THE BEST OF INTENTIONS: THE AVOW ANTHOLOGY by Keith Rosson

Microcosm Publishing, 268 pages, trade paperback, $12.00

This is the second pressing of this anthology, and what you get crammed inside is Avow zine’s issues 11 through 16 and selections from the first 10 issues. I’m not sure why they chose to include only a few pages from the first 10 issues; I feel like I’m missing out on a lot of cool shit. Also, the book seems to have been edited by the same dude who edited Pulp Fiction — the chronological order of the issues is completely askew, but it works well.

While some of the issues contain pieces drawn or written by friends and partners-in-crime, my all time favorite selections are from issue 13, “The Alphabet Issue,” in which Keith goes from A to Z talking about issues ranging from superheroes to pickup lines, history to tagging on the streets, to demo tapes and the lack thereof. I also greatly enjoy the excerpts from issue 15, “Here’s One For the Art Nerds,” a collection of his art dating back to 1996, in which Rosson gives insight through commentary for each and every piece presented.

For those of you unfamiliar with Avow, or Keith Rosson’s work for HeartAttack and Razorcake or the throngs of bands who have been honored to feature his artwork on their record albums, do yourself a favor and pick up this book.