Author: Nyx

Fat-tastic 1
Sage
1/2 fold (US)
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/sage

(I have also reviewed Fat-tastic 1 and Fat-tastic 2)

Oh, I do love a series. Even with the wait that usually comes between one book/season/edition/issue and the next. With zines, I like ongoing series (apparently ‘series’ is both a singular and a plural) because it’s closer to getting to watch someone grow and change.

Fat-tastic 3 has what I think is a more serious focus. Not to say that the first two weren’t serious, but they were more broken up by shorter pieces, art, how-tos, etc. FT3 (mind if I abbreviate?) has some larger, hard-hitting pieces that you really need to sit down and ‘be’ with rather than skimming over/through. They are pieces to think about. There are some shorter pieces in here, including some art and an excellent poem. (I don’t often ‘get’ poetry, so take my ‘excellent’ rating as you will.)

But you can’t really hold submissions against the ‘curator’. People can only work with what they are given to work with. The fact that FT3 has a greater number of longer pieces says more about the psyche of the society around the zine than about Sage. But I won’t get too deeply into all that. What I mean to say is that I like it when there is a big mix of a lot of different content, but I can’t hold it against Sage that FT3 doesn’t have as much of the variety that I jumped into in FT2. It is what it is, and a good zine is a good zine.

I especially like that Sage included a piece about being underweight. It’s great to be supportive of the ‘big’ men and women out there, but it’s important to be body-positive for the other side of the spectrum, too. I feel like that group feels rather neglected as a whole, and Sage including this particular piece really lends to the maturity of the series (and likely the longevity because of it).

My only niggle is that I can’t seem to find a Fat-tastic 4. My no-patience conditioning is not working in my favour. 😉

Cultural Tease #4
Scarlett
A6
http://culturalteasezine.tumblr.com/
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/CulturalTease

Zines like Cultural Tease that are a collection of images and words make me a little nervous. Whether I like it or not, I always have this niggle in the back of my mind that I won’t ‘get’ it. I do console myself, though, with the thought that the people who make these zines don’t want me feeling that at all.

Cultural Tease 4 is a combination of quotes, images and a little text bit that I really liked. In fact, I quite liked a lot about this zine. Some of the writing was nearly sucked into the fold, but I could still read everything. I felt a little disappointed about the photos; I get that copiers take away quality, but a touch more clarity would have been good.

The opening quote about a suitcase (I’ll let you read it) got me thinking ‘Schrodinger’s Suitcase’, which was quite amusing. The interior part I mentioned before was about thinking through a ‘teenage’ show of rebellion. While I haven’t thought of that specifically, the thought process was so familiar that I actually laughed out loud. Been there (so many times), done that (so many times).

All up, I’m happy I came across this zine. I’m looking forward to checking out other editions.

The Beginner’s Book of Awesome Affirmations V.3
Jess Freedom
US-size half-fold
http://jessfreedomzine.tumblr.com/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/jessfreedomzine

The Beginner’s Book of Awesome Affirmations is exactly that – a starting point for anyone who would like to give affirmations a go but doesn’t know where to start (for whatever reason).

I will be honest here: usually these kinds of zines usually piss me off. I’m bipolar, so someone telling me that I can think my way out of something rubs me the wrong way. But I love this zine. There’s a certain energy to it that spells out Jess’ efforts not to tell you what to do but to encourage you to try.

The entire feel of this zine is awesome. It’s a cut and paste extravaganza with photo images mixed in with hand-drawn art. The pages are fun to read and to look at. She does muck around with the font size, but only a little bit and not so much that it becomes any sort of distraction. In a way, it reminds me of Dr Seuss and how half the journey is a visual one.

How much do I love this woman for her contact page? A lot, that’s how much. There are links, an email address, and a snail mail address. They are all easy to read while still being written all over a page of crazy stars and sketches. Well done, Jess Freedom.