Month: April 2018

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.

Oh Brother! Some Stories About Growing Up With a Brother With Autism
George Rex Comics
http://www.georgerexcomics.com
@girlrexdoor

Oh Brother! is an A5 full colour zine collection of comics about growing up with a brother with autism – and it includes drafts and background material for the upcoming book.

I hardly know where to get started with this zine. I really love George Rex’s art, and that George would open up about what is very likely a somewhat sensitive part of their life in this way leaves me feeling honoured for a glimpse of a life perspective I would not otherwise get.

Oh Brother! is a beautiful and bittersweet zine. George keeps it real with the struggles – and silly moments – of having a brother with severe autism, but there’s no self-pity to be found. There are good times that are tinged by harsher reality and harsher times that can still have smiles. George is human like everyone else and sometimes wonders about the ‘what ifs’ but also shows there is a time and place for them. That we shouldn’t get mired in ‘what if’.

George’s art style is fun to look at, with little details to enjoy if you take your time with the zine. I really enjoyed seeing a comic in its draft form in the ‘extras’ in the back.

The thing that I found really special about this zine is that it feels as much Rob’s (George’s brother) zine as it does George’s. Yes, George made the zine, of course, but it’s focused on both of them as siblings with a lovely dose of parental moments worked in as well.

Absolutely grab a copy of this zine – let’s help George make these comics and more into a book*!

*This zine is a collection of shorts that will help fund the full book of around 300 pages.

decency is a relative thing
Sober Bob
https://www.instagram.com/soberbobmonthly/

Decency is a relative thing is a zine “exploration into the weird and not so wonderful wasteful world of people who won’t stop buying housewares.”

“There is no relief or release from consumerism.”

If I shared all the quotes I wanted to share from this zine, I would end up sharing half the zine.

In Decency is a relative thing, Sober Bob takes us through the similarities between people who hoard homewares and then breaks things down into four common ‘types’ of homeware hoarders. What I thought would be an interesting zine that, in the end, wouldn’t have much to do witch me, ended up being a zine that had me looking around the house and examining my own habits.

By writing about the four types of people who hoard homewares, Sober Bob touches on huge problems in the invasiveness of business in creating trends on social media. Not only that but how some people feed into a negative system by not being completely transparent about what is and isn’t actually paid/advertising.

A side shout out to touching on the problems of the real estate sector and how carefully placed wicker baskets shouldn’t make a house more expensive.

This zine isn’t a complete flaming blast at everyone, however. In fact, it shows a real sympathy to the kinds of advertising that we’re subjected to and even more so now that social media not only influences what is “normal” outside the home but inside it as well.

Even more, Sober Bob touches on the impact of the ‘trend’ on the longevity and ethical practices (or lack thereof) in keeping up with the ‘trend’ lifestyle.

An interesting moment came for me when I realised that I have ‘followed the trends’, too, in the past. Despite my days working in an op/secondhand shop giving me a strong aversion to stuff for a long time. I began seeing more and more YouTube videos with fairy lights (they’re not just for Christmas anymore!) and ended up buying some myself. I don’t regret getting them by any means because they give me joy, but if you think you’re immune to trends…

Aesthetically, this zine is lovely. The title is gold-foiled (which I suspect is a cheeky visual metaphor), and the entire zine is printed on gorgeous cream-coloured textured paper.

The thing I love about this zine that actually goes beyond the zine itself is the interesting (in my opinion) conversation it inspired between me and Wanderer, for which I give my thanks to Sober Bob.

You may not think that a zine about homewares is for you, but I think you should still check it out. This zine is as much a zine as it is the beginning of a conversation. Grab a copy.

Rabbits & Relics: Okunoshima (Rabbit Island)
Rae White
https://raewhite.net/
https://twitter.com/wings_humming

Rabbits and Relics is an A5 black and white zine about Rae’s exploration of Okunoshima – Rabbit Island.

I have always wanted to travel to Japan, so to say I was excited about any sort of Japan-related zine is a bit of an understatement. I’ve heard of various animal places like the fox village and cat island, but rabbit island was new to me.

I think the thing that really struck me about this zine is the glimpse of reality Rae gives in this zine. At the start, Rae mentions how the contrast of adorable rabbits and World War 2 relics is both striking and confronting.

Take what you will of the beautiful living alongside the symbols of the horrible, but it really spoke to me. This isn’t some glossed up, glossing over happy fun time tourist brochure. Rae provides us with real pictures, with facts both playful and painful.

Aesthetically, the font is big, clear, and easy to read. I don’t need my glasses or ideal lighting to read this zine. The photos Rae includes echoes their feelings about the island with pictures of desolate buildings next to adorable rabbits.

This zine also serves as a good introduction to the island in that it has a ‘how to get there’ page as well as a couple popular theories about how the rabbits got to the island in the first place.

Rabbits and Relics as a fairly quick, interesting read about Okunoshima. It’s definitely worth checking out if you have any interest in Japan, rabbits, World War 2, or anything in between.