SHQ Holiday Recs 2023: Patrick'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 four: selections from our Patrick.

 Grog The Frog
by Davilorium + Alba BG
Silver Sprocket
$12
If you loved The Council of Frogs and Frog In The Fall, then Grog The Frog is here to save the day, but he might be salty about it. I want to get lost in the details of this world, there are so many fun characters (Nerea the She-Horse is my fave), sick-ass rituals, and funny situations on a classic quest. No Fools Allowed. 

Danger and Other Unknown Risks
by Ryan North with art by Erica Henderson
Penguin Workshop
$17
My favorite creative team returns and they haven't missed a beat. Y2K was real, but that's history; now magic (which kinda works) is the norm. Marguerite grew up hearing stories and being told that she was going to save the world. Well, now the world needs saving and she and her chatty dog Daisy are hunting down some magical totems. But you should know, dear reader, that magic has a cost and someone will have to pay it.  

Great British Bump Off
by John Allison, art by Max Sarin, colors by Sammy Borras
Dark Horse
$20
The relaxation of the Bake Off tent with the stress of a killer on the loose.
Agatha Christie would be proud.

 And if that whetted your appetite for mystery... 

 Know Your Station
by Sarah Gailey, art by Liana Kangas, colors by Rebecca Nalty
Boom Studios
$20
Self-medication, a sassy AI, and a distaste for the ultra-wealthy. Sarah Gailey does it again, this time with a murder mystery in space.

Three Rocks: The Story of Ernie Bushmiller
by Bill Griffith
Abrams ComicArts
$25
Nancy fans already know picking this up is a no-brainer, but just in case you don't know who Nancy is get ready to fall in love while reading this meta-biography. Seeing Bushmiller's creative process in the context of his life brings a whole new appreciation to reading Nancy. Many of the concepts he used to write are demonstrated by Nancy herself, not just in the form of classic strips but as our guide within the book and most certainly to Ernie himself throughout his life. Come away with a fresh perspective on both Nancy and creativity.  

Demon Wars
by Peach Momoko
Marvel
$35
I was so excited to return to the Marvel Momoko-verse. Peach Momoko mixes the X-Men (and some of your favorite Avengers) up with spirits and demons in feudal Japan. The characters may be quite different, but the soft colors make you feel at home instantly. Just in case you need the extra push to check this out, here's a tease: Phoenix vs Magik, except they're Yokai.

Shubeik Lubeik
by Deena Mohamed
Pantheon Books
$35
Far and away my favorite book of the year, this world presupposes that wishes are real. Unlike the fast-paced nature of Eight Billion Genies wishing in this world is a burden, both on your heart and because it's become a bureaucratic nightmare. Three first-class wishes are sold, framing each story are details about the world which seems so much like our own, including Hickman-esque data pages with the history and rules of wishes. This book has all the elements I love mashed together in a way that truly moved me. Wishing may have created a fantastical world, but real human stories play out in this book. 

SHQ Holiday Recs 2023: 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 three: Dave's Gnarly XXX-Mas (and bonus SHQ stuff!)

PeePee-PooPoo series by Caroline Cash
Silver Sprocket
$10
Like forever ago there was an explosion of b&w comics that were somewhat kinda autobiographical and nutso. Some were fantastic, most were garbo. Comics continued to happen for another 60 years but they were whatever. Then Caroline Cash started drawing PPPP. It's basically a new golden age. 

Filthy Dirty Books Zine
Desert Island
$15
It's fun being a pervy weirdo! This collection definitely separates the smutty wheat from the chaff. Real mix of cringy and sexy. What were people thinking?! Sixty pages of vintage paperback covers your mom would be so disappointed to find in your room. 

Kirsten Liu-Wong Sketchbook
Self-Published
$40
Kristen is completely crushing it these days. For years, really. This 180 page exact reproduction of one of her sketchbooks is the definition of "I do what I want". Flip this book for a few minutes and you're going to want to either pick up a pen or throw yours in the trash. 

Death Book by Toshio Saeki
Baron Books
$55
I don't know about you, but when I open a book don't scream "my eyes!" then I just don't want it. I dare anyone to look at Toshio's work and think, "Yeah, ok sure, kid stuff, NBD." This thing is "WTF" in book form.

And from your fave comic shop...

SHQ Shop Shirt
$25
Let 'em know where you go with our new-ish shop tee. You'll instantly be singing, "Come and knock on our door!" I have one in every color. I might never wear another shirt. Ol' One Shirt Dave they call me. 

SHQ Super Fan Pack
$75
This pack contains pretty much all of what SHQ published over the last year or so. We love what we get to do! Look at these books! SO fantastic. This bag of goodies will only be on "insanity discount" through the holidays, so quit f'ing around and pick up this Crazy Eddie level deal. 

