Category: top ten

1. Slingshot Small Organizer $6.00 – Get your rad self organized!

2. Slingshot Large Organizer $12.00

3. Acme Novelty Library #20 Lint (D&Q) $23.95 – A completely wrenching tale of Jordan Lint’s awful life, rendered with Ware’s perfectly rendered tangential velocities that vault us back and forth through memory, fixation, anticipation and communication.

4. Best American Comics HC 2010 ed. by Abel, Madden and Gaiman (HM) $23.00

5. The Unsinkable Walker Bean by Aaron Renier (First Second) $13.99 – Does it sound cheesy if I say this book is perfect for kids age 5 to 105? Cause it really is!  The Unsinkable Walker Bean is an unstoppable, rollicking high seas adventure full of codes, inventions, antediluvian intrigues and funny names. There’s this “pure joy of drawing” in Aaron’s work which loads the panels with sly little details and charming gestures -but nothing feels superfulous- even the silliest elements weave themselves into the plot. The story itself, about returning a cursed skull to two giant sea-hag sisters, champions scrapper ingenuity, resourcefulness and teamwork in a way that’s never heavy-handed, it’s just plain cool. Refreshing in a similar way is how Walker Bean’s world escapes simple hero vs. villain dichotomies, giving every character a heart to the point that you’ll even find the fierce, giant mer-witches endearing. The exceptional storytelling is emphasized by Alec Longstreth’s (Phase 7) beautiful color work full of crisp ocean blues, kelp-y ochres and my favorite sorts of pale, sea-sick greens. The book is also completely and solidly kid-friendly and that’s a big part of it’s magic: reading it as an adult stirs up all the youthful thrills and adventures of creative problem-solving. SO GOOD! -EF

6. Big Questions #15 The Sweet Taste of Victory by Anders Nilsen (D&Q) $7.95 – The most gorgeous, most finalest one… the Big Questions end times is disruptive, surreal and poetic. Nilsen’s draughtmanship is pure and stunning, where disarmingly simple forms are made perfectly right. If you’ve been keeping time with this series, you’ll certainly be excited by this chapter, and if you’re just catching up, you’ll be dazzled by this near-religious, cryptic conclusions you’ll be catching here. -EF

7. Proximity #8 Education As Art $12.00 – Writing the book on learning as art and the art of learning: Proximity #8 comes from all angles, focuses, builds, supports. Weighing in at 232 pages, this volume does an exceptional job with a wide variety of profiles, interviews and portfolios and essays, staying both solidly local and vitally connected, you’d be hard pressed to find a smarter art magazine. Contributors include: Eve Ewing, Christa Donner, Chris Kennedy and Cassie Thornton, Michelle Grabner, Antonio Collados and Javier Rodrigo, Michael Piazza, Anne Elizabeth Moore, Lavie Raven, Lisa Junkin, Jazmen McKinnor, Louise Dreier, Elizabeth Knafo, Caroline Liebman, Alexander Keefe, Daniel Fuller, Dara Greenwald, Jesse Senechal, Rebecca Zorach, Jorge Lucero, Huong Ngo, Paul Mack, Andrew Oesch, InCUBATE, Noah Berlatsky, Sara Black and John Preus, Katie Hargrave, Susannah Kite Strang, Emmy Bright, Zach Cahill, Chris Cronin, Bert Stabler, Erin Elder, and Paul Sargent.

8 Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris & Ian Falconer (LB) $21.99

9. Celebrate Peoples History: The Poster Book of Resistance and Revolution by Josh MacPhee (Feminist Press) $24.95 – A beautiful and inspiring book collecting the Justseeds Celebrate Peoples History Posters to date, overwhelming and fantastic! -EF

10. Manifesti of Radical Literature by Anne Elizabeth Moore (Pressing Concern) $8.00 – This pocket-sized zine is a great introduction to the work of Anne Elizabeth Moore. The Manifesti of Radical Literaure condenses many ideas Moore has previously explored in other works–her critique of culture jamming, copyright laws, advertising, and why everyone should seriously consider self-publishing their own work. What saves this new 50-paged effort from feeling redundant is Moore’s charming sense of humor. Grab a copy for yourself and another one to leave at your local library.

1. Gaylord Phoenix by Edie Fake (Secret Acres) $17.95 – All-Gaylord-All-Phoenix-All-In-One, Dr. Bronner’s Style.

2. Slingshot 2011 Large Organizer (Slingshot) $12.00 – Get your rad self organized!

3. 100 Posters 134 Squirrels, Revised & Updated by Jay Ryan (Akashic) $22.95 – 100 POSTERS 134 SQUIRRELS showcases one of underground poster art’s most prolific and talented practitioners. Featuring an all-new interview with Ryan and an introduction by Chicago Tribune rock critic Greg Kot, and framed by essays from underground luminaries–recording engineer and Shellac guitarist Steve Albini, graphic design iconoclast Art Chantry, and distinguished art and design historian Debra Parr–100 POSTERS 134 SQUIRRELS offers a unique look into Ryan’s approach to poster art.

