When long-time friends Shelly McClone and Cris Siqueira decided they wanted to start a project together, they didn’t know exactly what that project would entail until they landed on their shared love of books and art. In early 2019, Shelly and Cris started Lion’s Tooth, selling books via pop-up events and online sales, and have since expanded to a brick-and-mortar store on Kinnickinnic Avenue where Milwaukeeans can find graphic novels, locally-made zines and art prints, new publications, old publications, and more.
Shelly and Cris work hard to curate the selection available at Lion’s Tooth, with Shelly explaining simply, “We carry what we like.” When the two realized that it was hard to find what they like to read without traveling to places like Chicago, New York, or Seattle, they decided to bring their loves of radical nonfiction, alternative comics, music books, and art to Milwaukee. Shelly curates most of the nonfiction selection, while Cris specializes in graphic novels and comics; the two work together to select everything else. Immediately upon walking into the shop, guests are met with an entire wall dedicated to zines, many of which are made by Milwaukee artists such as Moody the Zine who we gushed over in a past article. Though the two also seek out zines made throughout the US, Cris and Shelly strive to give Milwaukee makers a platform where they can share their art. One primary goal Shelly and Cris share is to help make art a sustainable career. They support local artists by stocking and selling their work, and through their comics program, Dandelion Comics Residency. In fact, Cris cites the residency as one of her proudest accomplishments when it comes to Lion’s Tooth.
Running a program like Dandelion Comics Residency was “an old dream of mine,” says Cris. The structure is inspired by the Mary Nohl Fellowship and affords Milwaukee cartoonists national exposure to key industry players, whether they go on to become the Dandelion artist-in-residence or not. Jurors for the program are chosen on a national level, always from outside of the Milwaukee area, both to eliminate potential conflicts of interest and to help the artists share their work outside of Wisconsin. To learn more about this year’s artist-in-residence, KC Harrison, and to find more details about the program, click here.
From the Dandelion Comics Residency to their monthly graphic novel or nonfiction subscription boxes and jam-packed events calendar, Lion’s Tooth strives to be more than just a store. Shelly and Cris have worked hard to create a community around the books and art that they love. Shelly is particularly proud of the space they’ve created for artists to showcase and sell their work, a space where people feel welcome – whether they’re shopping for a hard-to-find book published by a small press, ordering a cup of coffee and doing homework, or drinking wine and getting some writing done while surrounded by books. Opening their brick-and-mortar store was a fundamental step to making this community possible, and on March 18th, the shop will be celebrating its second birthday! They’ll have events happening all day, including an art show by Luke Chappelle, whose zine was featured in Lion’s Tooth’s first-ever subscription box.
Lion’s Tooth is a space for people to gather, look at art, hold books in their hands, and return to the tangible aspects of life after hours spent staring at a screen. Cris describes how being continuously online puts us in a constant state of alertness, with no real time to power down. For Cris, holding a graphic novel and taking in the storyline and the art is a chance to not only return to the real world but to find peace. For Shelly, wellness means “keeping up on things like exercising my brain,” which she prefers to do by, of course, reading voraciously.
Named after the notoriously resilient dandelion, whose name translates to ‘tooth of lion’ in French, Lion’s Tooth has proved just as persistent as its namesake. Shelly and Cris both consider the store labor of love, but, as Cris aptly points out, “Supporting your local bookstore is the only thing that’s going to keep this going.” Next time you’re looking for a new book, a different piece of art for your wall, or just looking for something free and fun to do, Lion’s Tooth just might have what you need.