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.













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.

SHQ Holiday Recs Part Four: All Ages

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 four: selections for the kiddo (or kiddo at heart!) in your life.

Miles Morales: Shock Waves / / Mr. Marvel: Stretched Thin

Scholastic, $13 each

Beautiful new middle grade graphic novels for superhero lovers! All new adventures for these two incredibly popular teen heroes.

The Girl From The Sea

Scholastic, $15

Fantasy, magic, creatures from folklore, romance... what more can you want? A very sweet tale about growing up and falling in love.

The Nutcracker And The Mouse King

First Second, $19

A lushly illustrated re-telling of the classic story. Our copies are signed and sketched by writer/artist Natalie Andrewson to make them an extra special holiday gift.

Run Book One

Abrams, $25

The first part of the sequel to critically acclaimed March by the late Senator John Lewis. Fantastic and important non-fiction.

Baby-Sitters Little Sister Box Set

Scholastic, $44

Contains volumes one through four of the in the popular Baby-Sitters Little Sister graphic novel series. Charming and heartfelt!

SHQ Holiday Recs Part Three: Dave's Picks

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 three: picks from the big boss man, Dave!

Star Wars T-Shirts 1977 - 1983

SHQ Publishing, $20

A long time ago (early 2021) we got together with Austin Books and made this rad collection of classic Star Wars t-shirts. Remember going to the mall and picking iron-ons from the books? It was ringer tee heaven!

Dang Wayne Olsen Book & Print Set

SHQ Publishing, $20

DWO is so fantastic, kinda like when gum is exactly at that perfect combination of flavor and chewiness.

His art is like that: chewy flavor for your eyeballs.

Crisis Zone - Signed & Sketched

Fantagraphics, $30

Now that the world is totally fixed and we've achieved a United Federation Of Planets-level peace, it's time to reflect back on the year 2020. This textbook by Professor Hanselmann is about as accurate to the time as you'll ever read.

Wont 2 Cant Vol 1

Cold Cube Press, $35

We invite you to read Wont 2 Cant if you want to know the core principle of the religion your children's children will be practicing. Spoiler alert: it's exercise balls.

Dope Rider

Tanibis Editions, $42

The Dope Rider is back! His head is a skull, do you want to know why? Read the book! Then get high, and make up your own answer.

SHQ Holiday Recs Part Two: 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 one: picks from Mr. Christorpher Wu

Erotic Sketch Book

Self-Published, $16

Time to get horny for the holidays! Seo Kim's sketchy ode to doin' it will warm the cockles of your heart

and your nether regions. All our copies are signed and sketched!

Beta Ray Bill

Marvel Comics, $16

Extremity and Wonder Woman Dead Earth's Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer take the stormbreakin' Korbinite and blast off on a cosmic journey of epic proportions. Fin Fang Foom FTW.

No. 5 Volumes 1 & 2

Viz Media, $23 each

Matsumoto-san's under-appreciated classic is back in print for the first time in almost two decades.

Love is on the run!

Mycelium Wassonii

Anthology Editions, $32

The follow-up to Bicycle Day is as bonkers as its predecessor. Come swim out into Brian Blomerth's technicolor psychedelia oblivion. For fans of mushies and mushy brains.

Magic Mayhem Metal

Peow Studio, $30

Be the absolute envy of your D&D campaign with this rad art book! A sweet study of swords, sorcery

and the sweet, sublime style of Tom Hunter. From our mega-faves at Peow Studio.

SHQ Holiday Recs Part One: 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, your friendly neighborhood comic shop manager.

Santos Sisters #1

Self-Published, $5

Loved this indie single issue. Archie meets Love & Rockets.

Something Is Killing The Children

Boom! Studios, $15 per volume

I am a giant baby, so I don't read a lot of horror. When I do, it has to be unique, thrilling, and well paced, as well as having beautiful art. Something Is Killing The Children ticks all the boxes.

Fooday

Self-Published, $20

Gorgeous risograph art from Ian Mackay. An "illustrated poem" that'll make you hungry for more.

Junji Ito's Cat Diary

Viz Media, $25

The master of Japanese horror brings you a comic about... kitty cats?! This new edition has a glow-in-the-dark cover.

Fungirl

Silver Sprocket, $30

My favorite book of the year. Laugh out loud hilarious, very cringey. Major Simon Hanselmann vibes (which means ADULTS ONLY, sorry kiddos.)

Lure

Fantagraphics Book, $30

This beautiful new sci fi book will make you think about climate catastrophe, art, class, and more.

If you grab from us, you'll get a signed and sketched bookplate by artist/writer Lane Milburn!