Author: Nyx

Flotation Device 16
Keith Helt
44 pages
https://flotationdevice.net

Flotation Device 16 is a black on cream paper, US-sized half-fold zine about life with panic and anxiety attack over the years.

I’ve said this before and I will say it again: People can say what they want about content warnings, but I appreciate them. I was glad to have the heads up about the content being about panic and anxiety so I could make sure to read this when I was in a good space to do so.

Flotation Device 16 opens with the aforementioned warning as well as a creative table of contents introducing the zine’s four parts:

Part 1 – A chronology of selected attacks
Part 2 – A neutral recounting of what happened and how it happened
Part 3 – A selection of recent thoughts
Part 4 – A brief chronology of selected coping strategies

We go right into part one of the zine, which is the first half of the zine. From 1996 to 2017, Keith details a number of panic attacks from before they knew what to call the experiences. The experiences have been written out in diary style format, with just a year covering multiple entries. Keith’s writing style is interesting to me; it’s a balance of not going over the top but not holding back either. The panic is a horrible mix that encompasses the mind and body, but Keith writes about it in a way that documents the experience without trying to elicit any specific response from the reader.

It’s simply honest writing.

From the diary-style of recounting specific attacks, Keith takes a little step back in part two to give a broader overview of what the attacks are like, when they started, what it took to go to the doctor, and what’s happening now. Part three takes us back to 2016 and the diary style of writing, this time focusing on Keith sharing more of the emotional and thought processes of dealing with these anxiety attacks – which clearly causes even more turmoil and depressive type thoughts as well.

Part four takes us in a more positive but still realistic direction with the diary style detailing various coping strategies over time. I think this is a great subject and style to round the zine out with. This section normalises medication, has a healthy list of helpful books, and even ends with a long list of various life highlights. Most importantly (in my opinion) is that it clearly shows that learning to manage your anxiety is a process that grows and changes as you grow.

Save for the inside covers and one page, Flotation Device 16 is a purely text zine. So if you’re looking for a zine that will keep you reading or give you several reading sessions, then this one is for you.

It’s definitely an intense read. Perhaps because I have panic attacks or because I empathise. Perhaps both. I did have to take reading this in parts, but I don’t consider that to be a bad thing. I’ve never read someone write about panic and anxiety quite like Keith, and Flotation Device 16 served as a personal reminder to me that even though people may have the same condition, that condition can still be experienced in a myriad of different ways.

Flotation Device 16 is an interesting look at one experience of panic and anxiety over time. I think this is one that will be sticking with me for quite a while though I’ve finished reading it.

Worrying will not protect me.

The Danger Zone
Kali
4 pages (one page folded mini-zine)
https://mythicaltype.com
https://www.instagram.com/kali.kambo/

The Danger Zone is a yellow, black and white, one page folded mini-zine about dangerous zones in life.

Okay, so I fully admit that this zine made me smile the first time with the title alone because I thought of Archer (the adult cartoon) ‘Danger Zone’ running gag. Ahem. Carrying on.

The Danger Zone opens with the dangerous (or ‘dangerous’ depending on how you look at them and all the possible outcomes) zone of hitting send on an email before you press send. Been there. Done that. Definitely regretted it. This sets the tone for the rest of the zine, with each page featuring an all too familiar danger zone of life along with a drawing that goes with that danger. Each drawing also has a splash of yellow-gold, giving each page a bit of pop.

This is a short and sweet zine that I really enjoyed and flipped through quite a few times. It’s one of those zines that remind me to slow down and take notice of life – not just because of potential dangers but because of potential smiles as well. I definitely like this fun mini and really want to check out the rest of Kali’s zines now.

Learn English With Mr. Wood
Antek
8 pages
a.blampied(at)hotmail.be
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/pleasetakeonebooks

Learn English With Mr. Wood is an A6, colour, cut and paste zine made from a language textbook and transformed into a story about Mr Wood and the increasing distress he feels living a life that he feels is falling apart.

