Zine Review: ADL -> MEL

ADL -> MEL
George Rex Comics
http://www.georgerexcomics.com

“Once a year a pilgrimage is made by zinesters across Australia to Melbourne…”

ADL -> MEL is an A5 comic in pink about travelling from Adelaide to Melbourne for Festival of the Photocopier in Melbourne. If the title sounds familiar, that’s because I reviewed a zine by the same name by Rebecca Sheedy: (https://seagreenzines.com/2017/03/15/zine-review-adl-mel/) Let’s just say I was even more excited about finding this zine because not only is it another comic diary perspective about FotP and things surrounding it – Rebecca and George are mentioned in each other’s comics!

George takes us through the whole FotP experience – from the flight to Melbourne on the Thursday before to fun in the city before the flight home on the Tuesday after. While the reason for the trip may be Festival of the Photocopier, this zine documents all sorts of things that happened around the event as well – including a quiet night in after heaps of zine activities.

The aesthetic of this zine is so fun in that George designed three zines for a zine launch in Adelaide, and each zine was assigned a Neapolitan ice cream flavour. The reason why this zine is all pink because this one is strawberry! Being the completionist that I am, now I want to grab the other ‘flavours’. I also like the added touch that my zine is #27/100 of the second printing.

George’s art style is fun and on the more cartoon side of drawing. There are so many little things that made me smile – small details like the Daiso haul (Daiso is an odds and ends shop – most are $2.80), and George mentioning the panic that starts only after you set up your table at a zine event.

This is the sort of zine I would read before a zine fest to get a feel for zine events. It’s not a guide, but it’s sweet, and I really love the whole vibe. Definitely check it out.