SHQ Holiday Recs 2023: Chris 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 two: Selections from Chris! 

The Devil's Grin by Alex Graham
Self-Published 
$12 - $17
Four issues of seedy, darkly humorous comics from one of our favorites. The Devil's Grin plays for creeps but also resembles an Aki Kaurismaki film: sparse, vaguely sad, obtusely funny, and a little bit rock and roll. Wash your hands before getting into this one, it gets a little greasy.  

Stories From Zoo by Anand
Bubbles Fanzine
$24
Brother Brian and Bubbles Fanzine continue to spread the good word of comics. Stories From Zoo is the trade paperback of my wishes and dreams, and Anand continues to weave his odd, offbeat, at times naturalistic and at others surreal, tales with unparalleled uniqueness and surprising relatability. Anand is a comics prophet who lives in these dualities and Zoo is the scripture. Will you join us? (Comes with bonus zine This Loud World!)

Curses by George Wylesol
Avery Hill Publishing
$25
Wylesol's illustration may seem simple and clean but within those empty spaces exists not only extreme saturated color, but an overwhelming dread and bleak isolation. This collection of short comics from the last few years contain some genuinely funny things if you're slightly psychotic, but also I'm one to laugh nervously when I'm spooked. I laughed a lot in this one. 

Blood Of The Virgin by Sammy Harkham
Pantheon
$30
If there was a world comics summit where every major city had to send a representative, Los Angeles would send Sammy Harkham (assuming Xaime and Beto weren't available). In all seriousness, Blood Of The Virgin captures the perfect vibe for a perfect time in an imperfect place. Like Pet Sounds, french dips, Repo Man, and dusk baseball in Chavez Ravine, this book is one of LA's masterpieces. (Also see: Blood of the Virgin Process Zine, published by SHQ Publishing, printed by West Coast Riso champions Tiny Splendor).

Signal by Tetsunori Tawaraya
Colour Code
$40
If you are into a wild and crazy phenomenon that scientists call COLOR, then look no further than sci-fi squiggly guy supreme Tetsunori Tawaraya's Signal. But if you like your khakis pressed neat and never pick anything other than vanilla at the ice cream shop, then I can't help you, man.

SHQ Holiday Recs 2023: Jules 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 Jules!

For the kiddos...
Mayor Good Boy Turns Bad
Random House Graphic
$13
Your favorite canine mayor (sorry, Mayor Max) is back in a new adventure! This book is adorable and hilarious.

For your friend who refuses to read comics for some reason...
Cherry On Top
SHQ Publishing
$16 (unsigned), $21 (signed)
Sincerely the funniest book I've ever read and easily one of my favorite things we have published here at SHQ. Hold on to you butts when I tell you: this one is PROSE, not a graphic novel. This laugh out loud novella by Carson Mell follows musician Bobby Bird as he tries to record his contractually obligated new album while on the lam in the desert. Drugs, sex, rock and roll, and a very likable protagonist. 

For awkward nerds everywhere...
Blackward
Drawn & Quarterly
$23
A charming and fun YA+ graphic novel about finding community! Four friends form a club for the "Black, weird, awkward, and proud of it!" If they build it, will anyone come? Trying to find your people as a young adult is tough, but with good buds anything is possible.

For your Ren Faire friend who is hella gay (is that redundant?)...
Chromatic Fantasy
Silver Sprocket
$30
Okay so this one was seemingly made just for me so it's almost unfair to include. A trans guy (!!) named Jules (!!!!) takes a deal with the devil, leaves his life as a nun, and goes on fantastic adventures with a sexy thief named Casper. Queer romance with gorgeous art. The book has gilded edges for cryin' out loud!

For your uncle who hasn't read comics in a dog's age...
Monica
Fantagraphics
$30
Dan Clowes is back, baby! To sweeten the pot, we have SIGNED BOOKPLATES to go with this wild new book. Monica is a true trip, too much said will ruin it. In my opinion, this is the best and most impressive thing Clowes has done.

For graphic novel fans looking for something totally unique...
Eden II
Fantagraphics
$40
This book is unlike anything I've ever read. It's funny, cerebral, experimental, and philosophical. I wish I could tell you more but you'll just need to experience it (you need to!) I cannot wait to read it a second time.

12/3 VHS Swap & Poster Madness

Tattoos, coffee, VHS, and the INSANE poster collection we’ve been hoarding but are finally selling? Don’t miss out.

12/9 Mayor Good Boy Party

Delightful illustrator Miranda Harmon will be joining us on Saturday, December 9th to sign copies of the latest Mayor Good Boy installment! There will be a dog costume contest, so bring your fancy dress pooch along with the whole family.

Preorder your book here to pick up at the signing! Can’t make it? Preorder your signed copy here to be shipped after the event.

"Goodbye politics! Goodbye stardom! Mayor Good Boy is turning over a new leaf and this time...he's going BAD! Maybe even...bad to the bone.
Mayor Good Boy might not be as GOOD as the town of Greenwood thought. In fact, it turns out that Abby and Aaron's favorite very good boy might actually have been...A BAD BOY this whole time?!

Everyone's favorite dog mayor is back in this hilarious graphic novel series featuring all-new hijinx and all-new fun!”

11/10 Cook Like Your Ancestors Party

Please join us on Friday, November 10 for treats, bevvies, and books to celebrate the release of Mariah-Rose Marie’s Cook Like Your Ancestors!

Preorder your book here to pick up at the signing! Can’t make it? Preorder your signed copy here to be shipped after the event.

“A fully illustrated guide to intuitive cooking! This beginner-friendly cookbook includes a primer on tools, ingredients, and using your own five senses to make delicious food, as well as twenty vegetarian recipes from worldwide cuisines.

Have you ever met someone who never uses recipes, yet makes incredible meals every time? It seems to be a magic preserved only in the hands of grandmothers, or any passionate provider. An ancient, special knowledge that takes a lifetime to perfect. But that's not always true. You can start learning now, and you probably know far more than you think.

Inside this fully illustrated cookbook is an introduction to intuitive food preparation! Meaning less reliance on teaspoons, grams, degrees, and exact cook times, and more on the way humans have always cooked: by tasting, watching, smelling, listening, feeling, and remembering. Follow along with home chef Mariah-Rose Marie to learn how to measure with your hands, season with your senses, balance flavors on the fly, remember ratios, and more—all with minimal equipment and minimal spending.

You can practice your new knowledge with the twenty delicious vegetarian recipes collected from family, friends, and contributors throughout the globe. From Persian kashk-e bademjan and Icelandic skyrterta to Mexican-Taiwanese horchata con boba, the recipes range from traditional to transformed, reflecting the way foods—like people—migrate, mix, adapt, and are remembered. This book was created with international and financial accessibility in mind, and the hope that readers of all backgrounds will find appreciation for the myriad people and flavors of our shared world. 

So grab your trusty cast iron skillet, and get cooking!”