The People You're Not

Sh*t the bed, long time no blogs. We be readdressing this sorry state next week onward and upward, plenty of new and newish stuff to document. In the meantime the best way to keep abreast is to visit the actual real-life shop, opening hours as per the stated on the right hand side of the screen. Except this week actually, we've got slightly differing hours because Soup Kitchen closes early tomorrow (Thursday) so do we, open 11am-3pm. Then Friday we be closing early too (11am-3pm) because we're getting down for this...


The People You're Not - at Cornerhouse from Cornerhouse on Vimeo.


"The People You're Not", a brand spanker new exhibition at the Cornerhouse which I've got work in alongside 5 other artists (including GG! faves Savwo and Simon Misra) for a project based on an idea by Harry Hill to recreate George Cruikshank's Worship of Bacchus painting using famous alcoholics (slebby boozers), steered to within an inch of perfection by Bren O'Callaghan.  It involves 6 large toy theatres with scenes from the painting updated and packed full of fizzy bizzers from the fame game. Crucial. Opening night is this Friday 6pm-8pm and it rolls on til the end of February. Get in!

G.Lansard, Not one for knocking on, Oliver East, Jim Medway and more!

We got so much more to blog in terms of recent arrivals, but here's a bludgeoning of the recents this past week. Scary good...

G. LANSARD by G. Lansard

We've been waiting to get our collective hands on this zine from Good vs. Evil ever since we heard about it. See, G. Lansard is one of our very favourite illustrators of recent times and he dwells right here in Manchester. I've never seen a book of his stuff before so this is an absolute treat. Layeriffic black black ink upon greyscale collagery, deathly subject matter with strong medieval or biblical...or some such primitive time vibes. Recommend this to hell and back. Always pleasing thick black lines that are unmistakably Lansard's. 

Here's a video of it courtesy of Good vs. Evil!

40 pages, perfect bound, edition of 50

£5

NOT ONE FOR KNOCKING ON no.1

Exhibition catalogue to accompany the recent Not One For Knocking On exhibition at Rogue Studios curated by the ever-fabulous Oliver East. In the exhibition were Craig Atkinson (Southport, I think), Warren Craghead (Virginia, USA), Malcy Duff (Edinburgh) and Blaise Larmee (Portland, USA). Basically a who's who and what's what of shit kicking contemporary underground press. Good Grief! is a big time fan of all these artists and the guy who curated the exhibition so this catalogue was always going to be a winner but even so it's a real nice piece - excellently laid out and printed. You should get this and then track down work by all the artists involved if you haven't already. A must have!

£2

In other Oliver East related news, he recently graced GG's palm with re-ups of the wonderful Trains are...Mint comics. We have issues one, two, three and five. I implore ye to grab them while you can, I don't think there are many of these TAM issues left for this world. You can read Trains are...Mint issues six and seven online here . Mint.

£5

Speaking of Manchester-based legends, Jim Medway popped into Good Grief! on Sunday with a fistful of first-time stock. I was elated. Check the above Christmas card and below it's insides...

And check this out, you get five of these cards with handprinted outsides and envelopes for the bargain price of £4! Stick that up your moonpig.com

GARDEN FUNNIES #1

Garden Funnies is a comic anthology (or a horticultural sequential art anthology as it says on the cover) on the Paw Quality comics imprint dealt by Jim Medway. This first issue features grass roots vegetable-heavy comicradery from Steve Tillotson, Jim Medway, Richard Tingley, Aaron Renier, Tanya Meditzky, Alex Potts and Ed Syder. As you can see from the pictures, it's GORGEOUS. 

£2

GARDEN FUNNIES #2

Garden Funnies #2 is a bigger animal format-wise. Twice the size in fact! This time the anthology features Gary Northfield, Ed Syder, Steve Tillotson, Adam & Hilary Steel, Lizz Lunney, Duncan Borne, Jim Medway, Francesca Cassavetti and Alex Potts. Beautifully put together and printed with rounded corners that you could trace with your finger all day long. Cheddar gorgeous.

£3

Email to inquire about getting any of the titles before they're unleashed upon the online shop

Joakim Ojanen, Dan Rhett and Debora Gutman

Many happy greetings to one and all. Since I last blogged, the Good Grief! travelling band travelled to Hackney, London, to play a silent disco set on the merch tables at the Upset the Rhythm festival, Yes Way. It was wicked awesome. Photos are a-coming! The roadshow uproots and toots next to Trash-O-Rama in Manchester @ Retro Bar, the home of the chip-based menu. This happens on September 3rd PM to commemorate T-O-R's first birthday, Klaus Kinski and No Womb will also be playing so it's defs worth bobbing along. September is stacked. Following that I head to Birmingham Zine Festival on September 11th for what looks like a tremendous spread of makers. Blog forthcoming. Then it's back to Manchester and to the Deaf Institute  on September 26th where those nice guyses involved with the Postcards from Manchester festival asked if Good Grief! would like to temporize in the basement en stall. Does the poop pope in the woods?

