Yehuda Moon
When I was a child the only part of the newspaper I read was the comics. As the grew older I realized that most of the comics were not all that funny after all, and when I finally cancelled the dead tree edition of the city newspaper eight years ago I didn’t miss the comics at all. However, last year I found Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery and my love for comics returned!
Yehuda Moon and The Kickstand Cyclery is a comic strip drawn by cartoonist Rick Smith. This comic strip first appeared in 2008 and tells the story of bike shop owner Yehuda Moon and his partner, Joe King. Together they run Kickstand Cyclery. As you read the series you are introduced to a host of colorful characters, such as Thistle Gin, Sister Sprocket, and Fred Banks (the deceased owner of the bike shop). While Yehuda and Joe run their shop you also get to meet some of their customers (any resemblance between me and the “bike hypochondriac” are purely coincidental and highly insulting).
You can read the 1,300+ Yehuda Moon comics from 2008–2011 online for free, but you will need to become a member of the Kickstand Club to have access to the comics for 2012 (though Monday’s comics are available to anyone). Club membership is only $12 a year and it will also give you access to a few features that are not available elsewhere, like desktop and mobile wallpapers and a 5% discount on Yehuda Moon merchandise.
The Yehuda Moon comics are also available in book form. I purchased Volume 1: Life On A Bicycle last year—it contains 344 comics that were first published in 2008. Earlier this week volumes 2, 3 and 4 of Yehuda Moon arrived and I am savoring each one. Volume 2: Saddle Stories contains 360 comics from 2009. The 350 comics from 2010 are in Volume 3: Spin On By. The last book is Volume 4: Keep ‘Em Rollin’, and it has 280 comics from 2011. These four volumes retail for $15 each and are professionally printed in full color on heavy stock. Each book measures 8″ x 10″. If you are looking for a great gift for your favorite cyclist this series of books is it (face it, no one needs another water bottle). These books are available from the Yehuda Moon Website and from Amazon.com.
