Ok, ok, ok. My gawd it's been an exciting week for new arrivals. At points I could hardly contain myself. There's a lot to wade through so lets get waddling, first up, 'Wild For Adventure' by John Broadley. Check the photos below for proof, the first three are classic instore no-flash reportage, the last two are thieved from John's blog and are clear and big for fans of the truth.
This book is incredible, it's my first taste of John Broadley's work and I'm in love. John (London by the way) recently had an anthology of his self-published books released on Jonathan Cape, he's been making books since 1996 hard backing and binding the limited runs himself. This Wild For Adventure is compilation number four of John's long running absurd series of mostly-unrelated frames that draw on the olden days with a hint of the modern mundane (tesco bags!) and nuff flights of fancy. The drawings are perfect and the scenes conjured up are fffabulous. This is a black and white (asides the colour cover and endpapers) 48-pager pocket sized 40 edition rocket. £8, available online and offline.
The tidal wave of new arrivals heralded the all new BOOK OF THE WEEK award, John's book would have won it any other week if it wasn't for the arrival of MUSEUMS...
Museums is a behemoth brought you by Jess Higgins, Manchester, eightish months in the making. Lovingly curated, compiled and created, it consists of a book, three posters, a comic and a compilation tape inside a 12" pizza box wrapped in a 7-colour screenprinted greyboard sleeve.
The book is roughly 50 pages long, just under 12" squared and includes drawings, collage and paintings by Lucy Jones, Ken Cole, Jess Higgins, Jack Teagle, Erin Gilkes, Sonja Leuschen, Alex Pierce, Mr.Red, and Chelsea Wong. It's printed and designed beautifully and the work ain't bad neithers!
The three posters are by Tim Lahan, screenprinted on A2 newsprint and display a buccaneering sense of sloganeering.
The comic is 'Marks and Spencers Sponsors Mark Ronson' by yours true, David Bailey, and is an A5 32-page long cheap joke on real-life Austin Powers, Mark Ronson's behalf.
The tape is compiled by Comfortable on a Tightrope and toasts a carefully plumped selection of 22 songs(!), exclusives exquisitely hosted from Assassins 88, Beachniks, Dunes, Former Bullies, Girls Names, Golden Grrrls, Irma Vep, La La Vasquez, Mazes, Nissennenmondai, Picastro, Piece War, Reading Rainbow, Rollin Hunt, Sad Horse, Sic Alps, Silk Flowers, Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Veronica Falls, Waiters and YellowFever.
The whole thing as a package is insane, it redefines the word 'piece'. For this is a REAL piece. Only 40 made so I urge you to get on it fast. You can buy it at Good Grief for £17. Or online direct from the source for £19 including postage H E R E
Pneuma by Daniel Locke
25 page yellow paper photocopied comic with screenprinted dust jacket from Daniel Locke, Brighton. Really really nice cut-out style illustrations, sweet compositions and use of pattern - each frame is a joy. Four stories covering dreams, ghosts, war and visions. Very excellent. £4 in the shop now, and in the online shop too!
Static Revolver by Fancy Butcher Books
Issue one on Fancy Butcher books comes fresh out of London. Two comic stories by Kevin Ward and Lord Hurk. The first a beautifully ink painted tale of dark dentistry with illustrations reminiscent of Lynda Barry (!!) and that Belleville Rendez-vous fillum, kinda. The second story, 'Ink Lagoon', is a graphically starker black and white affair, an equally funny and intriguing story about a human/pig crossover with robotic interference. There's a lot of pages and the presentation of the book is great, it's a nice large format too at around a4 size. £6 available online or offline.
There's more to blog (isn't there always) but I'll save it for another day. Lots more to see inside the real life shop as well as the new additions to the virtual shop. Visit both or at least one, no excuses! Your support will be esteemed.
