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Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever & Ever #2
by Josh Bayer, Tom Neely and Mark Rudolph
In the latest installment of the greatest love story ever told, Glenn's mother, freshly unearthed from beneath the bricks, moves in with him and Henry. Without giving too much away, Glenn's mommy issues come to the ...
32 pages, 5.5x7", offset
$5.00
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Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever & Ever #2
In the latest installment of the greatest love story ever told, Glenn's mother, freshly unearthed from beneath the bricks, moves in with him and Henry. Without giving too much away, Glenn's mommy issues come to the surface as she critiques his art, replaces his wardrobe, scrubs their dungeon, and recalls his childhood. Glenn tries to sell his signature to a UPS driver, takes a punch, and has some daydreaming adventures with a plunger. Henry, "a loud guy with a good work ethic," shows his darker side and indifference to a fan as he drinks black coffee and bonds with Glenn over their distaste for their own bands; two men who suffer best alone together. Additional pin up art by Andy Belanger, Katie Skelly, and Tom Scioli. Darkest and best issue yet.
Bamboozled: An Incarcerated Boxer Goes Undercover for John McCain's Boxing Bill
In this introspective exploration of former boxer Joey Torrey's life, his past, his murder conviction, and his more than 30-year incarceration in a California state prison are each fine-tooth combed. Nearly five years after his original memoir, this new edition is re-written as a biography and delves deeper into circumstances surrounding Torrey’s alleged murder of his boxing coach, the lengthy prison sentence handed down, his undercover collaboration with the FBI on “Operation Matchbook” in support of John McCain’s proposed Professional Boxing Amendments Act, and the inner workings of the prison system in general. From his days as a Compton gang leader and an Olympic boxing hopeful to being tried as an adult rather than a 17-year-old minor, this compelling narrative reflects on his life as a parable as well as examining the strategies used in his conviction, such as establishing the motive as robbery despite a lack of evidence linking the opening of safe to the murderer. And after more than three decades as a model prisoner—and saving the life of a prison guard—Torrey has prolifically written hundreds of letters to Joe Biel, who finds himself in the unlikely situation to share this story.
100 Years of Modern Iran (1891-1991)
Iran has been at the center of the action for over 2500 years, but J. Gerlach's Simple History Series covers a particularly tumultuous era from 1891-1991. This period saw the end of the nation's monarchy, coups, foreign overthrows, revolutions, and its ascent as the world's first Islamic theocracy. This page turner also gives great insight into the Judeo-Christian West's current war on the Islamic world.
Coffeeshop Crushes: Tales of Love and Lust in Coffee Establishments
If you've ever crushed out on your local barista, Coffeeshop Crushes: Tales of Love and Lust in Coffee Establishments is your new best friend! Editors Nicole J. Georges (Invincible Summer) and Jon Van Oast take you into the sexy, confusing, hilarious realm of server/customer romance (both requited and, sadly, otherwise.) With contributions from folks like Too Much Coffee Man's Shannon Wheeler, Brainfag comix dude Nate Beaty, and Constant Rider'sKate Lopresti, Coffeeshop Crushes is one big ball of sexual frustration and nerve-shattering caffeine! As raunchy and graphic as it is sweet and coy, Coffeeshop Crushes is 32 pages of sex, lies, and über-embarrassing shoot-downs. Now in its fourth printing, this comix/essay zine will keep you laughing and cringing until you're too caffeine-buzzed to think!
Grow!
Grow: How to Take Your Do It Yourself Project and Passion to the Next Level and Quit Your Job is a practical field guide for creative people with great ideas for independent projects who want to achieve success and sustainability. Whether their projects are based in independent publishing, music, food, art, craft, activism or community work, Eleanor Whitney enables readers to clarify their project vision, get organized, set goals, create a plan, raise funds for, market, and manage their do-it-yourself project. The book is full of real-life inspiration and creative business advice from successful, independent businesses owners and creative people with projects that began in the do-it-yourself spirit.
