George Hunka

Notes and comment

Category: Magazines

  • “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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  • 25 years of Mineshaft

    The mailman slipped me the latest issue of Mineshaft #45 last week — the 25th anniversary issue of the magazine that published its first issue back in the last century. I read through just about the whole thing in one sitting, but “read” may not be entirely accurate: each issue is a world in itself of visual and linguistic acrobatics from writers and artists old and new. It seems churlish to pick out just a few highlights, since Mineshaft is best read from first page to last, but in #45 you’ll find:

    • First, that splendid, endlessly fascinating wraparound cover by Aaron Horkey
    • Simone F. Baumann’s depiction of her very brief career in a hooker bar
    • A memoir of pre-teen transvestism by Billy Childish
    • Mary Fleener’s comic travelogue through the current state of the humanities in academia
    • R. Crumb’s portraits of two great blues masters
    • Drew Friedman’s rendering of popular Chaplin imitators

    And there’s more, much more, besides.

    In the sixth part of his continuing saga about life with Mineshaft, publisher/editor Everett Rand muses upon the magazine’s continuing appeal. “[The] magazine is an attempt, by me, to keep control of my world. I’ve always enjoyed the possibility of living in art, rather than always being stuck in real life. That’s what a great painting or book does for me. They give me another world that I can step into and inhabit for a while.” He continues:

    My own editorial vision … is always pushing artists and writers to send us their best work, and there’s no money in it. People can resent this, or not have the time for it. … Despite the sacrifice and hardship, I think people come on board because of the community, in order to be a part of the experience. The generosity of the Mineshaft community is really what keeps Mineshaft alive. Everybody comes together to help make something tangible, that is nicely put together, and that otherwise wouldn’t exist. It’s not practical and you have to be a bit of a dreamer and idealist. The readers are a big part of this community too.

    It is, it must be said, not a big community. Only 1,350 copies of Mineshaft #45 were printed, but that community is always inviting new members who want to share that world with the contributors, and the community’s arms are always open. That’s why you should subscribe. Each issue is a new universe, a brief time away from what Rand calls “real life” (though, I suggest, that life is no more nor less real than that found in the pages of Mineshaft). “Long live MINESHAFT!” Crumb says. How can I disagree?

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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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