4. Slingshot 2011 Small Organizer (Slingshot) $6.00

5. Endeavour 2011 Nikki McClure Calendar $16.00

6. Bust Dec 10 Jan 11 $4.99

7. Tel Tales #1 Cut Lines and Intricate Minds by Don Toots Zettwoch & Dan Zettwoch (Sparkplug) $3.00 – They don’t make ’em like they used to, that’s for certain. Papa Zettwoch takes us on an exacting tour of life in midcentury Louisville telephone operations, in particular the oracle operators who fiddled with antiquated 8-board switchpanels. Dan lovingly arts up the exacting craft, attention to detail and squirrely diagnostic techniques that existed before everything got replaced with plastic and no one could remember a phone number. -EF

8. Farm Together Now: A Portrait of People Places and Ideas for a New Food Movement by Amy Franceschini, Daniel Tucker etc. (Chronicle) $27.50 – “With interest in home gardening at an all-time high and concerns about food production and safety making headlines, Farm Together Now explores the current state of grassroots farming in the U.S. Part oral history and part treatise on food politics, this fascinating project is an introduction to the many individuals who are producing sustainable food, challenging public policy, and developing community organizing efforts. With hundreds of photographs and a foreword from New York Times columnist Mark Bittman, Farm Together Now will educate, inspire, and cultivate a new wave of modern agrarians.”

9. Monocle vol 4 #39 Dec 10 Jan 11 $10.00

10. Best American Comics HC 2010 ed. by Jessica Abel, Matt Madden & Neil Gaiman (HM) $23.00

1. Slingshot 2011 Large Organizer (Slingshot Collective) $12.00 – Get your rad self organized! Your daily dose of peoples history, menstrual calendar, tips for dealing with the police, radical contact list. Spiral-bound.

2. Brilliant Mistake #2 by Carrie $1.00 – Carrie’s second issue lays it bare, rips it raw, burns, shreds and begins to rebuild a devastated heart. Reading Brilliant Mistake #2 cuts to the chase and takes you right there – that place of the furious senselessness of love in tatters – and through reading it you sort out your own wreckage. Trial by fire, and feeling it hard. -EF

3. Mojo #206 Jan 11 $9.99

4. Monocle vol 4 #39 Dec 10 Jan 11 $10.00
5. Slingshot 2011 Pocket Organizer (Slingshot Collective) $6.00 Get your rad self organized! Your daily dose of peoples history, menstrual calendar, tips for dealing with the police, radical contact list. All in perfect-bound pocket-size form.

6. Brilliant Mistake #1 by Carrie $1.00 – What a gem of a debut zine! Beautifully quilted together from bits of a questioning heart, Brilliant Mistake #1 pares down the aches of the social games we play. -EF

7. Peters Muscle by Michael Deforge $1.00 – More sick sauce from DeForge, this round is a Freudian take on what gets that Spider Sense a-tingling. -EF

8. We Should: A Selective Guide to Chicago By Laura Szumowski $7.95
9. Boys Club #4 by Matt Furie (Pigeon Press) $6.00 – More boners, more pizza, more roommates, more stoney-baloney plus also some barfing. I’m not going to tell you twice: zit’s awesome. -EF

10. I Want You #2 by Lisa Hanawalt  (Pigeon Press) $6.95

1. Slingshot 2011 Small Organizer (Slingshot Collective) $6.00 – Your daily dose of peoples history, menstrual calendar, tips for dealing with the police, radical contact list…all in perfectbound pocketsize form.

2. Endeavour 2011 Nikki McClure Calendar $16.00

3. Maximumrocknroll #331 Dec 10 $4.00

4. Diamond Comics #5, ed. by Jason Leivian (Floating World) $3.00 – Full color chaos. Stanley Lieber, Michael DeForge, Benjamin Marra, Cleon Peterson, Pete Toms, Panayiotis Terzis, Derek Ballard and a frantic cover by Skinner. You’ll probably cry if you miss this.

5. Gaylord Phoenix #5 by Edie Fake $4.00 – What do I have to say for myself? This is the pre-history-flashback issue of that homosexual birdman comic I draw. Try it, you just may like it- if you don’t, you know where to find me. -EF

6. Boobs by Sam Sharpe $3.00

7. Powr Mastrs #3 by CF (Picturebox) $18.00

8. Picture This: The Near Sighted Monkey Book Learn How to Art with the Near Sighted by Lynda Barry (D&Q) $29.95 – Although I doubt this book needs any introduction, I’ll go ahead and quack a little about Lynda Barry’s exciting follow up to What It Is. These books are sort of a portable pair of life-coaches on the means and meaning in personal artistic process. Where Scott McCloud tries to crack open all the formal and technical elements of comics-making step-by-step in his “Understanding Comics” series, Lynda Barry is using rather sub-conscious processes to burrow deep into the intuitive realms of how and why content is created. It’s a pretty amorphous thing to get a handle on and Barry’s collaged approach reflects the subtleties of the fog while still assembling a book on “how to draw”. Picture This allows her to dig into the core of creating without being didactic or judgemental, writing the secret missing chapter to every “How to Draw Comics” book ever published. -EF

9. Buildings & Bodies by Ryan Dodgson $10.00 – What would your friends look like if they were houses? What would your houses look like if they were your friends? Here’s a version of that being incredibly well-drawn and all taking place in Toronto!

