SHQ Holiday Recommendations 2025: Dave's Picks

December 18, 2025 Secret Headquarters

We’re here with another round of recommendations, this time from our fearless leader, Dave!

Hobtown Mystery Stories: Secret of the Saucer by Kris Bertin & Alex Forbes

Oni Press, $25

Hobtown Mystery Stories: The Secret of the Saucer

Saucer is the third book in the dreamiest mystery series you'll ever read! Kris and Alex stepped away from traditional storytelling and dropped us into a tale that I'm pretty sure can be read in any order ya like. I think they're pushing us away from classic "question and answer" in the most challenging and surreal way. Or maybe I was just a little confused.

Crickets #9 by Sammy Harkham

Self Published, $15

I'm pretty biased when it comes to Sammy. He's the youngest old guy you'll ever meet. So much so, that when he actually gets old I'm pretty sure he'll become one of those guys that can just grunt and speak volumes if you have the right ears for it. Right now he makes incredible comics that aren't for everyone, but if they're for you, you're stoked.

Lezards Reveurs by Moebius

Moebius Production, $50

This book contains two unpublished sketchbooks by the undisputed line-master Moebius! What more could I possibly say? If that's not automatically lighting a hot fire inside you, then maybe you should take a look at it!

The Seasons by Rick Remender and Paul Azaceta

Image Comics, $13

A nailed mix of writing and art that just runs from page to page! I'd love to see it as one long sideways scroll. It's almost like a Rube Goldberg device that tells an epic mystery story. So much fun!

Turd Book #7 by Cesar Massturd

SHQ Publishing, $13

Cesar draws like that kid in school who just raged all over the paper while you were trying to shade that one eye just right. His life explodes into every notebook! It can be tough to look at, but keep flipping through and you'll be dumped directly into a kind of hell, but like a really great hell. Like a hell learning experience.

Beautiful Monster by Maruo Suehiro

Bubbles, $25

This guy! This book! I wonder if his parents read his comics. They're gnarly nuts! Ugh, I love and am also just so repulsed by every line. Watching people's faces when they see the art for the first time is the funnest.

SHQ Holiday Recommendations 2025: Chris' Picks

December 11, 2025 Secret Headquarters

SHQ crew back with more recs!

Cornelius by Marc Torices

Drawn & Quarterly, $40

This book is pure cartooning elegance, weaving disparate art styles into a fever dream, dark-as-a-bottomless-pit comedy. Cornelius is "spoiled and immature, unable to deal with life as an adult. Someone feverishly feigning emotional stability while actually being driven by pure and simple desperation." Cornelius is an asshole. Cornelius is a coward. Cornelius is pathetic and pitiable. Cornelius is also a dog. Cornelius for president, or at least a nomination for a Nobel Prize.

Saga De Xam by Nicolas Devil & Jean Rollin

Anthology Editions, $60

In Jean Rollin's 1979 film Fascination, the maids call their chateau a "universe of madness and death", an apt description of his own decade earlier book Saga de Xam. In its first English translation ever, heroine Saga escapes her war-riddled planet like a Kal-El with boobs, and proceeds to hop time through some of the most brutal (trigger warnings galore) and horny moments of Planet Earth. Equal parts Belladonna of Sadness, Barbarella and Ottinger's Madame X, Rollin forges his fantastique, feminist, sapphic priorities, but the true star is Nicolas Devil's art, a cannonball of psychedelic expression which feels as if Sun Ra's cosmic music is pouring through Devil's pen.

Them Shaped Clouds by Max Huffman

Cram Books, $20

Max Huffman's Dogtangle is terrific but three cheers for this riso mini-masterpiece from Cram Books. Collecting a handful of shorties, this banger combines Huffman's slacker wit with his angular-Hirschfeld, cubist naughty aughties Cartoon Network on acid style. This all with colors that would make the Las Vegas Boneyard blush.

Buff Soul by Moa Romanova

Fantagraphics, $30

If JD Pinkus is the wise sage in your tale of youthful folly, you've already succeeded. Taking the EP (On Tour, published by Peow) and expanding it into a full length album, Buff Soul stirs all the feelings of wild salad days, ignoring your bodily well-being and balancing the teetering scale of new adulthood, where none of it matters and at the same time, all of it matters. It made me exclaim aloud "oh to be young again!", followed by the sobering realization that I was never punk, and have lived an uneventful, nerdy, little life.

Miss Ruki by Fumiko Takano

New York Review Comics, $20

Illuminating, light-hearted, slice of life comics of a working girl in late 80s consumer culture Japan. Miss Ruki brought me cozy comfort on the same level of Taniguchi's Walking Man with a touch of the tangible realness of Matsumoto's Tokyo These Days. Basically Cathy except less nervous sweating and acks.

Spy Seal: The Corten Steel Phoenix by Rich Tommaso

Floating World Comics, $20/$30

God bless Rich Tommaso and those Dawn of the Dead Mall weirdos at Floating World for reprinting one of the most criminally underrated comics of the last decade. Perfect for Tintin fans if you hate cultural appropriation. Perfect for Bond fans if you hate sexism and racism. Perfect for Usagi fans if you hate rabbits. Plainly, a perfect book.

SHQ Holiday Recommendations 2025: Patrick’s Picks

December 6, 2025 Secret Headquarters

Tongues by Anders Nilsen

Pantheon, $35, hardcover

Tongues winds its way through my life in a way that almost feels like something cosmic. Having read the gorgeous, self-published volumes, I was prepared to take the journey again, even though it's heavier now. It's hard to describe how much this book feels alive, from the paneling to the lore, no detail too small. The interior of the book may not change with each reading but walking the path will forge us anew.

