#36: East Village Books

The Shop: East Village Books

East Village, Manhattan: 99 Saint Marks Place

I had an absolutely dreamy time at this Lower East Side institution serving up books, comics: posters, and all sorts of eclectic biz. East Village Books is fun, funky, and more than a little musty, its narrow (and unfortunately not wheelchair accessible) storefront bursting at the seams with cool stuff. Those willing to spend a little extra $$ can leave this store with crispy nerd grails like original copies of Daniel Clowes’ Eightball, a signed Richard Kiel Twilight Zone headshot (RIP), and obviously, some R. Crumb classics. Those with a smaller budget can get just about everything else in the store, especially in the gravel floored discount section in what appears to be the alley behind the store. My budget low and my backpack heavy, I gravitated to the retro comics bin for my picks! 

Twisted Tales #5

Twisted Tales is niche even by anthology horror comic standards. The Bruce Jones-penned book ran for only two years under long defunct publishers Pacific Comics and Eclipse Comics. This particular issue of Twisted from 1983 is its most infamous due to the story “Banjo Lessons,” featuring brutal imagery, racism, violence to animals, cannibalism, etc.Twisted Tales is 80s horror comics at its most edgy and gratuitous, designed to terrify the parents of its target demographic.

Freak Brothers #2

The Fabulous, Furry Freak Brothers are a trio of stoner hippies clouding the edges of pop culture since the 1960s. These O.G. 's of underground comix feel like the grandparents of my contemporary faves Megg, Mogg, and Owl. The Freak Brothers are back these days in the form of a recently launched animated series which… looks pretty bad, to be honest.