Merriment by Joe Steinhardt and Marissa Paternoster

As many of us do, Mack is having a hard time coping with life in New Jersey. Watching her friends figure their lives out while she is stuck living at home, Mack is looking for any kind of lifeline out of her Mom’s house and into the City where she is convinced she will be happy. Then again, it's hard for anyone to be happy these days, a fact her mother will not let her forget. And what's worse: she thinks she might have committed a murder. And that maybe, just maybe, the FBI is spying on her?

Merriment follows Mack on her quest for happiness and/or sanity, through the horrors of life, as she navigates existential dread, real life dread, and all the dread in between.

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“Merriment does a great job depicting the way we communicate our most fundamental thoughts, the things that make us speak and act the way we do, our petty grievances, relationships with friends and family, cultural annoyances and ultimately the way we resolve the unrelenting tension that threads through every day.”

-Steve Albini

“New Jersey and mental illness go hand in hand, and this beautifully rendered art masterfully explores the relationship between the two.”

-Chris Gethard

 "Merriment is a tale of friendship, paranoia, and the meaninglessness of life, through the lens of a group of cynical thirtysomethings. The dialogue is very real, hilarious at times. The artwork is both unsettling and beautiful, like a ghost story without any ghosts. Joe and Marissa have created a book that sticks with you for a long time after reading it."

-Ben Snakepit

“Merriment is an excruciatingly restrained opera about mental illness, bridge and tunnel, and hoping to glitch oneself out of oneself, which is of course, not possible. A beautiful comics novel, powerfully evocative of a very specific experience of quarter-life depression."

-Sara Lautman

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Joe Steinhardt owns and operates Don Giovanni Records, a label which remains committed to furthering alternative culture, independent values, and providing resources for artists who prefer to work outside of the mainstream music industry. He is a published author and an Assistant Professor at Drexel University in their Music Industry Program.

Marissa Paternoster is a visual artist, the lead singer and guitarist for Screaming Females, and was named the 77th best guitar player of all time by SPIN magazine and the 150th best of all time by Rolling Stone. Through her work with Screaming Females and her solo career, Marissa has released 11 studio albums and has been featured on MTV, Late Night TV, and NPR. She has toured extensively, supporting bands like Garbage, Dinosaur Jr. The Dead Weather, Arctic Monkeys, and The Breeders.