Chronicle Books Blog

This will be Chronicle’s 6th year at Comic-Con. We have expanded our booth and will have an impressive roster of authors/artists available for signings. Yet, I wanted to spotlight one of the “smaller” products that won’t have a signing, but will no doubt appeal to fellow Comic-Con’ers.

The Art of Star Wars Comics is a collection of 100 covers from Star Wars comics in postcard form, presented in a cool collectible box. From the 70s up to present day, the collection spans the history of Star Wars comics and features some iconic imagery. The Star Wars Tales with Darth Vader pondering C-3PO’s dismembered head (Alas, poor C-3P0!) is one of my favorites. One that fans will also enjoy is the cover by Sergio Aragonés (of Mad Magazine fame).

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Over the last four weeks, Design Desk featured a series of New York creative studios and the very talented people who work in them. At each visit, we couldn’t help wishing we, too, had our own letterpress, silk-screening table, and Boston Terrier.

But looking around our own little design corner of the office, and out the window to the baseball stadium, and feeling the sunlight beaming in, well, it became clear that we do indeed have some studio perks to enjoy.

For one, our production room has a cutting table large enough for eight, a bulk paper cutter, binding equipment, a drill (I think that’s what it is), and even our very own sewing machine!

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Showcasing the inventive spirit of McSweeney’s publishing, Chronicle Books recently released a box of 100 postcards that are idiosyncratically categorized into five tabbed sections: Across the Miles I Love You So; I Can’t Stop Thinking About Us; Care/Concern; More than Words; and Friendship. As many of you know, McSweeney’s was founded in 1998 as a San Francisco-based literary journal edited by Dave Eggers, and has since evolved into a celebrated and award-winning independent publishing company.

McSweeney’s is known for attracting a wide range of writers, artists and illustrators, and the postcards in Greetings from the Ocean’s Sweaty Face include artwork, photos, self-contained short stories, and other oddities from contributors such as Marcel Dzama, David Byrne, Chris Ware, Charles Burns, and Jonathan Safran Foer. I’ve posted some of my favorites below.

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This just in: Kat Macleod is making her first US appearance to support the book she illustrated, Like I Give a Frock. The event is Monday July 13 at Candystore Collective. Just wanted to get the date on your calendars, and we’ll post more details in July.

I would have loved to look over Kat’s shoulder as she created the sartorially stunning art for Like I Give a Frock. Wish granted! This video shows a bird’s eye view of Kat drawing, painting, sewing, and collaging a few of her signature fancy frocked ladies.

Thanks to Happy Mundane for the tipoff.

To get more of Kat’s art, come to Candystore on July 13th. In the meantime, you can buy Like I Give a Frock and download free desktop wallpaper here. Or send a friend an e-postcard here. I just updated my computer with this peek-a-boo print:

Check out more Chronicle Craft posts.

Kate Woodrow
Craft Editor

Do you ever modify a recipe to make it more ‘spa’–like, yet still delicious like Mii amo Spa does (i.e., by minimizing fat and calories, omitting dairy and sugar, etc.)? Tell us about it and enter to win a copy of A Journey of Taste.

Fruit Sorbet

Frozen desserts are always a special treat, but serving a colorful trio of brilliantly flavored sorbets is downright magical. Here at Mii amo we puree fresh seasonal fruits, but frozen fruit will do in a pinch. Try for unique flavor combinations of varying colors, such as black currant, guava, and raspberry. If making more than one sorbet, plan ahead accordingly. Because this contains no stabilizers, it is best eaten within a day or two. Alcohol is used as a stabilizer here to prevent the sorbet from freezing too hard. The alcohol also helps to keep the sorbet for longer periods of time in the freezer without turning to ice. If you prefer to not use alcohol, eat the sorbet as soon as it freezes.

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