Acme

ACME Catalog: Quality is Our #1 Dream
$14.95
Viewers of "The Road Runner" and other Looney Tunes cartoon shows are very familiar with the products of the Acme Company. Whenever a character receives a new gadget or product, the source is the Acme Company. My favorites were the antics of Wile E. Coyote in his constant attempts to catch the Road Runner, the gadgets were generally spectacular and always flop for one reason or another.
This book, published by Warner Bros. is a catalog of many of the gadgets used by Mr. Coyote in his battles with the Road Runner and includes some that were not. The emphasis is on deadpan humor, the items are presented as real products, although the descriptions occasionally go a bit frivolous. If you are a fan of the Looney Tunes cartoons, then you will appreciate and enjoy the products in the catalog, but if you have not seen the cartoons, then you will find most of the entries largely incomprehensible.

Acme Novelty Library #18 (No. 18)
$17.95
I've always been a huge fan of Chris Ware, and this latest Acme installment doesn't disappoint. His themes don't often vary, but his richness of style makes up for his monotony of topic. He is also the only comic author and one of the few authors of any type that makes reading about stifling depression and loneliness anything but boring.

Acme
$16.98
Another reviewer has mentioned "frustration" on a review for "Orange", also by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and that is what I feel mostly when I listen to their stuff. That's because I think in anything they do it is very apparent how UNBELIEVABLY CAPABLE this band is. I also saw them live once, and live it becomes even clearer. If you can, see them live! My issue is that on each album, they give you 1-3 songs that truly rock and blow you away (Ex: High Gear here and Brenda on Orange). Listening to these tracks, you will be amazed how full a three-man band can sound. But in between, there is all this show-off hodge-podge of styles that keeps changing precisely when you got used to some hook/melody/beat - you name it. I can understand that if someone has "mastered" blues/rock/soul/funk etc. it's fun for him/her to de-construct it Coltrane-style as these guys do. But for me unenlightened earthling, I just want to rock on! So, most of Jon Spencer's stuff to me is like coitus interruptus. However, I do give four stars because I think these guys are geniuses and hope that one day, they will make a pure fun album. If not, I'm just gonna buy all the CDs over my lifetime, rip off the truly entertaining rock/blues tracks and collect my own best-of sampler.

The Acme Novelty Library
$27.50
Chris Ware consistently produces high-quality, masterfully-written art, and this volume is no exception.

I was reading this book in bed when I came across a two-page spread featuring an astrological chart with various constellations... I noticed that it had glow-in-the-dark material on it, so after studying it for a few minutes I turned the reading light off - and in the darkness was presented with a glowing star chart, featuring, well, something from Ware that any true fan should experience for themselves - a true gift. It took my breath away and I found myself deeply moved by it.

That moment has earned this book a place in my eternal library.