Author: Nyx

Functionally Ill 19: Fully Favorable
Laura-Marie
www.etsy.com/shop/robotmad
dangerouscompassions.blogspot.com

Functionally Ill: Fully Favorable is the 19th is a nine-years-running (at the time this zine was made – it’s not dated) zine about Laura-Marie’s journey from the first diagnosis of bipolar disorder. In this issue, Laura-Marie shares some snippets from letters she’s written as well as touches on Social Security hearings, leaving a therapist behind, new psychiatrists, and more.

Functionally Ill doesn’t go into a lot of background or history beyond the brief introduction. Usually I would find that distracting from the content right in front of me, but something about Laura-Marie’s writing put me right into the moment where I didn’t need more information. I want it – I want to read more zines in this series – but it wasn’t distracting.

Laura-Marie’s experiences with Dr R made me angry about heavy-handed psychiatrists, and, thought this zine, I got a glimpse into what it’s like to try to get Social Security payments in the US. I liked that excerpts of letters to others were in the mix, showing the subtle differences in writing voice but almost getting a different perspective on events.

There’s a lot to be said for using zines as therapy, especially when you have a mental illness. However, there is also a lot to be said for using zines as a way to get past stereotypes and gain perspective. Though this was a brief look, it was an interesting one.

Meta Zine: It’s a Zine About Zines
Davida Gypsy Breier
http://www.leekinginc.com/

A zine about zines? Yes, please! What we have here, my friends, is everything I want in a zine about zines that is so good, I can’t help but want more.

In Meta Zine, Davida has created a zine guide that introduces you to (or further informs you about) the world of zines. When I say world, I mean world. While it’s light in weight, this zine is anything but light in content.

Part I is an introduction to the world, culture, and history of zines. Davida mixes the evolution of zines with personal experiences and philosophy. (But at no point does this feel like a perzine.) Davida examines what, if any, definition ‘zine’ actually has and the desire of some to create that label. This moves further into the current zinemaker and inspired yesterday’s post regarding thoughts about the legitimacy/policing of digital zines. There is no preaching or personal politics in this, though. It’s an exploration of the history and associated thoughts – thoughts I’ve also had as a zine reviewer.

Part II takes you into the hands-on world of actually making a zine. From supplies and margins (don’t ignore margins!) to printing and selling, Meta Zine gives you all the basics to get you started if you are otherwise hesitant. There are even more sections, including a number of zine resources for finding, selling, and trading.

Meta Zine is only 23 pages long (half fold, looks to be a 10pt font if I’d guess) but still somehow manages to pack it with so much information. It’s fantastic. This is the kind of zine I would make if I had Davida’s level of knowledge. If I had the money, I’d happily buy dozens of copies of this and send them to everyone who expressed an interest in the zine world.

If you want to know about zine history, how to make zines, some of the philosophy behind zines, anything else related that I haven’t mentioned, then get this zine. It is an utterly fantastic place to start.