Author Archives: Megan Kirby
Posted inFeature
Ghosts, cryptids, and Chicago
When Jack Wagner was 15, he made a documentary about the haunting of Wheaton’s Grand Theatre. Built in 1925, the historic theater went through several identities over the decades (including an aughts-era punk venue where Wagner’s band played). When he showed up with his camera, the owner shut Wagner and his buddies in the empty […]
Posted inInkling
Let us stare out the windows
Last month, I had the misfortune of catching the Lunchables bus. Have you seen it yet? The windows and doors are obscured by a full-wrap ad that creates the illusion of a stack of crackers, meat, and cheese moving horizontally along the street. I boarded the Lunchables bus and found my window blocked by a […]
Posted inFeature
The moon—it’s for the birds
On the moon, there are no humans. The birds that populate the lunar planet don’t get caught up in ideas like weekends or “the economy.” They stay connected via a vast fungal network, and there is plenty of universal worm (there’s one big worm that they all eat) to keep everyone fed. Michael DeForge’s latest […]
Posted inCity Life
Riding the wave of the Crocs
The first time I tried on a pair of Crocs, I was in study hall. This kid named Marlin slid them off and told me I had to give them a go. Marlin wasn’t known for his sartorial choices. He liked to wear thick white socks with flip-flops; the thong wedged into the cotton between […]
Posted inCity Life
Your heart is an empty storage unit
There’s a mannequin staring down from the second-floor window of the Lock Up Self Storage on Lincoln. She has a blonde wig and a stoic demeanor—the sort of world-weariness that comes from being frozen in one spot against your will. When I moved the bulk of my earthly possessions into an eight-by-ten-foot storage unit in […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Julie Doucet is back
In 2018, the Reader ran a cover story: “Julie Doucet is done making comics.” The underground artist famously abandoned the scene in 2006, leaving fans of her cult-classic series Dirty Plotte and graphic novels like My New York Diary bereft. Through the years, her autobiographical comics became renowned in the canon. She explored other art […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Lynda Barry is the North Star
One of my prized possessions is a 1989 playbill from Lynda Barry’s The Good Times Are Killing Me. Before the play’s award-winning off-Broadway run, it was produced here in Chicago by City Lit Theater Company at Live Bait Theater. My sister plucked the playbill from the magical chaos of Ravenswood Used Books and gifted it […]
Posted inCity Life
Home Sweet Alone
When I moved into my first studio apartment in 2017, I got obsessed with the 1995 Jewel single “You Were Meant For Me.” In the song, Jewel has recently split with her lover and moved into her own apartment. She’s heartbroken, but she also digs having her own spot. She fries eggs and reads the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
From the Dan Clowes Collection
If you head down to the basement of Chicago Comics, past the endless rows of back issues and vintage titles waiting to be priced, you’ll find 15 white boxes. They contain a pretty standard collection of 60s and 70s comics—Thor, Conan the Barbarian, X-Men, MAD magazine. But these comics have a special allure. They belonged […]
Posted inCity Life
Waving at Santa from a rat-infested train tunnel
My secret Chicago talent is that I always catch the Chicago Transit Authority’s Holiday Train. All over the city, the train finds me. Commuting home from work. Meeting my friends at a dive bar. On my way to a show. If the ride occurs between Thanksgiving and Christmas, chances are I’m going to pull up […]
Posted inCity Life
Farewell, my lovely jumpsuit
Every time I opened my closet, I saw the jumpsuit. Thick denim, dark blue, with a wide 70s-style lapel—beautiful, even on the hanger. Whenever I spotted it, my heart sank. Because it used to fit me, and now it didn’t. I know all bodies change, but I feel betrayed when mine does. Over 18 months […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The scene report from space
Elaborate hologram displays. A satellite planet. A mysterious deity. On the surface, Lane Milburn’s rollicking sci-fi graphic novel Lure doesn’t have much to do with Chicago. But Milburn drew inspiration from his old neighborhood, his punk band, his friends, and his near-decade living in the city. Lure takes place on an alternate earth, orbited by […]
Posted inCity Life
The Twilight of my life
In August 2020, I jumped into Lake Michigan and snapped the bones in my ankle. Faced with four months in bed, I had the entire history of media at my fingertips. And I decided to fixate on Twilight. Of course, you’re at least familiar with Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga. Four books and five movies trace […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The midwest, tweet by tweet
When Josh Lipnik answers the phone for our interview, he’s pulled over on a drive to Cleveland, on his way to take photos for his popular Midwest Modern Twitter account (62,500 followers and counting). Think of Midwest Modern like a photographic road trip through the region. Lipnik hunts out the hidden gems beyond the city […]