This is Portland
This is Portland is a first hand look at a city that people can't seem to stop talking about. It's a guidebook of sorts, but not to restaurants and sightseeing. Alexander Barrett details the atmosphere of Portland, Oregon and how fun, beautiful, and ridiculous it can be. With it's approachable, often hilarious tone, this book is perfect for anyone who wants to learn more about the city they've heard they should like.
is a first hand look at a city that people can't seem to stop talking about. It's a guidebook of sorts, but not to restaurants and sightseeing. Alexander Barrett details the atmosphere of Portland, Oregon and how fun, beautiful, and ridiculous it can be. With it's approachable, often hilarious tone, this book is perfect for anyone who wants to learn more about the city they've heard they should like.Microcosm (is) Totes (awesome!)
In our latest effort to flirt with you, we've designed these tote bags. They are lovingly made by the woman-owned Envirototes in New Hampshire (yes, like all of our things, actually made in the U.S.). Then they printed our name on one side and a fancy graphic proclaiming about how reading and ideas change the world on the other side. These bags are specifically engineered to make it easier for you to flirt with other people on the bus or your bicycle. Erik (pictured here) is quite tall so the bags are larger than they appear. We tested and the largest book in our store fits in there (and it's like bigger than any book I bet you own—it's a box set of two oversized Gary Panter hard covers). And since we can't think of anything else worth carrying around besides radical literature, you should be all set with one of these! Totes awesome!
Maps to the Other Side
Part mad manifesto, part revolutionary love letter, part freight train adventure story—Maps to the Other Side is a self-reflective shattered mirror, a twist on the classic punk rock travel narrative that searches for authenticity and connection in the lives of strangers and the solidarity and limitations of underground community. Beginning at the edge of the internet age, a time when radical zine culture prefigured social networking sites, these timely writings paint an illuminated trail through a complex labyrinth of undocumented migrants, anarchist community organizers, brilliant visionary artists, revolutionary seed savers, punk rock historians, social justice farmers, radical mental health activists, and iconoclastic bridge builders. This book is a document of one person’s odyssey to transform his experiences navigating the psychiatric system by building community in the face of adversity; a set of maps for how rebels and dreamers can survive and thrive in a crazy world.
New Girl Law
When Moore, a writer and independent publisher, brought her experience in the American cultural underground to Cambodia on the cusp of the global economic meltdown, she intended to share a skill that would allow young people the opportunity to archive their own stories. Instead, the second generation of Khmer Rouge survivors she worked with ended up rewriting history.
The Cambodian Chbap Srei is a 17th-century book that intended to establish a code of conduct for young women. Staunchly traditional, but repressive and frustrating, the first large group of young women in Cambodia decide to rewrite it with Moore. The year-long process culminates in a grand discussion of human rights and gender equity, and a hand-bound book for all participants. Tragically, the completed book was banned and censored in both Cambodia and the U.S. But what these bold young women learn next about when they are allowed to speak, and to whom, is chilling.
2013 Slingshots are still here!
For those who haven't seen a Slingshot, it's a pocket calendar and day planner. It includes space to write your phone numbers, a contact list of radical leftist groups around the globe, a menstrual calendar, info on police repression, and extra note pages to record all your important revolutionary ideas. It also lists popular activist and alternative cultural holidays. The highlight is how to say key phrases in multiple languages; phrases such as "freedom and mutual aid" and "where is the library?" If this wasn't enough, it also serves as a fund-raiser for the Berkeley radical newspaper, SLINGSHOT.
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CIA Makes Sci-Fi Unexciting: 1950-Today
These five case studies offer a chilling glimpse into the negligence, greed, murder, and at times comical disorganization behind some of the CIA's most controversial secret operations. Science fiction could not have invented the influence the CIA had in the assassination of Martin Luther King. Jr, the AIDS virus, the killing of the leader of the Puerto Rican independence movement, the PATRIOT act, and the Iran-Contra affair. Smith makes radical claims, but instead of coming across as a raving conspiracy theorist he uses facts to write a believable, accessible alternative to mainstream histories that helps readers to contextualize current events and the anti-American backlash worldwide.
