Month: September 2018

A Beginner’s Guide to Bizarro Fiction
Ben Fitts
https://www.instagram.com/doom_goat_666/
doomgoat666@gmail.com

A Beginner’s Guide to Bizarro Fiction is a black and white half-fold zine introduction to bizarre fiction, authors in the genre, and recommended reads.

Well, zine friends, Ben found the right audience in me because I am, in fact, a beginner when it comes to this genre.

Beginner’s Guide opens with a short overview of bizarro fiction – what defines the genre and influences within it (from Kafka to Philip K Dick). I must admit that I felt a little lost at the start, but if you use ‘Kafka’ to illustrate what you’re trying to tell me, I will understand pretty quickly. (Some school required reads just stick with you.)

The bulk of the zine is made up of profiles for authors Ben recommends. Each page is dedicated to an author with their name, photo, and a brief introduction. Each profile also has ‘recommended reading’ as well. I quite liked that little addition because they can help you to narrow down where to start. A few even have, “If nothing else, try reading…” recommendations.

If you hadn’t picked up that I like recommendations, you will with the fact that I really liked how Ben wrapped up the zine with a couple lists of more books. I like that along with more bizarre titles, Ben also recommends books outside the genre that bizarro fans will enjoy.

If you like reading and want to broaden (or expand, if you already read these kind of books), check out this zine.

Fishy Encounters
Gina Ulgen
https://www.instagram.com/paper_draper/

Fishy Encounters is an A6 full-colour zine of collage style art with a distinctly fishy theme.

I will do my best not to make any fishy puns in the course of this review.

Fishy Encounters takes you right into the content of the zine and carries you all the way through to the end with a collage occupying every page – even the front inside cover. Inside, you will find a mostly wordless (save for words that are on/a part of the collages) zine with strange and, I found, often amusing combinations of images.

I’m not sure if I’m supposed to find the images amusing or something else, but I appreciate the smiles nonetheless. I’m not particularly attracted to fish or the ocean on a larger scale, but I count that as a plus that I still found enjoyment in this.

In fact, it reminds me of my friend Fishspit, who is the king of collage envelope art in my eyes.

The two collages I enjoyed the most were black and white photos with ‘Fig. 2’ and ‘Fig. 4’ beneath them as well as descriptions for what is happening in the pictures. Fish pictures are put in just the right spots to make it funny, but the real special touch is that Gina found the word ‘fish’ in similar small fonts to cover certain words. For instance, Fig. 2 has been made into ‘Fig. 2 – Bathing a Fish’ thanks to that tiny word ‘fish’ being put over the original text.

I hope I’m making sense with that. Bottom line, I found the collage with a man who has a fish on the lead with ‘Fig. 4 – Training a Fish. Teaching him to come to heel when called’ quite funny.

I do have one small nitpick in the lack of contact details. ‘Gina Ulgen’ is printed on the back, so you’re not left completely in the dark, but I have become a bit spoiled and like direct links to things.

Fishy Encounters is a short zine that made me smile a lot. If you like collage art, fish, or something a bit different, check out this zine.