the Working Men by Revolvoe (Wiggle Bird Mailing Club) $6

New Stuff from DnA Artists: Devoted by Dana Amundsen $12, Anxious Critters by Alex O’Keefe $7 & more!

Debacle of the Unfairly Distributed Pear Orchard and Six More Drawn Stories by Isaac George Lauritsen $12

Don’t Ask by Don Unger $6

Stinson’s Inferno by Dave Nuss and Peter & Maria Hoey $15

From a Dolls POV $5

Nut #3 + #4 by Brandon John $5, $10

Graphic Novels

When to Pick a Pomegranate by Yasmeen Abedifard (Silver Sprocket) $14.99

Day and Age Year Three by Andrew Oh $12

Gravity Well or a Collection of OC Brainrot Induced Insanity by Honetii $15

The Farewell Song of Marcel Labrume by Attilio Micheluzzi $24.99

Ocultos by Laura Perez (Fantagraphics) $24.99

Politics, Revolution, Essay & Crit

Visualizing Palestine: A Chronicle of Colonialism and the Struggle for Liberation edited by Aline Batarseh, Jessica Anderson and Yosra El Gazzar (Haymarket) $50

Program Or Be Programmed: Eleven Commands for the AI Future by Douglas Rushkoff $19.95

Outer Limits & Mayhem

Occult: Decoding the Visual Culture of Mysticism, Magic and Divination by Peter Forshaw $35

Whispers from the Coven: Tales of Charms, Witchcraft & Lessons from the Spirit World by Chris Allaun $25.95

Witches: A Compendium by Judika Illes $16.95

Baphomet Revealed: Mysteries and Magic of the Sacred Icon by Heather Lynn $17.95

A Confluence of Witches: A Modern Witches Anthology – Celebrating Our Lunar Roots, Decolonizing the Craft, and Reenchanting Our World by Casey Zabala $18.95

The Witches Almanac #44 Spring 2025 and 2026 $15.95

Music Books

How to Run an Indie Label by Alan McGee (Rare Bird Books) $28

Never Understood: The Jesus and Mary Chain by William and Jim Reid $30

Various Artists’ Red Hot + Blue (33 1/3 vol 185) by John S. Garrison $14.95

Hollywood Dream, The Thunderclap Newman Story: Pete Townshend, a Band of Outsiders, and the Birth of British Indie Music by Mark Wilkerson (Third Man Books) $22.95

From Heartworm: Heartworm Reader vol 2 $23

Love In a Time of Violence: Selected Lyrics of Crime and City Solution by Simon Bonney and Bronwyn Adams $23

Sex Guides & Culture

Coming Out Like a Porn Star: Essays on Pornography, Protection, and Privacy Second Edition by Jiz Lee (Feminist Press) $24.95

Fiction

Gifted: A Novel by Suzuki Suzumi $18.95

Whispers from the Coven: Tales of Charms, Witchcraft & Lessons from the Spirit World by Chris Allaun $25.95

Health and Safety: A Breakdown by Emily Witt $27

The Escher Man by T.R. Napper $17.99

Out of the Drowning Deep by A. C. Wise $19.99

Chap Books

Cripple’s Coil – Scenes From a Disabled Life by Roxanne Rose Monaghan $8

My Women – Poems by Nazaret Ranea $5

Love Letters and Lease Agreements Poetry by Chuck Thompson $3

Shrooms

The Mushroom Compendium: Explore the Kingdom of Fungi by Alice Pattullo $21.99

Magazines & Newspapers

Tape Op #163 $5.99

The Communist Party: Newspaper of the International Communist Party $.25

International Review #172 $3

The Internationalist #73 $1

Elska issues #41 San Francisco California vol 2 and #48 Melbourne Australia, both $20 each

All Ages Content Featuring Cats

Published on September 18, 2024 0 Comments

If you’ve ever been to Quimby’s shopping for an underage zine enthusiast, you may have noticed that our kids section is kinda small.  But that’s not because we don’t have zines for all ages; it’s just that we include that creativity in all sections throughout the store.  So we’ve been adding green signs around the bookstore lately to denote All Ages content, and I’m here to highlight a few of my favorites that all just happen to have a cat theme.  

Marceline’s Alley Stories by Cecilia Jane

In this adorable comic, Marceline (a house cat) tells us three tales of her alley starring the creatures she sees and encounters via her window view.  These tales hit on some serious feelings of jealousy, hardship, friendship, mortality, and love without being heavy or hard to understand.  Aside from a brief mention or two or hardships, this comic keeps things positive and hopeful.  Marceline reminds readers to find peace in being yourself, to comfort friends in times of need, and to appreciate a connection without being possessive.  All appropriate lessons for everyone of all ages.  