Following all that, it's then the Piccadilly Self Publishing Fair in Manchester on October 3rd. PUMPED to have a stall at this. Check it out! Remember that Good Grief! is open everyday 'cept Sunday 10.30 - 6pm if you want to see the full spread.

Now check this, new zines-a-plenty...

"Plus One" comes fresh to death from Swedish artist, Joakim Ojanen. A 36-page pocket-sized bundle of outstanding goon drawings. Goons riding goons. Goons smoking cigarettes. Goons is as goons do. This is fabulous fun.

"Plus One" is part of a twin-pack of zines from Joakim Ojanen, it comes bound by elastic band to the phenomenal "Limo Zine" pictured below...

Glorious, I'm sure you'll agree. The drawings, the pattern, the repetition...the goons upon goons! BUT THEN.......................

WOOMPF!

LIMO ZINE FOLDS OUT! What you end up with is a 280cm long and 14cm high continuous drawing from a Swedish artisan. Incredible! Pictures don't do the length justice, you could lap your lounge with it. The covers of both zines are screenprinted too y'all. Edition of 100.

Buy "Limo Zine Plus One" for just £9! Come and get it instore or buy from us here!

Speaking of eyeball pricking packages, Dan Rhett, Virginia USA,  sent me a little parcel a while ago and it included the below, "Hero House". A card game devised by Dan with four possibly game-playing possibilities and rules to dictate them. Oh, and they look OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!!!!! See below.

I've tried but I can't get over how perfect they are. The card drawings, I've decided, are right up there with some of the most pleasing black and white illustrations I've ever seen. Strictly incred. Not to mention the names, Java Man? Delta Bird? HA! This is one beaut of a set. In Dan's words,

"Hero House is a card game where players create cosmic clans of heroes with 56 hero playing cards." The four games are,

"Hero House - the game for 2-4 players, where players defend against monsters in the wilderness and struggle for balance.
Kingdom - for 2 players, where all the cards are used to create many hero houses
Monster Monte - solitaire where points are awarded for balanced heroes
14 Up - solitaire in which all cards are used to create hero houses"

You get over-sized Hero House art cards with your purchase and a one-sheet folded comic while stocks last!
GET ON IT, £8 instore or online here

Besides being an insane card game genius, turns out Dan Rhett is also an insane comic genius. "Codex Danier" up first...

"Codex Danier" is a 96-page 3-story wonder. It contains the following tales,

"HEAVE-HO TO NIGH" where sea creature stories are told to a fellow in a boat.
"NAGA SAGA" which examines those who chase nagas.
"BONOBO USURPER" that follows the events surrounding a failed zoo project.

Very funny and inventive comic. Bonobo Usurper is probably my favourite of the stories, chimps gone wild and escape a zoo by dressing up in human clothes. It's a classic setup. Conversational flow is beyond rich with this one, and with "Danz Comix Digest" below... 

"Danz Comix Digest" is "a collection of three stories and one vignette including : NO-K THE WERE-HOG, WILD KIND, WEIRD VIGNETTE & CAPE ABLE. Features lycanthropy, teleporting elves, a carved casket, maple syrup and a wooden woman."

It's also a 78-page stonker. Dan goes fairymare night-tales all over this one. With delightful effect. Love the little haunted mannequin and the Nudger. It's a charm to see Dan Rhett's one line drawings in these two comics alongside his earlier Hero House illustration set, both approaches are winners.

Codex Danier and Danz Comix Digest are £5 each. Pick 'em up in the shop or on the line here!

A further while before Dan Rhett's arrivals, there was a lady called Debora Gutman whose zines touched down with Good Grief! all the way from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Debora was glorious enough to send four of her toner-heavy collaged and drawn zines, "Darwin, Galore", "Muy Mal Hecho", "Fabulos" and "Passport Format", there's a photographic ensemble of pages from all below. It's good to know that the photocopiers are firing on all cylindricals in Buenos Aires ain't it? Debora is also organising the forthcoming Buenos Aires Fanzine Festival!

It's £2 instore for Passport Format and £2.50 for all the others.

Other hot to trots have also arrived in the shop of late, this is merely a tip of an iceberg. Further news on a few of those coming shortly, shorty!

Also, got a load of new Upset the Rhythm records in this week - fresh from Yes Way. Come check 'em out! Good Grief's subscription service is approaching it's first instalment on October 1st, read all about it in the post below.