New Arrivals  see all »

 

News

Microcosm Post-punk Extravanganza West Coast '010 Tour!

Microcosm Post-punk Extravaganza West Coast '010 Tour image

Hey! Microcosm's multimedia tour is coming down the west coast this time, in April. With Joshua Ploeg doing a "cooking show" from In Search of the Lost Taste and interesting vegan snacks, Joe Biel showing  the Plan-It X Records Documentary, "If It Ain't Cheap, It Ain't Punk!", a zine/book table, and Mia Partlow and Michael Hoerger of "Edible Secrets" with a mobile museum & document library on the fascinating secret history of food and espionage. We need help for April 10 & 12th! Click for the dates!

The Curious Case of the Communist Jell-o Box

The Curious Case of the Communist Jell-o Box: The Execution of Julius & Ethel Rosenberg image

OUT NOW! This awesome "poster zine" shows the sordid shared history between Jell-O and nuclear secrets. Wait. What? Yep, Jell-O and nuclear secrets. Packed with espionage and intrigue, this super sweet poster (featuring declassified documents!), details the not-so-well-known connections between America's favorite jiggly fruit snack and the Manhattan project, government propaganda campaigns, and executed spies (or were they?) Ethel and Julius Rosenburg. It's totally like a John Grisham novel ... only, y'know, not stupid and predictable and terribly written. There's always room for J-E-L-L-O. And nukes! And the truth! It's a little preview of our upcoming book Edible Secrets!

Make Your Place

Make Your Place: Affordable, Sustainable Nesting Skills image

This is that green home- & self-maintenance book you've been hearing about! 

 

How & Why

How & Why: A Do-it-yourself Guide image

COMING MAY 1! “I dream of a better world,” writes zinester and How and Why author Matte Resist in the intro to his new book. He continues, “To me DIY culture is about grabbing a little piece of that dream.” What follows over the course of the next 281 pages is Matte doing what all dreamers must do—waking up from his dream, opening his eyes, and confronting what roadblocks and hurdles lie between him and his goal. Matte does this by laying down chapter upon chapter of blueprints for a better world. A sequel to our do-it-yourself handbook Making Stuff and Doing Things, How and Why gives us detailed, engaging, easy-to-use info on bicycles, home and garage, gardening, educating children, musical instruments, and the all-inclusive “everything else” section. If you dream of taking back your life and building a better world, How and Why might be your new best friend.

Portland Store like new!

news image

We've been cutting some boards, painting some signs, and doing some moving things around at the 'cosm store. It's also of note that we grew by 133% in November, so it's no longer abysmally small and crowded. New shelves! New merch! New love! It's at 833 SE Main St. #108 (at 9th b/t Hawthorne/Belmont) We have tons of unique discounted, damaged, forgotten gems from the past, and used stuff; much of it for half price or less! Take a gander at the $2 table! Everyday 11 AM - 7 PM

 

How To Make Soap!

How To Make Soap: Without Burning Your Face Off image

OUT NOW! Raleigh Briggs, author of the popular Microcosm title Make Your Place, is back with another pamphlet on better, healthier living. This time around, she tackles soap-making basics, and teaches us how to create silky handmade soaps at home. How To Make Soap contains basic directions, recipes, a list of resources, and assorted tips and tricks to make your homemade soaps special. Raleigh takes a seemingly arduous task, and makes it breezy and fun, with her charming hand-drawn illustrations and easy to follow directions. How to Make Soap is a great guide (and gift!) for the beginning soapmaker, looking for a place to start.

Xerography Debt #26

Xerography Debt #26 image

OUT NOW! Xerography Debt's new issue features even more of the beloved "review zine with perzine tendencies" wherein your favorite zine writers become zine reviewers, columnists, and news hounds! Wred Fright wrote an amazing history of zines that begins in 1929! 64 pages of new zines to fall in love with, collect obsessively, and tell your friends about. They want to review your zines in future issues; yes, you! We know you are out there! Now you should send it to: Davida Gypsy Breier / PO Box 11064 / Baltimore, MD 21212 USA. Now offering subscriptions! 

Burn Collector #14

Burn Collector #14 image

OUT NOW! Heck yeah, it's the new issue of Burn Collector! Here, in Burn Collector #14, zine superstar Al Burian lays down 156 pages of truth, trouble, and everyman blues. Whether battling the cops in Chicago, essaying the frenetic nervous breakdown of city life, spilling the secret truth of all religions, or talkin' comix and punk shows, Burian does so with class, humor, and a timeless feel for language. Burn Collector 14 is heavily illustrated, dense with stories, and ripped right from the headlines of Burian's hard, hilarious, rowdy life.