Cats Words Feelings by Heather Anacker

This perfectly titled zine displays beautiful cat portraits each accompanied by a sentence or two intended to inspire.  While presenting some big ideas (like “When conditions are right things manifest.”), this zine stays simple, digestible, and sweet.  These are ideas worth considering for readers of all ages.  

Cat Butts by Dana Amundsen

I can’t get enough of this micro zine from DnA artists, despite the plethora of cat butt that is presented to me every moment that I am at home.  There are no words past the title page, because the drawings do it all.  The simple line sketches perfectly capture grooming cats; my favorites are the lifted leg poses when the cat pauses, fully exposed, to stare at its onlooker.  These cuties can be readily enjoyed by all ages. 

Purr-haps you also know some of the great all ages content on our shelves.  If so, please drop us a comment or point them out to me the next time you see me at the shop.  Despite my penchant for smut, I’m still a kid (just ask my ma!), and I’ll never grow up, not me.  

Toujours, elizabeth

@GetBackToPrint

New Stuff This Week

Published on September 17, 2024 0 Comments

 

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Zines

Full Bleed #1 Chicago Fall Film and Event Calendar, Chicago’s Number One Horror and Exploitation Zine edited by Tony Recktenwald and Edward Witt $5

Zines by Jamie Davis: Heavenly Bodies $4, Sexual Reproduction $10

For the Love of Gregg Araki (Mattazine Society) $12

Opera Glass #110 An Independent Magazine of Literature and Performing Arts edited by Iris J. Arneson $3

Moral Fiber #20 by Chris Pernula $3

From Sheer Spite Press/Lee: How to Find the Beauty Amidst All the Horrors $3, Making Friends with Zines $6

Behind the People of Chicago #1 by Joanna Uruchima $12

Hidden Immigrant: A Visual Exploration of Migratory Stress $8

Comics

Death of the Body by Ava Walkow $24.99

Micro comics by H. Jones $3 each: Can I Pet Her, Get Sober, Green Table

Comics by Jack Estep: Adventurous Andy and the Mystery of the Mischievous Mycelium $15, DMV Days $6

Graphic Novels

UM #1 by Buttercup (Radiator Comics) $20

Ninja Sarutobi Sasuke by Sugiura Shigeru $24.95

Elise and the New Partisans by Dominique Grange and Tardi (Fantagraphics) $29.99

The MAD Files: Writers and Cartoonists on the Magazine that Warped America’s Brain!: A Library of America Special Publication edited by David Mikics $21.95

Art Books

Banksy: Building Castles in the Sky – An Unauthorized Exhibition by Stefano Antonelli, Gianluca Marziani & more $14.98

Mayhem & Outer Limits Books

Cult Following: The Extreme Sects That Capture Our Imaginations—and Take Over Our Lives by J. W. Ocker $19.99

Politics & Revolution Books

When Freedom Is the Question, Abolition Is the Answer: Reflections on Collective Liberation by Bill Ayers $24.95

Essays

The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation by Cory Doctorow $19.95

Film Books

Horror for Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You’re Too Scared to Watch by Emily C. Hughes $17.99

Zardoz 50th Anniversary Novelization Edition by John Boorman $16.95

Fiction, Poetry & Lit Journals

Riot Act by Sarah Lariviere $19.99

I Wish to Say Lovely Things by Adam Gnade $17

Fraud: A Novel by Zadie Smith $19

Gothic Tales by Marquis de Sade $16.95

Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology edited by Rigoberto González $40

New Mistakes by Clement Goldberg (DOPAMINE/Semiotexte) $16.95

Moss Piglet – September 2024 $15

Newspapers

County Highway vol 2 #2 Sept/Oct $8.50

On Quimby’s Turning 33

Published on September 11, 2024 0 Comments

Quimby’s turns 33 on September 15th this year.*

We thought about a number of ways to honor Quimby’s turning 33 that didn’t make it past the brainstorming stage: give everybody an honorary membership to the highest degree of Freemasonry, print a 33(1/3) disc, make some religious jokes, radiate harmoniousness that resonates with the significance of 33 as a Master Number (that’s a choice right? to radiate?) then have a tattoo artist on hand for customers that want to get a tattoo of it on their forehead…There’s definitely a joke in there about 33’s relation to 666, or quite possibly some tricky math about pi. But at the end of the day, we decided to just have a party (and you should join us on 9/21, while we also celebrate Zine Club Chicago’s sixth anniversary here as well. More info about that here).