Xerography Debt #32
Since 1999, Davida Gypsy Breier's review zine, Xerography Debt might be best summarized as an obsession for all involved. Now maintaining three issues per year, the 32nd issue of Xerography Debt is still "the review zine with personal tendencies," allowing its hand-picked cast of contributors to essay both the zines they love and where those zines find them in their lives. Joe Biel reports on the how the Dinner + Bikes tour has opened up zines to new audiences. Our editor Davida explains to her son that while his father's friends are from college, hers are from zines. Al Burian ruminates on Peaches support of Pussy Riot and compares his own appreciation for Megadeth—despite their politics—to Paul Ryan's peculiar endorsement of Rage Against the Machine. And let us not forget the large volume of zine reviews in here. Rather than spending time and ink bashing things or being forced to write about something they don't care about, the reviewers hand-select what they want to write about the result is much more interesting. In an age of blogs and tweets, Xerography Debt is a beautiful, earnest anachronism, a publication that seems to come from a different era, but is firmly entrenched in the now. And they want to review your zines in future issues: Davida Gypsy Breier / PO Box 11064 / Baltimore, MD 21212
In The News
Calling for submissions for the Music Scene History Series!
Are you stoked about the history of your town? Do you find out interesting nuggets by talking to those who came before you or by scouting out details on Wikipedia? Do you want a reason to hunt out some people you respect for them to fill in the gaps?
Well, the Scene Empowerment History Series is an opportunity to do just that. Like our Simple History Series, we will publish four issues each year of the Music Scene History Series that tell the story of a particular city's music scene.
Gradually, we'll collect them into boxed sets and distribute them far and wide.
And we're believing in democracy here. We are offering an open submission policy for this series. If you want to write about the history of a music scene that you are knowledgeable about or willing to research, we'll read it, edit it, and work with you, with the goal of us publishing it.
Suggested length is 10,000-15,000 words. Get as creative as you find gratifying. Learn about your favorite places and how things developed.
Submit or ask questions to joe at microcosmpublishing daht com
-Link-Sweatshirts are running out!
We are quite low on sweats. They won't last long and because they cost a pretty penny to produce, we won't be reprinting these designs again (expect a new one in Oct though). Get 'em while they are hot (and it's cold outside)...and before we run out.
BFF Book Subscription
Be our Best Friend Forever (BFF)! Well, not actually forever, but for 6 months you'll receive every new title we publish. The subscription is sliding scale price $10-30/month, and you can either pay in one sum upfront here or pay-as-you-go here. Thanks for your support!
Packs of Miscellany! And Super Savings Abound!
Are you looking for an array of awesomeness, a medley of magnificence? Check out the superpacks and mystery packs on our website! Not only are the savings pretty classy, but it's a sweet way to discover titles without wading through the catalog.
- Themed mystery Fun Packs: Comics, Personal, & Political
- We have around twenty different $20 Superpacks!
- Discontinued shirts are still cheap! Check out shirts here!
The Revenge of The Revenge of Print!
Aren't you sick of hearing folks glibly forecasting the death of print? We are. People have been declaring the end of print in some form or other for longer than there's been zines! "Books are over." "Magazines are over." "Comix are over." "Newspapers are over." Bah! We're over things being over. Let's make things happen! So we declared 2012 to be The Revenge of The Revenge Of Print! A nice response to publishing doomsayers. "Print is alive if you want it." So the challenge is this: in 2012 Return of the Revenge of Print! Make a zine!
Upcoming
Meal Deal With the Devil
Meal Deal With The Devil combines a five-song CD EP (including two “story-songs”) from the devious San Francisco Bay Area musical satirists with an accompanying read-along storybook, illustrated by Jason Chandler of Horrible Comics. An adult version of a children's books with a record that let you know when to turn the page, Meal Deal features three brand new & exclusive Bobby Joe Ebola tracks for bratty little monsters of all ages, as well as a two ‘story songs’ tracks that you can read-along with! Chandler’s detailed full-color art brings the MacNuggits’ wry, twisted humor to the page, an epic matchup that creates a hilarious carnival ride for the eyes and ears. This mutant offspring of comics and rock from the heroes of the underground is destined to be the kind of collector’s item that won’t stay on the shelf!
of Horrible Comics. An adult version of a children's books with a record that let you know when to turn the page, Meal Deal features three brand new & exclusive Bobby Joe Ebola tracks for bratty little monsters of all ages, as well as a two ‘story songs’ tracks that you can read-along with! Chandler’s detailed full-color art brings the MacNuggits’ wry, twisted humor to the page, an epic matchup that creates a hilarious carnival ride for the eyes and ears. This mutant offspring of comics and rock from the heroes of the underground is destined to be the kind of collector’s item that won’t stay on the shelf!Bobby Joe Ebola Songbook
If you've ever wondered what it's like to leave your hometown and follow your dreams, this book is both how-to and warning. Want to be an obsure comedy band? Now you can! The Bobby Joe Ebola Songbook features easy-to-learn lyrics and chords to over 80 songs by the infamous satiric duo, Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits, along with hilarious illustrations from Jason Chandler of Horrible Comics.