10. Giant Robot #68 $4.99

1. Roctober #48 $4.00 – The world’s best music magazine from the folks behind the world’s best cable-access show. A million zillion pages, b&w with tons of pictures and loads of comics.

2. Make Your Place: Affordable, Sustainable Nesting Skills by R. Briggs (Microcosm) $7.00

3. Gaylord Phoenix #5 by Edie Fake $4.00 – New issue from our very own Edie. Don’t miss his event here at Quimby’s to celebrate the release of his Gaylord Phoenix book published by Secret Acres here at Quimby’s on Dec 9th!

4. X’ed Out by Charles Burns (Pantheon) $19.95 – Ever wonder what would happen if Charles Burns took over drawing TinTin? Today’s your lucky day, punk. You like eggs, don’t you?

5. Acme Novelty Library #20 Lint by Chris Ware (D&Q) $23.95 – The most recent addition of Chris Ware’s running issues. Interpret issues how you want.

6. Picture This by Lynda Barry (D&Q) $29.95 – Although I doubt this book needs any introduction, I’ll go ahead and quack a little about Lynda Barry’s exciting follow up to What It Is. These books are sort of a portable pair of life-coaches on the means and meaning in personal artistic process. Where Scott McCloud tries to crack open all the formal and technical elements of comics-making step-by-step in his “Understanding Comics” series, Lynda Barry is using rather sub-conscious processes to burrow deep into the intuitive realms of how and why content is created. It’s a pretty amorphous thing to get a handle on and Barry’s collaged approach reflects the subtleties of the fog while still assembling a book on “how to draw”. Picture This allows her to dig into the core of creating without being didactic or judgemental, writing the secret missing chapter to every “How to Draw Comics” book ever published. -EF

7. Wowee Zonk #3 (Koyama Press) $8.00 – Yo! It’s so good: Michael DeForge, Jan Avendano, Andrei Georgescu, Zach Worton, Ginette Lapalme, Selena Wong, Chris Simonen, Chris Kuzma, Dan Rocca, Patrick Kyle…And everyone really pulled out their A-game here, not a single bad apple in this whole round-up. Insanely beautiful cover art too – what planet are those colors from? -EF

8. Possum and the Pepper Spray by Pete Hodapp $4.00

9. Grime Time #3 $8.00

10. Believer #76 Nov Dec 10 Art Issue $10.00

1. Celebrate Peoples History: The Poster Book of Resistance and Revolution, ed. by Josh MacPhee (Feminist Pr) $24.95 – A beautiful and inspiring book collecting the Justseeds Celebrate Peoples History Posters to date, overwhelming and fantastic! -EF

2. Slingshot 2011 Large Organizer (Slingshot Collective) $12.00 – Get your rad self organized! Your daily dose of peoples history, menstrual calendar, tips for dealing with the police, radical contact list and more.

3. ‘Za the Pizza Zine by Nikki Yowell $4.00 – Get a Sloppy Slice of this hot pie!

4. Slingshot 2011 Small Organizer (Slingshot Collective) $6.00 – Same as the Large Slingshot radical organizer above but in a perfect-bound pocketsize form.

5. Acme Novelty Library #20: Lint by Chris Ware (D+Q) $23.95 – The newest issue from Chris Ware.
6. X ‘ed Out by Charles Burns (Pantheon) $19.95 – Ever wonder what would happen if Charles Burns took over drawing TinTin? Today’s your lucky day, punk. You like eggs, don’t you?

7. List #14 Fine For Now by Ramsey $4.00 – Reasons to love the new issue of List: The drawings just keep getting better, highly logical, yet intimately personal, good times, good foods, good dogs, stories broken down and organized into compelling, must-read-more formats, dreams, plans and schemes plotted in charming detail, homemade geography and chronology charts all woven gracefully into list-making and more!

8. Best American Comics 2010 ed by Abel/Madden/Gaiman (HM) $23.00
9. Four Squares #2 More Squares by Liz Prince, Maris Wicks, Tim Finn and Joe Quinones $5.00 – July 2008 served four different ways by four comic talents each doing strip-a-days. The weave is really nice here as everyone hops in and out of each other’s strips-sandwiches get invented, neighbors get spied on, raspberries get stolen and Boston gets hotttt.-EF
10. Ramble On #1 by Calvin Wong (Sparkplug) $3.00