Tag Archives: comic books

BOOK LAUNCH: The Marvelous Saga of the MERCANARY™

You may have heard already. We’re launching David Reynolds’ The Marvelous Saga of the MERCANARY™ from our office in downtown St. John’s.

Follow Problematic Press on Facebook to find the event.


We are also excited to announce that a tree will be planted for every print edition of The Marvelous Saga of the MERCANARY™ sold!

This goes for print editions that we sell in-person as well as online sales of the printed novel, for now and into the foreseeable future.

Thanks to our friends at One Tree Planted for making this possible!


The Marvelous Saga of the MERCANARY™

Harrison Stockton Bueller thinks he’s hit bottom when he makes a new friend.

Enter: the MERCANARY™.

This is The Marvelous Saga of the MERCANARY™. It’s also the tale of Harry’s nightmarish misadventures.

Problematic Press is proud to present to you this gonzo picaresque novel… or something.

Is there ever any solace?

This is it.

This is lit.


Somewhere between Holden Caulfield, Ignatius J. Reilly, and BoJack Horseman, you’ll find Harrison Stockton Bueller playing with his G.I. Joes.

MERCANARY™, a sells-word inspired by a typo, is a metafictional hero who’s been drafted for lit’s sake on land, sea, and air. His mission? Word.


David Reynolds hasn’t won any awards for his creative writing, but his most shocking anecdote has won him more beer than he could possibly ever drink. He lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, where he teaches English at Atlantic Canada’s largest university.


In the words of the author: “This is a gonzo picaresque novel. It’s a work of intermedial metafiction. It’s a cautionary tale. It’s a sob story. It’s a farcical melodrama. It is high art. It adapts a ‘zine of poetry and adventure. It adapts a memeoem, which is literally a new poetic art form that I invented for this. It is the culmination of my life’s work in literature. It’s ballsy and hubristic and vulnerable all at once. The protagonist is an anti-hero. The sidekick is really something else. The odds are against them, but they’re in this to win it. Together, they make things weird. Well, this thing is certainly weird.”


The author expresses his deepest thanks to his family and friends for their love and support throughout the writing process.

He thanks everyone who purchased a copy of the original ‘zine

He also thanks everyone who purchased items from his childhood collection of treasures to help fund this print run of books.


If you aren’t in the area, you can still order copies of The Marvelous Saga of the MERCANARY™ as print and Kindle editions here.


Nicholas Morine — author of Steel Sarcophagus, Arcade Rat, and Kowloon Walled City, 1984 — has this to say about this experimental novel:

“Reynolds’ debut novel surprised me inasmuch as I wasn’t expecting the content to be so innately relatable.”


Find more information about our growing selection of books at problematicpress.com.

Thanks kindly for your interest!


See the CBC’s coverage of MERCANARY™: A ‘Zine of Poetry and Adventure back in 2019 here!

Read David Reynolds’ testimony to the CBC on the ease of vaccination here!

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Problematic Press Loses Virginity

Well, last week was certainly a week of firsts for Problematic Press, including David Reynolds‘ first CBC Radio interview and first public reading of fiction! Sexy times, indeed!

Let’s begin this recap with CBC’s WAM. The amazing Angela Antle invited Reynolds to the Weekend Arts Magazine to discuss his adaptation of Robert Hayman’s Quodlibets. This collection of over 300 short poems was penned by Hayman as he served as governor of the English colony in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland from 1618 to 1628. When it was first published upon his return to England, the book was intended to encourage other Europeans to to take up the task of settling this newly found land. In a sense, Quodlibets can be seen as one of the first works to promote Newfoundland tourism.

So, in case you missed the original broadcast, let me include one of the random poems Reynolds read on the air from Hayman’s Quodlibets:

Book 1, Number 70. To a fair Whore.

When we do see a woman sweetly fair,
We say that God had done his part in her,
Thou passing fair, but passing wicked art,
In thee therefore Satan hath play’d his part.

Now, Reynolds said a lot of craziness in front of the mic for this interview, so who knows what, if any, will be included in the podcast of the show. Nevertheless, additional excerpts from Hayman’s Quodlibets can be found on past Problematic Press blog posts here and here.

Hanging out at the CBC was a lot of fun, but taking part in Myles Reichel’s fundraiser at The Ship for A Ninja Story was really exciting, too!

Reichel, who is also the bassist for Uneeda, has just begun the year-long launch of his comic book, A Ninja Story. The plan is to raise money for the comic book by releasing the first issue on t-shirts, with a new page/shirt becoming available biweekly over the next year. The first shirt features the cover art for the first issue of the comic, and it looks wicked! To score a shirt, head to Downtown Comics or a Uneeda show. Problematic Press has been privileged enough to gain a sneak peek at some of the later pages of the comic, and it promises to please!

And, to kick off the epic journey of A Ninja Story, the fundraiser was a load of fun! There was a lively array of music, comics, art, and words as Reichel’s friends came out to show their support for his comic venture. The show began with the soulful sounds of Laura Murray and Joanne Bennett, then Danielle Bailey kicked out the jams. The ladies sounded great from our seats at the merch table.

The merch table at The Ship

The merch table was almost like a second stage for this gig. This was Reichel’s base of operations for the event, where all the patrons’ questions about A Ninja Story could be answered. Reichel had also invited Problematic Press and artist Asuka Lilith to share in the festivities, so we showcased our works alongside his t-shirts. It was a great opportunity, and Problematic Press is certainly grateful!

The bar was set high when David Reynolds took the stage to read an excerpt from his short story “Showdown at the Cactus’s Prick.” Reading to a bar full of people juiced up on awesome music might seem like a daunting task, but the crowd was attentive and more than patient. Reynolds was quite pleased that he heard no audible heckling and he even heard a few laughs at the funny bits.

After the reading, Paul Brake played a great set, followed by Mike McDonald, who was hilarious. This built up to the epic finale …ToShredsYouSay?!? Indeed! And, they were tight. Problematic Press really appreciates ending the evening with a bit of thrash.

Problematic Press would like to thank all those who came out to The Ship for the show last Friday and all those who listened to CBC’s WAM at 7:30am the following Saturday. Tremendous thanks for all your support!

Cheers!

Dave and Myles

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