the great pumpkin

When you tell someone that you are still reading a zine that you started reading in high school typically their first instinct is to question it.  I never really thought about this until my good friend, Brady, purchased the newest issue of Cometbus.  People were jokingly giving him a hard time about reading a zine that he has read since high school, and questioning it’s content…because in all honesty how many of us still fully embrace that many things that we loved in high school?

While I admit that some things that I was into in high school are no longer relevant to my life, but there are others that I fully stand by.  One of my favorite records of all time, which I still listen to regularly, is Moss Icon’s Lyburnum (more to come on this one once I get a way to host my own mp3s) which I discovered in high school I still stand by to this day…and another is the writing of Aaron Cometbus.

I feel like I shouldn’t have to be giving a an explanation of who Aaron Cometbus is, but here I go anyways…you might recognize his name from many punk bands from the late 80’s to today (of various popularity) including: Chrimpshrine, Astrid Oto, Pinhead Gunpowder, and Shotwell Coho.  Cometbus has been writing his zine since the early 1980’s.

Cometbus, the zine, has varied in form over the years from short stories of punk rock, coffee, beer, and friends, to short novels about those same things, and even case studies of coffee shops, book stores, and people who sustain themselves off of their own land.  Several books have been released in addition to the zine itself (some are collections, others of completely new material). All are worth reading (especially the issues ranging in number from the late 30s through the current).

Last month Cometbus #52: The Spirit of St. Louis: Or, How To Break Your Own Heart, A Tragedy In 24 Parts, was released.  As a writer Cometbus continues to grow, and his personal stories are better than most fictional tales.  I sit now about halfway through the short 70 page novel that is The Spirit of St. Louis completely confident that this is one of those things that has carried over from my high school years, and is still as good in it’s own right.

If you live in NYC, and buy used books, there is a good chance that you have purchased a book from Aaron.  Oddly enough I have never seen him selling his zine at his table. But you can typically find one of the book sellers on Bedford Ave selling it, or Academy in the East Village, and Giant Robot (also in the East Village)…probably other places too, these are the ones I know of in the city.

I picked my most recent copy up from CD Alley in Chapel Hill, but you can always pick them up on the internet:

Buy Comebus #52 from Last Gasp!

If you haven’t read it before, and you see it I recommend picking it up…I think you will be happy with your three dollar purchase.

Tags: Aaron Cometbus, books, Cometbus, punk, zines