As longtime DIY artists, promoters, and organizers, Dan Abbott and Corbett Redford invite you into the bizarre world of Bobby Joe Ebola. With savage humor they dispense “helpful” rock'n'roll tips for making amazing things happen on little or no budget. From putting out your own record to organizing illegal concerts, from independent filmmaking to feeding 300 drunk people, this miscellany is both an adventure tale and call to arms for every struggling artist.
Tragicomic tour stories, stirring testimonials from friends and fans, poop jokes, and surprises on every page will make this your new favorite bathroom reading. Brutally honest, sidesplittingly funny, and strangely educational,The Bobby Joe Ebola Songbook can help artists and dreamers become doers and makers... if they can ever put it down.
Blogifesto!
Get to know Grow: Introducing Designer Meggyn Pomerleau
March 28, 2013 — by Eleanor Whitney
Grow: How to take your do it yourself project and passion to the next level and quit your job! is a practical field guide for creative people to achieve success and sustainability on their own terms. Part of Grow’s mission is to empower creative people to come up with innovative solutions to make their creative passions sustainable career options. The first step in that process is to assess where you are and define where you want to go. In the spirit of Grow I posed a series of questions to Meggyn Pomerleau, who designed the book, about her career and goals so far. The issues that Meggyn outlines in our conversation are the ones that inspired me to write Grow: How to balance your creative passion with “real life,” how to understand what you and your creative work is worth, and how to face down an uncertain future with a careful planning.
Right now I’m in the process of putting together a series of workshops around the country this summer that will help creatives like Meggyn plan for DIY success. Until midnight on April 1 (9 pm pacific time) we are running a campaign on RocketHub.com to support the workshop tour and the production of Grow. We’d love to have your support!
How do you describe yourself creatively? What do you do and make and what would you like to do and make?
- I am a graphic artist. I make, draw, manipulate, form, paint, and sketch. Professionally, I'm a graphic designer and I primarily build websites. What I really like to do is illustrate and create typefaces.
What skills do you think are your strongest?
- My communication skills have gotten me to a point where I haven't had to seek out work, ever. I'm also surprisingly good at drawing using my touch-pad on my laptop.
What skills do you feel you need to develop? How will you go about this?
- I still need to work on my time management skills, as well as practicing and researching my craft. Unfortunately, because I'm still a full time cubicle drone it’s difficult to find the time to work on my technical skills. That's my main challenge right now--to make the decision to devote myself fully to my passion, or taking small steps to allow myself to have it in the future.
How integrated is your creative work into the rest of your life?
- My life is design, despite having the office job. I dream about typography; I pay attention to advertisements and details in logos, banners, and posters; and I'm constantly brainstorming pieces in my head. If I had to break it down in numbers: 40% of my life is the non-creative office job, 25% is actually creating, and 35% is everything else.
I believe it's completely possible to turn the 25% into 75% if I choose to, but I'm worried about failure, inconsistent work flow, and settling for work I wouldn't be interested in.
What is something you didn't learn in school that you wish they taught about making your life and living as a creative person?
- One thing no one discussed was how to know what you're worth. A lot of fresh graphic design graduates settle for production work, which doesn't do anything for you, creatively.
Additionally, I wish that I had more one-on-one guidance and the professors helped us determine what kind of designer we were, how technically skilled we were, and where we should go to look for work in order to shape our future a bit. Design can be applied to many things, and if it's not narrowed down to a specific category, it's overwhelming to try to decide what category you're going to focus on and try to pursue.
What are your creative goals for the next year? For the next five years?
- This next year, my goal is to develop a consistent style in my design that draws people to my work. I haven't painted in the longest time, and I'm going to start again, to get back to my roots of being an artist.
In the next 5 years, I'd like to work for an agency or something fast paced and high stress or work as a freelance artist full time with clients sending me consistent work.
Check out Meggyn's work in Grow! http://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/3905/
And support the RocketHub campaign here: http://www.rockethub.com/projects/14039-empower-diy-creative-entrepreneurs-with-grow
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