 

Unemployment

Unemployment image

OUT NOW! Unemployment is the newest zine by Aaron Lake Smith of Big Hands fame. "There's nothing quite like the nagging doubt that accompanies a period of unemployment," begins the zine and for the next 44 pages Aaron brings us along on his dark journey into the heart of the failing American empire. Whether touching on the allegorical implications of the Spider-Man/Peter Parker character symbiosis, dreaming about a shameful meeting with a Christ-like Crimethinc author, or just roaming the recession-era streets, Aaron applies everything to the current economic slump and does so in prose that is tight, engaging, and downright hilarious. This little primer/per-zine is some timely stuff.

Doris #15: Anti-Depression Guide

Doris #15: The Anti-Depression Guide image

UPDATED FOR TEN YEARS LATER! Doris 15 starts by stating "there is nothing wrong with a little depression.  It is a reasonable response to this fucked up world and you don't need to hide or deny it."  That's what makes this anti-depression guide so great.  It doesn't treat depression like a disease that needs to be hidden and suppressed with the latest trend in drug therapy.  Instead, it offers fun, real-life advice from someone who had dealt with depression. New edition!

Learning Good Consent

Learning Good Consent image

OUT NOW! Curated by Doris editor Cindy Crabb, Learning Good Consent looks at the culture of sexual consent from a standpoint both sexy and educational. Over the course of 46 pages, Cindy and friends create a well-rounded consent workshop, with all sites set on healing and helping. In a world of shady abusers, demonized victims, and one-sided dating rituals, Consent has your back. As says Cindy in the zine's intro, "Talking about our experiences with consent, our struggles, our mistakes and how we've learned, these are part of a much larger revolutionary struggle."

 

2010 Slingshots are here!!!

2010 Slingshot Organizer large size image

Just to yet ya'll know, we've got Slingshot Organizers in stock for 2010! Hurray! We've got both spiral-bound large ones, and the small ones in stock in a variety of colors. The time to organize is now!

Microcosm -- In Your Town!

MICROCOSM -- In Your Town- Come Hang Out! image

We're planning our 2010 tabling calendar-- if there's anything you'd like us to come to, please get in touch!

Tabling and Events for Early 2010-- Here we come!


  • Photos from tabling!
  • 14th Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair- March 13th-14th
  • Chicago Zine Fest- March 13th
  • Left Forum- NYC- March 19th-21st
  • Post-punk Extravaganza Tour featuring Joshua Ploeg's cooking, Michael Hoerger and Mia Partlow's Edible Secrets mobile musem and document library, and If It Ain't Cheap, It Ain't Punk documentary. April 1st --23rd
  • Anarchist Assembly- Toronto, ON- April 10th-11th
  • Pedalnation, Portland Convention Center- April 9-11th
  • New York Anarchist Bookfair- April 17th
  • Kazoo Zine Fair- Guelph, ON- April 24th
  • Stumptown Comics Fest- Portland- April 24th-25th
  • Toronto Comics Arts Festival- May 8th-9th
  • Montreal Anarchist Bookfair- May 29th-30th
  • San Francisco Zine Fest- September 4th-5th

If you’re planning an event and you’d like the Microcosm gang to participate (by tabling, presenting, aiding in the consumption of vegan treats, etc) please let us know!!

Check Out our LINKS page for yearly events we like to support and bands we've been on tour with!

Be our Best Friend Forever!

Be our BFF for 6 months-$15/mo image

....okay, well, not really forever...but Just like supporting your local farmers, we now offer a "subscription" to everything that we publish! Every time we publish something new we'll send it to your door! Perfect for people who love to get a monthly package but don't have time to sift through what they want! $10-30/month based on what you can afford. Minimum subscription period is 6 months. Subscription begins the month after it is purchased. To receive more than 6 months, add multiple orders to your quantity.

 

Microcosm Cheap Superpacks Now Available!

Microcosm Cheap Superpacks Now Available! image

These packs give you super savings, most of them are only $20.00 -- they're cheaper than if you bought the items separately!

Here's a listing of Superpacks we've released so far!  More to come!  Click on them for more details!


10 Miscellaneous Patches!


125 Miscellaneous Stickers!


Political Zine Pack ($11)


Queer as Punk!


Bicycle! Bicycle!


Go Vegan!


