Month: January 2022

Five O’Clock in Tokyo 1
Craig
12 pages
https://www.instagram.com/craiganthonyatkinson/
https://www.instagram.com/fiveoclockzine/
https://www.jessicamaybury.com/shop
Back cover by https://www.instagram.com/ogatatetsuo/

Five O’Clock in Tokyo 1 is an A5 size black and white, handwritten text perzine about the cycles of life.

Five O’Clock in Tokyo 1 opens with a note from Craig about wanting to make a zine like this for a long time – a zine about current life. From there we read a definition of season, the theme of the four part story to follow.

Craig writes about the parallels between the inevitable cycles of the seasons and the cycles in life. He writes about life experiences and coming back to them later with new perspective. Fatherhood plays a strong part in these contemplations – both Craig’s father and father-in-law as well as being a father.

We also get a bonus zine review and an introduction to two places where Craig likes to buy books.

An A5 zine with big, clear handwriting and contemplating life? Talk about a zine I’m totally into. Craig’s writing style is contemplative with a flow that keeps things moving forward – utterly appropriate with the themes being written about.

I enjoyed this zine a lot. I felt like it was the tip of an iceberg in Craig’s perzine writing. I look forward to the next one.

Snow World Acts 1 & 2
Micah Liesenfeld
40 pages each
https://www.instagram.com/micahnova/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/micahnova

Snow World Acts 1 & 2 are about 5.5cm x 5.5cm black and white comics about exploring a new world… and then efforts to escape.

Comics featuring snow worlds are definitely welcome as I’m sitting here trying to beat the heat of the day with the fan blowing on my face.

Snow World Act 1 opens wordlessly with our space explorer moving along through the vastness of space to find the snow world. From there we follow the explorer as they wander the world and are pulled into a whole different world. This is where Act 2 starts, and the explorer discovers they are not alone, but togetherness might not quite be what they are looking for.

Holding these tiny comics, I am definitely getting some serious Mini Zine March vibes. They are small! Not only that; each page features four comic panels. That being said, I would have expected a bit less detail for some of the panels. Some are very simple panels, but others still have a lot going on. Micah doesn’t let the size deter them whatsoever in telling the story they want to tell.

Speaking of the story, it’s fairly easy to interpret, but I did find myself taking a few different possibilities from it. (Not so much the ending but building up to the climax.) This isn’t a bad thing, though. I’m a writer and enjoyed the whole imagining process.

I think these zines are cute, and I tip my had to Micah for not only putting so much onto each tiny page but also to telling a story without a single word. They made for quick reading (viewing?) but enjoyable nonetheless. I hope there are more to enjoy.

Manifest (zine) #1
Jennifer Payne
1 Page Folded
https://3chairspublishing.com
https://linktr.ee/jenpayne

Manifest (zine) #1 is a full colour 1-page-folded mini-zine that explores the theme of divine intervention in the forms of poetry, collage, and art.

This is the kind of paper that makes me want to pet zines.

Manifest (zine) #1 opens to a note set on a background of yellowed pages of (I believe) a book written in latin. The note asks the reader to contemplate the forces that inspire or otherwise cause is to move in our lives. From there the reader opens the zine once more to reveal side-by-side poems about change. Finally, we open to the middle spread: a combination of art, collage, and more poetry exploring self and change.

I have mentioned many times how poetry is something I don’t often connect with for a few reasons. That said, the poetry in this zine is more in the form of prose-like poetry, which made the imagery and messages easier for me to follow and understand.

The design of this zine is lovely. The paper is so nice and smooth, and the colour printing goes all the way to the edge. I love watercolours and clocks as a visual theme, so I felt drawn in before I read a single word. The layout with each unfolding revealing its own spread was a nice, fun touch too. (It’s not your standard ‘one page folded’ layout. You open this all the way up.)

I love contemplations of self and various forces in the universe, so this zine is definitely one for me. Combine it with Jennifer’s art style, and you have a much-enjoyed read for me.

This is such a fun, creative zine, and I’m so happy to have more in the series. I definitely recommend checking it out.