On sale date: September 19, 2015
A coming-of-age graphic memoir, set against the seedy 1970s Windy City.
From Harvey- and Eisner-nominated cartoonist and editor Glenn Head comes Chicago, the hilarious and harrowing tale of a nineteen-year-old virgin who drops out of everything and into the unknown. Abandoning suburbia for art school and then the gritty streets, young Glenn finds himself fending off predators and fighting depression. A visit to Playboy offers entrée into the world of underground comix and R. Crumb, but it’s a chance encounter with Muhammad Ali that allows young Glenn to prove his mettle. Like Scorsese circa Mean Streets crossed with revealing autobiography like Jim Carroll’s The Basketball Diaries, Chicago is an unforgettable tale of losing one’s mind, finding one’s identity, and discovering love where it’s least expected.
Praise
"I discovered Glenn's head work in 1990, and thought 'this guy is a punk comics force of nature.' All of the other '80s and '90s underground artists have grown in different directions, some good, some stupid, some bad. I like this direction Glenn has gone, burrowing deeper into the heart of what makes him good." — Josh Bayer (Raw Power, Theth) - Tech Times
"This quasi-memoir is so straightforward and digestible that you might not even notice how subversive it is. The history of sequential art is littered with autobiographical stories about impetuous and misunderstood young men on journeys of self-discovery, but Chicago is a subtle dismantling of that overdone subgenre. The protagonist certainly thinks he's searching for authenticity and inspiration, but Head crafts him as an infuriating narcissist who squanders every opportunity and alienates every friend. Luckily, since Head is (mostly) talking about himself, it remains grounded in a humanely sympathetic tone of grudging self-acceptance." — Abraham Riesman - Vulture
"Unflinching" — John Porcellino (King-Cat, The Hospital Suite)
"Chicago by Glenn Head is a true rarity: a modern graphic novel that could hold its own with many titles from the heyday of the Underground. With unsparing honesty and sometimes disturbing imagery, Head charts a trajectory spanning three decades. The work is cut from whole cloth, in that his intense visual style owes zilch to the abundant style books and polemics that inform much contemporary work. His writing is obviously informed by authentic experience, so it has a consistent verve. That live current throbs through the whole panorama: it's a coming of age story; a dangerous psychic battle; a love story; a scary urban survival saga; a career overview and a reflection on fatherhood. At least, I know it's about those things. The elusive author/artist voice outside of all this varied experience is the true subject. It's well worth hearing!" — Justin Green (Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary)
"Glenn has at last found his voice, found the way to tell his own truth, and has produced a very fine graphic novel, strange, unique, deeply personal, a very rewarding comic book reading experience." — R. Crumb
Specs
- Pages
- 168
- Format
- Hardback
- Color
- Black & white.
- Dimensions
- 8" × 10.3"
- ISBN-13
- 9781606998786