Make Something, Do Something


Nate Powell Superpack #1


Nate Powell Superpack #2


Nate Powell Superpack #3


My Brain Hurts, Vol 2

My Brain Hurts, Vol 2 image

OUT NOW!  Liz Baillie crafts a Degrassi-style teenage soap opera about queer punks in New York City! Our story resumes with Joey in a coma after an incident of queer bashing and Kate and Desi's relationship on the rocks. Desi's really religious, and Kate's really not, and they struggle to find a middle ground. The boys get caught smoking and uh, other things in the boys room, Kate getting in awkward situations with a hate crime perpetrator at her internship job, and much much more! Will queer teenage romance succeed? Will our heroes prevail over high school principals, skinheads, and a homophobic society?

Dwelling Portably 1990-1999

Dwelling Portably 1990-1999 image

OUT NOW! "For the past 30 years, Bert and Holly have been cranking this out on a manual typewriter in their yurt. You'll find diagrams and notes on how to make tools, portable showers, find seasonal jobs, stay warm at night while Winter camping; hitchhiking and freight train hopping guides; suggestions from people who live in their car, in tents, yurts, tipis, or nowhere at all. And perhaps my favorite thing about "Dwelling Portably" are the personal stories that surround the helpful information." -Print Fetish

 
 

Blogifesto!

99 Zines By Women for the 99th International Women's Day

March 08, 2010 — by e. chris lynch

IWD march in iranToday is the 99th annual International Women's Day.  I figured what better way than to make a list of 99 of my favorite zines written or edited by women (that are still in print).  When I started, I thought it would be hard to come up with 99 of them.  I quickly had a list well over 100 and it was hard to edit it down.  This is far from an exhaustive list of great zines by women, but I hope you find it's a good place to start.  These zines are in no order other than in the order they came to mind.  What are some of your favorite zines by women?

  1. Doris
  2. Ker-Bloom
  3. Counterbalance
  4. So What
  5. Krazy Kat Lady
  6. Spread
  7. Just So You Know
  8. New Orleans... My Love
  9. List
  10. On Being Hard Femme
  11. The F-Word
  12. Beyond Gallery Walls and Dead White Men
  13. Dames on Frames
  14. Reclaiming Our Ancient Wisdom
  15. Moments of Struggle
  16. Hot Pantz
  17. HPV
  18. Guerilla Greywater Girls
  19. Take Back Your Life
  20. What The Ladies Have To Say
  21. Radical Pet
  22. Frugal Vegan
  23. We Need To Eat!
  24. Barefoot and In The Kitchen
  25. Nine Gallons
  26. You Don't Get There From Here
  27. Galatea's Pants
  28. Support
  29. Crescent City Stories
  30. Adventures in Menstruating
  31. Invincible Summer
  32. Greenblooded
  33. Not Your Mother's Meatloaf
  34. Work Funnies
  35. Booty
  36. Shithole
  37. Girls Are Not Chicks
  38. My Every Single Thought
  39. Hey, Four-Eyes
  40. Jumbly Junkery
  41. Estrus Comics
  42. The Womanifesto for the Categorical New Freedom Lady
  43. Milkyboots
  44. Easy Village Inky
  45. My Brain Hurts
  46. I Hate My Mom's Cat
  47. Sourpuss
  48. Slave to the Needles
  49. Here It Is
  50. The Color of Dissent
  51. Matching Jackets
  52. Ring of Fire
  53. Beer, Bikes, and Bridges: Notes on Portland, Oregon
  54. Tenacious
  55. Punx Is Ladies
  56. The Adventures of Loneberry
  57. Cuntastic
  58. New To Everything
  59. Angry Violist
  60. The Rag
  61. Refuge Zine
  62. The Rainbow Connection
  63. When Language Runs Dry
  64. Greenwoman
  65. DIY or Don't We?: A Zine About Community
  66. Learning Good Consent
  67. Rigor Mortis
  68. Fireweed: A Zine of Grassroots Radical Herbalism and Wild Foods Connecting With Kids and Family Life
  69. Harlot, RN
  70. Etiquette
  71. Morgenmuffel
  72. She Must Be Having A Bad Day: The Cult of the Female Food Service Worker
  73. Broken Hipster
  74. Figure 8
  75. Really Gay!
  76. Re:productive
  77. 7 Minutes in Heaven
  78. Caboose
  79. Scrabble Freaks
  80. Mamaphiles
  81. Shotgun Seamstress
  82. Rocket Queen
  83. Identity Crisis
  84. I Was A Teenage Mormon
  85. La-La Theory
  86. Keep Loving, Keep Fighting
  87. Nuns I've Known
  88. Jane Zine
  89. Long Walk Back To Myself
  90. It's Not Just Boys Fun
  91. Free To Choose
  92. Mark of Cain
  93. Xtra Tuff
  94. Citizeen
  95. Emergency
  96. Let It Be Known
  97. Ask First
  98. Chainbreaker
  99. Anti-Immigrant Hypocrisy 

2 comments