Recently the owner of the store (Eric Kirsammer) handed me a stack of file folders with some ephemera of the store, and I saw some old notes that were clearly in his handwriting (I mean, I’ve worked here for 23 years — I know everybody’s handwriting by now), but it looked like maybe Eric had sat down with Steven Svymbersky, the founder of the store, when Eric first bought the store from Steven in the 90s. This must have been quite a meeting because notes were taken. In light of our anniversary, see if you can tell what the thing is that struck me from this note:

First, I chuckled at the old school zine itemization (Duplex Planet! Dishwasher! Crap Hound! Film Threat! Like it was a zine grocery list.). And of course, Jack Chick. Jesus, we still carry those.** And I’ve heard Steven talk about Harriet Quimby before (which stands to reason, given Steven’s link to Boston with the “ur Quimby’s” which was called Primal Plunge, that he bought from Michael McInnis). Then my eyes zeroed in on something at the bottom: “33 is magical #” which was rather serendipitous. Our 33rd birthday was mere weeks away from that moment. (Also, the lack of the noun marker “a” was not lost on me, because it always makes people writing shorthand sound like a caveman.)

Also serendipitously, Steven was visiting from NY that week, and I showed the stack of stuff to him. When I showed him this and reminded him we were turning 33 this year, he arched an eyebrow and said, “You know, 33 is a magical number.” He reminded me of some really great stuff, so I present to you, in Steven “Burf Quimby” Svymbersky’s words, the significance of 33 in Quimby’s history. I put it in pink! So you know it’s Steven talking!

“So, the short version of the significance of the number 33 in Quimby’s history is that in the mid to late 1980s when I was publishing the magazine, Quimby’s Quarterly, the preferred beer of the Quimby’s staff (also known as the delinquents I partied with) was Rolling Rock, primarily because it was cheap and came in a nice green bottle. Printed on the inside of the bottle were the words ‘Rolling Rock From the glass lined tanks of Old Latrobe, we tender this premium beer for your enjoyment, as a tribute to your good taste. It comes from the mountain springs to you.’ It was followed, inexplicably, by the number 33. If you look it up, the internet claims the 33 is an acknowledgement of the 33 words in this pledge. We always figured it was a nod to 1933, the year prohibition was repealed.”

“Over time the number 33 seemed to pop up everywhere and it began to take on a mystical quality for us until we began featuring a list of 33s on page 33 of each issue of the magazine.” [Examples below.]

“At one point I also created a chart of the most important 33s.”

“The apotheosis of our inebriated fascination with the number 33 happened in the original Quimby’s store on September 28, 1993, my 33rd birthday, when I hired a band to play the whipping music from Jesus Christ Superstar while my friend, Mistress Bliss, shackled me to the shelves and gave me 33 lashes with her favorite scourge. This was immortalized by the infamous, D.B. Velveeda, which I share with you now because I have no shame.”

“Congratulations on 33 years of selling the most vile, pernicious and twisted publications known to humankind. You all make me so proud!”

So there you have it, straight from the instigator himself, the real rundown of the number in question in relation to this shack of weirdness that we call Quimby’s. If you want to go say hi to Steven in NY, you should definitely visit him at Quimby’s Bookstore NYC, at 536 Metropolitan Ave in Brooklyn. He opened it in 2016, and it is a true oasis of awesome.***

I have both founder Steven and the current owner Eric to thank for holding the legacy of high weirdness in highest regard, a place where I have worked for 2/3 of its life. But I also want to thank all our consignors, the artists who make the zines, comics and books we carry. Without them we would not be the store we are. Thank you for keeping us around for over three decades.

–Liz

*Yes! We’re celebrating our birthday. Just not on the 15th. On the 21st! Info about it here.

**Alternative comics artists love Jack Chick comics. They’re still making new ones. And he’s not even alive any more.

***And if you want to read about some of the early days of the store, Steven compiled some of the material from his early Magalogs and what not into a wonderful saddle stitched volume called Qvimby’s The First Five Years (1991-1996) which we sell in our webstore. Steven told me recently that it would be really awesome to have the energy, means, money and time to do Magalogs again. I agree. We did a bunch of Mini Magalogs in the early to mid 2000s that were folded broadsheets but then the internet got really, you know, intenet-y. At that point, it made more sense for us to sell stuff on our website instead of spending a gazillion dollars on a catalog like it was a Loompanics mail order endeavor or something. But I miss it. I’ll tell you what though. If you come in and request a Mini Magalog when I’m working, I’ll go down into the basement and get you one of our Mini Magalogs we made in the early aughts. Warning though: the font is tiny. Prepare yourself. And I’m pretty sure we still have a some piles of Steven’s old magalogs down there. You’d be surprised what I find when I’m cleaning out down there. That’s another blog post in and of itself.

 

Quimby’s September Newsletter Available Now

Published on September 10, 2024 0 Comments

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