Author: Nyx

Moon
Edited by Joseph Carlough
16 Authors
20 pages
https://www.displacedsnail.com
https://www.instagram.com/displacedsnail/

Moon is a 9cm x 14cm black and white, primarily text zine with short pieces from sixteen different authors on the theme of ‘moon’.

I am all about moon and stars aesthetics lately, so I got right into this one.

Moon opens to a title page before going into the first short story: a funny consideration from Carolyn Busa about why it’s probably best that we aren’t going to the moon. (Not what I expected in this zine, let alone for the first piece, but that just gave me an even bigger smile because of it.) There are more contemplative stories, myths, and even comics as well. The role of the moon during the Civil War in the piece by Heather Butts touched me as it mentions Harriet Tubman – someone who has been an inspiration to me since I wrote a report about her in third fourth grade.

The layout of this zine is lovely. The slightly marble blue paper of the title page is a nice touch an carries the colour in from the cover. The type is clear and easy to read, and each author/artist’s details are even easier to read.

I’m impressed by the writers given their rather dramatic limitations on word count, but I have to tip my hat to the comic artists for packing so much into such a small space.

Some of the pieces really hit it for me, and some didn’t. This is the nature of a collaborative zine and one of the reasons I love this type of zine. These are all new-to-me names, and it’s nice to have details for following up with people whose creations really struck me.

If you’d like to try something new with a mixture of new voices, then this is definitely a zine for you to check out.

Welcome To Nursing HELLo
Joel Craig
36 pages
http://www.welcometonursinghello.com
https://www.amazon.com/Joel-Craig/e/B00F2L9H9M/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1

Welcome To Nursing HELLo is a 13.5cm x 17cm black and white comic zine about Joel’s life as a nurse.

This is one of those zines I’m very curious about but am almost a little wary because nurses go through a lot of intense situations! But curiosity wins.

Welcome To Nursing HELLo opens with some fine print type details on the inside front cover before getting right into the comics with a brief introduction to Joel. From there we get into a wide variety of topics: the impact of hours and scheduling, interactions between nurses and between nurses and doctors, and even a dream with Madonna. Some stories are funny, some tense, and others are even educational with a ‘tips for nurses’ feel.

The middle spread of the comic serves as a game board for ‘The Nurse Game’, which even has a set of rules and some ‘Get Out of Employee Heath Free’ cards. With board spots like “Catch a PT having sex in their room w/visitor but they have visitor ID band. Close door” and “Perform well during a code. Move ahead 3 spaces”, it’s not a game for the faint of heart.

The zine wraps up with a few panel hints about what (I assume) will be coming in the next zine.

Zine Review: Welcome To Nursing HELLo is a perzine in comic form, and I love a perzine. I prefer to start at the beginning of a series, but starting with the second one didn’t leave me wanting or confused for having not read the first one. It continues on seamlessly (from all appearances) from the first one after the brief introduction.

Anything I was confused about came from a lack of nursing knowledge. For instance, I had no idea what a charge nurse is, but I did get the general gist of the role from the comic. I’m also still not clear about nurse hierarchy and have no idea what an NA is, but there was nothing that took me completely out of the story itself. (Nor do I feel they need explaining within the comic unless it’s specific to the story like “I had to report to this person”.)

Joel’s writing is real about how things are happening but doesn’t get stuck in details (as you really can’t for a well-paced comic with limited text space) – and also doesn’t get into any shock/horror factors, which I greatly appreciated.

All up, Zine Review: Welcome To Nursing HELLo was a very interesting read with a lot of unfamiliar to me content. There wasn’t much I could identify with as such, but that made it all the more satisfying to my curious self. I recommend giving this one a look, and I will be getting the others in the series.

Better Than Me: a zine about comparison
Elisa
8 pages (1 A4 page folded)
https://www.instagram.com/elisaszines/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/elisaszines

Better Than Me: a zine about comparison is a 1-page-folded, black text on green paper mini-zine about comparison and

“Comparison is the thief of joy.” – Theodore Roosevelt

This is one of my favourite quotes as belittling myself by comparing myself to others is something that I’ve worked hard on stopping. As you can imagine, the moment I saw this zine, I knew I had to read it.

Elisa opens right into the text, writing about how they’ve always had a problem with self-esteem. Elisa then writes about struggling with confidence and thinking poorly of themself to the point of insults and self-punishment. But Elisa shares hope in having spent years in recovery and learning self-love and appreciation. They even write a sort of call to action for the person reading to try to change perspective and society.

All wrapped up in a little mini.

This is one of those zines that simply spoke to me, and I struggle to see it from an impartial reviewer’s eyes. I know what it’s like to constantly drag myself down, and with the utterly easy access to social media, it’s easier than ever to use others as a mean to berate ourselves. As much as I would love to see this zine expanded into a chunky monkey of a zine on the topic, there is so much value to a short and sweet message of ‘you are enough’.

If you struggle with comparing yourself to others, this mini is a lovely pocket reminder that you’re not alone and that it’s possible to dismantle the habit of comparison.