Also check out the Tongues Process Zine we published with Anders. Perfect for the Nilsen super fan!

Baby Blue by Bim Eriksson

Fantagraphics, $30, Softcover

“Now I realize you're at least as crazy as me.” As someone who has cried in public and plans to continue that trend, I must recommend Baby Blue. Sometimes even therapy can be used as a bludgeon to make us feel better and return to being a good consumer instead of looking at the root causes of our depression, the unjust world. This is taken to the extreme when Betty gets picked up by the pigs for crying in public and daring to ask the internet what's wrong. Well, there's nothing wrong with your anxiety, except the way of the world, so let's change it together.

Drome by Jesse Lonergan

23rd St, $30, Hardcover

Phenomenal art with unique paneling. Can we end the cycle of violence or are we doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past? To meet the gods, you simply walk until you can walk no more. If you are into Lonergan’s style also check out his work on Man’s Best with shop favorite writer Pornsak Pichetshote, we have copies!

Out of Alcatraz by Christopher Cantwell and Tyler Crook

Oni Press, $30, Hardcover

This one is a bit different than my usual style, but I’ve loved Christopher Cantwell since Halt and Catch Fire and I can’t get enough. Combining True Crime with speculative fiction, Out of Alcatraz shows what possibly could have happened to the real life escapees from their infamous island incarceration. Great action and rising tension, plus it’s so fun to see 1960s California in Tyler Crook’s style. Can we truly find freedom or are we just trading one prison cell for another of our own making?

The Ultimates Vol 1: Fix The World

Marvel, $25, Paperback

With the way things are going recently, it’s surprising to see Disney put out some of the most anti-fascist mass media since Andor. If you haven’t checked out Deniz Camp’s other comics (why haven’t you read Assorted Crisis Events yet?!) then The Ultimates is a great place to start. The Maker is up to some shit (when is he not?) and the Ultimates are here to save the day, but can they? This book hits more like the X-Men than the Avengers, challenging the status quo in a universe stacked against them. fuck the status quo!

Goes Like This by Jordan Crane

Fantagraphics, $40, Paperback

Many of you know Keeping Two is my all time favorite graphic novel, but the Goes Like This collection cements Jordan Crane as my favorite artist. Spanning genres, the way he crafts quiet moments between characters that are exploding with emotional intimacy is unparalleled. I've long admired the “At Night One Day” print and reading the full story of “One Day” feels like a missing piece of me has been returned. Such a simple story with such big feelings, but I guess that's life captured the way only Jordan can do it.

This collection also comes with a risograph print signed by Jordan while they last!

Come Visit Us Out In The World, Upcoming Events!

November 17, 2025 Secret Headquarters

SHQ/Reel Politik Table at the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum, Friday November 21 at 7:30 PM

Reel Politik: Seizing the Means of Projection With Nathan Gelgud

If you came to the signing 2 weeks ago you already know how special Nathan Gelgud’s Reel Politik is, if not, now is your chance to find out! Come by on Friday, November 21 to see La Chinoise and a special Q&A with cartoonist and illustrator Nathan and filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin. SHQ will be selling copies before the movie so you can get a signed copy for this kick off event at the Billy Wilder Theater.

The Los Angeles Breakfast Club Presents: The Mitford Sisters and Me with Mimi Pond!

Mimi Pond Book Signing at The Los Angeles Breakfast Club, Wednesday November 26 from 7 to 9 AM

Come for a catered breakfast, silly songs, and an engaging conversation with Mimi Pond. The Los Angeles Breakfast Club hosts Mimi and her book Do Admit: the Mitford Sisters and Me, a lovingly crafted and gorgeously cartooned biography of the controversial – and beloved! – socialites whose lives spanned the highs and lows of the 20th century. Mimi will be signing the book, but if you don’t have a copy we will have some available for purchase at the event!

Analog Outlaw, We’re So Back

Analog Outlaw at 2220 Art + Archives, Saturday December 6th from 12 - 5 PM

Dave will be bringing all the cool stuff for our third appearance at Analog Outlaw. If you’re a stranger please come visit us at this unique event hosted by Bibliomancers and Nooners Books. Tons of unique vendors, a one of a kind experience, be there!

Brain Dead Books and Baked Goods

Brain Dead Studios, Books and Baked Goods event, Sunday December 7th, 12 to 5 PM

Details? We don’t have them. Interesting books, comics, and art? Hell yeah, we got ‘em. Sunday December 7th from 12 to 5 PM at Brain Dead Studios, 611 N Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036.

Comic Arts LA

So excited for another year at CALA! Dave has been hoarding a great selection of zines this year. Come flip them, say hi, meet cool people. Head to comicartsla.com for more details and a complete vendor list, spoiler alert: cool shit.

Acid Free, Come and See

October 19, 2025 Secret Headquarters

Fair Hours:
Friday, Oct. 24, 4 – 8PM
Saturday, Oct. 25, 11AM – 7PM
Sunday, Oct. 26, 11AM – 7PM

Venue:
Marta
3021 Rowena Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90039

https://acid-free.info/

Come visit our table at Acid Free V. Our 3rd year attending, we are so proud to be a part of the local comic community. Now celebrating 20 years in business!

Dave has been curating a collection of killer art zines and books to bring to the show, so even if you’re a regular, stop by to see some new stuff!