Author: Nyx

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.

Animated Meat Issue #1: Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Ed Richter
12 pages
https://animatedmeat.com/

Animated Meat Issue #1: Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a US-sized half-fold, blue, black, and white zine with photos and writing about raising children in today’s world and why visiting a cemetery is a perfectly appropriate day trip for the family.

This zine ended up being a prime example of why I shouldn’t judge zines by their covers – or their titles.

Animated Meat opens with Ed writing about how taking kids to a cemetery for an outing may seem odd to some parents given the plethora of kid-friendly options available in Southern California. Ed transitions smoothly into writing about some of those options and how those options represent a ‘fair weather’ kind of parenting that doesn’t prepare you for the inevitable times when the world hands you your backside. The writing is thoughtful about raising (training) good workers as opposed to the joys (sorrows, and frustrations) that come with raising interesting people.

Ed’s writing touches on a number of societal things, from raising children to how we measure success in the current age. Yet it doesn’t dive too deeply into anything in particular. We wander through Ed’s thoughts, contemplating or not contemplating as much as we care to, only to end up back at the cemetery paying respects to “a few gentlemen who kept [Ed] company during [Ed’s] own moments of despair”.

The look (and feel) of this zine stands out. The print on the front is actually textured rather than flat ink on the paper. Inside, Ed uses slightly glossy paper that suits the black and white photos. I appreciate the nice, clear text as well.

Animated Meat ended up being something almost completely different to what I expected, and in very good ways. I don’t have kids, but I enjoyed Ed’s thoughts and commentary on how many kids are raised and how society as a whole is trending. I could go on and on about the topics brought up in this zine, which just goes to show how much I liked it and hope that there will be more in the series.

Check it out.

*Side note: The cover is a much more tomato red than my camera would lead you to believe.

Pieces #15: on altered states
Nichole
56 pages
https://www.instagram.com/corridorgirl/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/collectingwords

Pieces 15 is a US paper quarter-sized, black and white zine about altered states of being – from reality to non-reality.

“Acceptance is hard, let me tell you, and I’m working on it. I’ll probably be working on it forever, to be honest, but I think pretty much everyone else in the world is too.”

Pieces 15 opens with Nichole writing about writing in a coffee shop in a catch-all notebook. An old notebook that is a catch all, which is definitely different than a journal or diary. I love this image of the writer (no matter what anyone else says), and it immediately puts me at ease as I start to read. From there Nichole writes rather poetically about the fast ‘summer storm’ way this zine came together and what it’s all about.

She starts with derealisation and depersonalisation, states that she experienced even in childhood as well as currently as of the writing of this zine. This moves into thoughts about drugs and alcohol and deconstructing taught beliefs to come around to her first psychedelic experience. She also touches on lucid dreaming, even giving tips on how to lucid dream as well as sharing some lucid dream experiences as well.

The middle goes into Nichole’s thoughts on life in general, which can feel like an altered state in and of itself when a person isn’t part of a big societal norm – let alone the opposite of many of them. I think a lot of people will understand Nichole’s feelings of not knowing her purpose or what’s meant to be happening. Which leads into the mushroom experience.

The trip itself is as intense as I expected but in ways I didn’t expect. There are hallucinations, trippy revelations, and scary moments where Nichole writes about the Demon (which you may know if you have read previous issues but won’t deter you if you don’t). It’s all very raw, vulnerable, and presented to the reader without any self-judgements or assumptions about what the reader may gain from reading it.

And we wrap up where we started: writing in little cafes and enjoying people watching.

I’ve always love Nichole’s zine style. The quarter size with plenty of pages, black and white, cut and paste with a lot of elements that make it feel like part zine, part art journal, part diary. She uses patterned papers as well as a lot of butterfly, flower, and time-related pieces which suits my design preferences totally.

Nichole’s zines – and this series in particular – have always resonated with me, so I was not surprised to find this feeling again with this zine. She writes about the familiar feeling unfamiliar, even in childhood – a state she writes about more articulately than I could. I’ve also been able to lucid dream from time to time. And goodness knows I’ve often asked myself and the universe what my purpose is. I found the trip experience to be one that made me infinitely curious and incredibly cautious as well.

The Pieces series is one I will always recommend. While they are on different topics and span more than a decade, if you have liked one then you will like them all. With each new issue I feel honoured that Nichole has showed so much of herself and let herself be so vulnerable in these zines.

Grab a copy.

Campervan Honeymoon
Kristin Stadum & Johnnie B Baker
20 pages
https://www.angelfire.com/ca/bpress/
https://www.instagram.com/johnniebbaker/

Campervan Honeymoon is a US-sized, half-fold, zine scrapbook from Kristin and Johnnie’s honeymoon around Western Australia.

Is it weird I’m reading a zine featuring one of my neighbour states that I’ve never been to? Or would that only have been weird pre-2020?

Campervan Honeymoon opens with a brief introduction from (forgive me, but I am assuming what handwriting style belongs to whom) Johnnie about how a deal on round trip tickets to Australia decided the destination for their honeymoon. Kristen’s previous visits to Australia determined where they’d travel on the continent.

From there we have a combination of maps, pictures, notes, tickets, and other ephemera to create this scrapbook telling of their trip up the coast of Western Australia. Kristin writes most of the notes and writes them in a cliff notes style that I appreciate. The zine has a nice balance of written notes and other ephemera.

Speaking of the notes, Kristin and Johnnie don’t hold back. The first kangaroo they spotted was a dead one, petrol prices are often ridiculous, and there are just way too many bugs. I like the realistic diary keeping rather than a rose-coloured glasses account. I also love that they not only create the memories but the zine elements together as well.

I compare this to a scrapbook because it’s very much one with various things pasted onto the page like the scrapbooks I used to keep as a teenager. Johnnie’s handwriting is a touch hard to read at points and there is a picture that is a little dark for the laugh I think it could get for non-Australians (for whom ‘thong’ means something a bit different!). But nothing really stopped me from enjoying the zine.

Kristin writes about being tired along the way, and I totally understand those feelings from having packed many things into small trips along the way. But this takes on new meaning – and the zine itself takes on a new special level of meaning, when you read the last page.

I won’t give it away, but the sentiment becomes all that much longer, and living life to the fullest becomes all the more important a lesson after reading the final page.

Campervan Honeymoon was written in 2019 – a year that feels so far away now. But while we still have travel restrictions on, I enjoyed travelling to WA vicariously through Kristin, Johnnie, and their zine.