It’s been a while since I wasn’t quite sure how to start a blog review, but that is definitely happening right now. Where to begin…

Learn English With Mr. Wood opens on the first page with the one and only Mr Wood: a hard worker who needs a rest, a man who feels he doesn’t have much time, and friend to a Belgian man who man know more than he is saying… With cut and paste words and pictures, we get glimpses into Mr. Wood’s life, relationships, and decreasing mental health. While we don’t get to see the ultimate outcome, we can guess where he ends up from the downward spiral we have seen.

The aesthetic of this zine stays pretty true to the 50s language textbook while also using the cut and paste style in a way that works well with the absurdity elements as well as the slightly uneasy descent into what may be any number of things… Paranoia… Madness. This zine did come with a little flyer of sorts that explained the origins of this zine and the hidden story.

I always get a little nervous when zines come with little bits and pieces that can fall out of or get separated from the zine itself. Will people get the same impact, meaning, and so on without that piece. That’s even more relevant here because the page really tells you what this zine is all about. I was expecting to read something amusing and yet sinister, but would I have expected it or reacted in the same way if I didn’t know the background of the zine?

However, I’m not against using some washi tape myself to make sure things stay secure.

I think this zine is hilarious.** Nefarious undertones in a book that helps you to learn English? I absolutely adore this idea. I don’t know if it’s my background in English, the concept of the zine, both, more… I found myself laughing out loud as I imagined an undercover policeman saying the code words, “There are no turkeys left.” (Yes, that is a cut and pasted sentence from the book.)

I was expecting more of a linear narrative (which I shouldn’t have given Antek pieces this together from another book so was limited with materials), but I’m actually glad that’s not what happened. The ‘scenes’ really help lean into the absurdity feel and had me laughing all the harder as my imagination gleefully joined in with the words on the page.

Definitely pick it up and have a read.

**I shouldn’t have to say this, but just in case: No, I do not think mental illness is hilarious. I am writing only about the zine and zine idea itself.

An Asexual’s Firsts
Lauren Hamell
28 pages
https://www.instagram.com/laurenhamell/
https://weirdobrigade.com/2020/11/18/meet-this-zinester-lauren-hamell/

An Asexual’s Firsts is an about 17x13cm, black and red on white zine of poetry about discovering one’s asexuality and learning to embrace it.

A zine shaped and designed like an ace of hearts that also has an anatomical heart on the front of it. Colour me intrigued.

An Asexual’s Firsts opens with a short author’s note about how this zine isn’t limiting its audience – neither strictly inside nor outside the asexual community. From there we launch into the zine, which is split into two parts: part one: introductions and part two: starts.

In Starts, Lauren writes about questioning their sexuality with their first real crush and getting to know their own needs and wants. They write not about when they first heard the word ‘asexual’ but rather about when the word first took on a significant meaning to them.

It’s finding that label (but not necessarily going ‘this is what it is and what it always shall be’ with it) that takes us into Starts. Going into their first LGBTQ space on campus could have worked for an introduction, but it totally suits as a ‘start’ in Lauren claiming their space and taking the steps to move forward with learning more about themself. Not only that, but also meeting people like them.

As I mentioned, this zine is shaped like a card from a deck of playing cards and designed to look like an ace of hearts. I thought this was a fun nod to asexual people, who are also sometimes known as ‘aces’. As always, I appreciate the clear type making the zine easy to read.

The words inside are formatted like poetry and Lauren refers to the writing as poems, but I found them to be closer to prose. This is not a nitpick, however. I liked the approach of Lauren telling their story but in this more punctuated style. It gave what could have easily been a regularly written prose perzine and made it into something a little different.

I still remember the first time I read about demisexuals and what that label meant to me, so I really empathised with Lauren a lot throughout this zine. If only those of us who didn’t have zines to help guide us when we were younger actually had them!

All up, I found this to be an intriguing read that I could really empathise with. I also quite liked the style both in looks and writing style. This is one to pick up if you’re interested in the topic.