SHQ Holiday Recs Part Three: Chris Picks

New York Ninja Super Special by Charles Forsman

Floating World Comics/Vinegar Syndrome

$12

Do you even sequels, bro? No sequel is more vital and important than this Forsman ripper.You don't need to have watched the cult classic original film from 1984 to immerse yourself into this gem. Just remember that crime in NYC in the 1980s was very bad and we all should thank New York Ninja, not Spidey, Heroes For Hire, or Daredevil, for keeping those streets clean.

Detention No. 2 / Sir Alfred No. 3 by Tim Hensley

Fantagraphics

$20/each

Local boy done good, your cartoonist's favorite cartoonist, Tim Hensley is back baby! Oversized, gloriously illustrated and colored, and packed with the language and minutiae of turn of the century NYC ("loosely" based on Stephen Crane's novella Maggie: A Girl of the Streets). And since there's no such thing as too much of a good thing, Fantagraphics have reissued Sir Alfred, for those who need to scratch their Hitch itch!

Shuna's Journey by Hayao Miyazaki

First Second

$28

At this point, there is nothing that Miyazaki-san can do that won't be short of absolutely amazing. He can draw a dot on a post-it, and it'll probably end world suffering for a blissful moment. Shuna's Journey, originally from 1983 and translated into English for the first time, is based on an old Tibetan folktale and features many visual ideas that would form Nausicaa, Mononoke, etc. RIYL Studio Ghibli, coming of age journeys, nature and anti-colonial anti-slavery sentiment.

Acting Class by Nick Drnaso

Drawn & Quarterly

$30

Y'all, this is a goddamn masterpiece. Take something that is inherently awkward (an acting class), magnify it by a million, mess with the perception of reality, then die inside forever. Drnaso already has "Booker Prize longlist" distinction, what's next? Pulitzer? Nobel Prize? Purple Heart? Grammy? Better jump on the wagon now, so you can tell kids 20 years from now that you were there before he was doing VR hologram New Yorker covers in 2042.

The Human Target Volume One by Tom King and Greg Smallwood

DC Black Label

$30

Tom King's extremely good at his thing. Some folks wanna get all snobby and say they don't like it anymore, but really they still do because, like I wrote earlier, he's extremely good at his thing. Another reinvention of a B-list DC character, in a stylish noir mystery, elevated to bonkers status by Smallwood's impeccable art which lies in the center of a Venn Diagram of Norman Rockwell's style and Darwyn Cooke's vibe.

A Frog in the Fall (and Later On) by Linnea Sterte

Peow Studio

$35

Brew your genmaicha and put on your favorite Japanese ambient records, because Linnea Sterte's new one is here and it's so incredibly chill. With her zen minimal linework and the jaw-dropping PEOW packaging, Frog's journey is so epic, it might actually get you to leave your electric blanket and go outside for a change.

SHQ Holiday Recs Part One: Dave's Picks

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM SECRET HEADQUARTERS

It's that time of year again! Already! Somehow! Never fear, we are here to help you pick out the best gifts for everyone on your list. Part one: picks from Dave, your friendly neighborhood comic shop owner.

Smoke Signal #39

Desert Island

$10

A full issue of forty oversized James Jean images printed on newsprint. I have my issues with newsprint (basically hate it), but I gotta give it to the stuff. It makes for a more involved experience when you're turning the pages. The smell, the way it changes color and texture over time, how it feels like you're reaching back to an earlier time in printing. Either either, it's all JJ and his stuff is gorgeous no matter what it's on.

Anti-Drug Propaganda Zine

Desert Island

$22

This zine is so incredible. It's one hundred pages full of people telling you what not to do by showing you how to do it in the coolest way. I gotta believe every artist was way into getting high and taking money from the man to make the art. Meanwhile, do people really sniff glue? I know there's songs and books, and probably stuff in movies I'm not remembering, but it just seems so crazy. Drugs are bad.

Le Moyne Tarot - Major Arcana

Heavy Manners

$38

Ok. If you know me, you know I'm about as spiritual as an Apple IIe. When I read Jesse's tarot explanations I feel like I'm totally nuts. However, I love things that are way beyond me, and I think Jesse is one of the best writer/artists out there today. Not sure how this sells this box, but years ago we worked with a guy that carried his tarot set in a leather sheath on his belt.

Complete Eightball

Fantagraphics

$50

There's a perfect time in a person's life for certain comics (music, movies, etc). Eightball happens to be one of a handful of things that it's always the right time for. Never read it? Get ready for this! Read it a long time ago? It's like a visit from your funniest, craziest old friend that doesn't give a fuck about "off limits".

Mononoke

Editions Cornelius

$60

When Shigeru Mizuki finishes a drawing, he must be so satisfied, like "Yup, that's exactly what I see in my mind, nailed it again." Imagine doing that over two hundred times just for this book? Meanwhile, I'd buy it for the backgrounds alone.

Moebius - Alla Ricerca del Tempo (In Search Of Time)

Moebius Productions / Comicon Edizioni

$95

I almost feel silly about writing a description of a beautifully printed book of Moebius illustrations. It's a catalog of an Italian show of his work. Beauty on beauty! I mean, what more could you possibly say? You're either in or you're out. My way or the highway. It's flippin' Moebius, my dude.