Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear Days is a 2009 book by Al Columbia

Al Columbia

Al Columbia is an American cartoonist, illustrator, writer, photographer, musician, and filmmaker.-Big Numbers controversy:At the age of 19 Columbia was hired to work as an assistant to Bill Sienkiewicz on Alan Moore's Big Numbers series...

. Subtitled "Artifacts and Bone Fragments", it is a scrapbook

Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking is a method for preserving personal and family history in the form of a scrapbook. Typical memorabilia include photographs, printed media, and artwork. Scrapbook albums are often decorated and frequently contain extensive journaling...

-like assemblage of illustrations, paintings, sketches, and pieces of unfinished comics

Comics

Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...

 featuring his characters Pim and Francie, drawn over a period of more than ten years.http://www.fantagraphics.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=1624&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=62&vmcchk=1&Itemid=62 According to Columbia, the book's disconnected vignettes "were all attempts [to] make a full-fledged comic and do things right - to put out comics regularly. But it just never really happened that way for me."http://thedailycrosshatch.com/2009/12/01/interview-al-columbia-pt-1-of-4/ The design of the book is credited to Columbia and Adam Grano, and the production is credited to Columbia and Paul Baresh.

Pim & Francie was enthusiastically received on comics websites http://www.alltooflat.com/about/personal/sean/2009/11/comics_time_pim_francie.htmlhttp://thedailycrosshatch.com/2009/11/24/pim-francie-the-golden-bear-days-by-al-columbia/ and received positive notices in other venues including Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6708571.html?nid=2789&source=link&rid=16991605 and Bookslut.http://www.bookslut.com/comicbookslut/2009_12_015460.php The Village Voice

The Village Voice

The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...

http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-12-08/art/2009-s-best-comics-and-graphic-novels/ and the Austin American-Statesman

Austin American-Statesman

The Austin American-Statesman is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is an award-winning publication owned by Cox Enterprises. The Newspaper places focus on issues affecting Austin and the Central Texas region....

http://www.statesman.com/life/books/drawn-in-by-another-world-148916.html both named it one of the best comics and graphic novels of 2009.