hello people,

I’m sorry to say that after the end of February, Global Hobo (version 3) will be closed for the foreseeable future. Last orders please, it’s time.

The reasons are nothing dramatic, just cumulative fatigue. It hasn’t been a collective for a long time, and this kind of thing isn’t really sustainable as a more-or-less-one-person outfit (unless you’re a force of nature like John Porcellino). And there are more good outlets for this kind of stuff than there were 9 years ago, like Sparkplug, the aforementioned John P’s Spit and a Half, Secret Acres, and Poopsheet.

Many, many, many thanks to all the artists who made books, all the stores and upstanding individuals who bought them, to Jesse Reklaw for helping out with stores and shows in Portland, and especially to the original Hobo crew who got it all started and gave me their blessing (not to mention their great website graphics and the famous cardboard table sign) for the revival. It really was a great trip.

cheers,
Eli

• Eye of the Majestic Creature #5 by Leslie Stein. Oh man this is beautiful. Check out Leslie’s EotMC book from Fantagraphics, which collects issues 1-4.
  
• Danger Country #2 by Levon Jihanian. The plot slowly thickens. Levon’s fantasy art has an unusual kind of spooky innocence.
  
• Teats on a Boar by Fredo. Fredo hasn’t been making mini-comics in a while but he keeps doing stories, and finally here’s a little bundle of them.
  
• I’m Here from the Government, Notes on Conflict, and Nine Gallons #2 by Susie Cagle. It’s way past time that we started carrying Susie’s finely observed documentary comics.
  
• Stupid Dreams by Joey Sayers. Massive collection of Joey’s infamous 5-minute comics, including some never before seen. Essential.

Please welcome Tym Godek and his unpronounceable book “!”, which is a whole lot of fun and is also one of those formal-experiment artifacts that aren’t done often enough these days.

And some late additions from Francois Vigneault: his latest birdwatching zine Bird Brain #5, and the first two issues of the very fun fantasy anthology Elfworld.

Another new one from Stumptown, slightly delayed but here now: Julia Gfrörer’s truly upsetting adult horror story Too Dark to See. This made me cry.

Please note that we’ve got a new PO box address - we were still checking the old one for a while, but now it’s gone. The new one is PO Box 40667, San Francisco, CA 94140.

Two great cartoonists are being published in snazzy non-handmade volumes, and it’s about time. Read these!

• MariNaomi: Kiss & Tell, from Harper Perennial, collecting stories from Estrus plus a lot of new material.
  
• Leslie Anne Mackenzie Stein: Eye of the Majestic Creature, from Fantagraphics, collecting issues 1-3 and the long-rumored issue 4 of the series of the same name.

Stumptown was hopping. There are more things on the way from California, but here’s the Oregon haul:

• N.Y.D.I. #1 by Jesse Reklaw. Jesse explains why self-publishing is terrible and you shouldn’t do it. Wait, what? Well, just read it.
  
• The Disconnect by Joan Reilly. Comics from Joan have been scarce since Hi-Horse and this is a swell surprise.
  
• Yawning Void #1, Go On Outside #1, and The Possum and the Pepper Spray by Pete Hodapp. It’s about time Wisconsin was represented here. The first comic Pete sent to GH was one of the best pieces of unsolicited mail I’ve received, and then I lost it, so it’s a good thing he showed up at Stumptown.
  
• Play Overlord by Sean Christensen, Amy Kuttab, and Theo Ellsworth. One of the more fun jam comics that was ever jammed.
  
• Cultists of North America (and the Gods Who Regard Them) by Jon Lewis. It’s more words than pictures, but as you know if you’ve read True Swamp, he writes really good words too.
  
• Danger Country #1 by Levon Jihanian. First chapter of a nifty fantasy saga, not exactly parody but deadpan as all hell.
  
• Doppelganger by Tom Neely. (Yes, there should be an umlaut.) What happens if you induce hallucinations after reading Thimble Theater.

• Fork Frenzy (Jihanian)
  
• Neely... Creeps! (Neely)
  
• Applicant (Reklaw)

• Zirp #4 by Till Thomas. Finally another installment from our favorite German self-publisher! More stressful things happen to the protagonists, but there’s some time for romance and shuffleboard too. And then there’s another damn cliffhanger ending...

Some of these are new new new, and some are things from earlier this year that didn’t get added till now for no good reason.

• Zombre #2 by Ansis Purins. Finally, more happy monster comics from Ansis! Well worth the wait.
  
• The Natural World #4 by Damien Jay. Village idiot versus mystical hobo. Damien has a nifty way of drawing trees.
  
• Water Column #3 by Josh Frankel. Fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum.
  
• Anais in Paris by Mardou. Expanded version of Mardou’s earlier mini-anthology strip about Anaïs Nin.
  
• Ariadne auf Naxos #3 by Julia Gfrörer — also, Julia’s hilarious illegal jam comic with Brodie Kelly, Stupid Tales of Wolverine.
  
• Bird Brain and Friends by Francois Vigneault. Have been meaning to add Francois to the catalog for a while. Also check out his very fun anthology Elfworld.