George Hunka

Notes and comment

Category: Comics

  • “Trust the good things that happen”

    And one of those good things that happen on occasion is the arrival of a new issue of Mineshaft magazine from the fine folks in Durham, North Carolina. The striking wraparound image is the creation of Simone Baumann, a rising star of the comix scene, who is also represented in this issue by “Human Fly,” a ravishingly hallucinatory visit to the world of comix publishing. There are also contributions from the usual gang: a selection from Mary Fleener’s similarly hallucinatory “Happy Hour” (she also contributes an illustration of Poe’s “The Raven”); two fine paintings by Sophie Crumb; a terrific portfolio of work from Minnesota’s underground comix scene (a stunning painting by Nathalie Tierce here); Drew Friedman’s portrait of Chris Ware; Christoph Mueller’s latest metaphysical musings; and more. Sixty-eight pages of good things in this lovingly produced issue, with a rare four-color cover; you can order it, and subscribe to future issues, here.

    A word to the wise, too: Ms. Baumann’s new self-published book Alice will soon be available for purchase here, and Mr. Mueller is hawking a new anthology of short stories called The Nincompoopje, 28 full-color pages “made by a human,” available from concertobooks.nl in Amsterdam. (Unfortunately I can’t locate a link to purchase, but I’ll add it here when I find one.) It’s never too soon to put together your Christmas list.

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  • Letters from Durham

    The latest issue — #47 — of what Drew Friedman calls “by far the best magazine being published on planet Earth” is arriving in mailboxes now. Mineshaft 47 is as always chock-full of visual and literary work that would be cutting-edge if you could locate the edge; as it is, the Mineshaft world is a world in itself. This issue features R. Crumb’s debate with Chat GPT about vaccines, great new comics from the fine Simone Baumann and Christoph Mueller (who also designed the striking cover image), two new portraits by Mr. Friedman, photography by John Haynes, and contributions from the likes of Bill Griffith, Robert Armstrong, and Sophie Crumb. “It’s such a gift to see new work by the giants of my generation (Fleener, Collier, Head, Friedman, etc.) alongside our heroic forebears (Crumb, Aline, Armstrong, Griffy, Deitch) and heirs (Harkham, Van Sciver, etc.) alike,” Daniel Clowes says. “I don’t take it for granted — one of a dwindling number of good things in this world.”

    You shouldn’t take it for granted, either. You can purchase this issue directly from Mineshaft or, better still, start a subscription. Who doesn’t want good things in their world?

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  • From off the streets of Durham comes …

    Cover of Mineshaft magazine, issue #44, by R. Crumb.

    Now available for holiday giving, issue #44 of Mineshaft magazine dropped into my mailbox in a plain brown envelope a few weeks ago, and as usual it’s a magazine to spend a few thoughtful evenings with. (And you can impress your friends when you leave it on your coffee table.) Among the highlights are tributes to the late Aline Kominsky-Crumb and Diane Noomin from Bill Griffith and others; a new, haunting story called “Nostalgia” from Christoph Mueller; Mary Fleener‘s meditative “Between the Worlds” travelogue; a Skip James portrait from R. Crumb; co-editor Everett Rand’s ongoing saga of Mineshaft itself; and great new stuff from Simone Baumann, Glenn Head, Drew Friedman, and company. I wrote a little more descriptively about Mineshaft here.

    Mr. Friedman has called Mineshaft “the best magazine being published in the 21st century,” and who am I to argue with Drew Friedman? Certainly it’s one of the few magazines to which I maintain a subscription (the others are Acoustic Guitar and The Syncopated Times, which shows you where my head is at these days). You can yourself join the illustrious Mineshaft community easily enough; the current issue is available here, and you can sign up for a subscription here. And while you’re there, why not give the gift of bemused alienation to someone close to you?

    Below, The Mighty Millborough himself discovers Mineshaft, as told to Christoph Mueller in 2011:

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