Author: Nyx

Jesus the Asshole
Richard Larios
24 pages
https://linktr.ee/FeralPublication

Jesus the Asshole is a US-sized, half-fold black and white comic zine letter to Jesus in which Richard shares his confusion, doubts, and other thoughts about Jesus and, by extension, Christianity.

I have had this zine for a while and wasn’t quite sure what I’d make of it when I read it. But, besides a bit of a rough time with mentions of rape, murder, and slavery, it turned out to be an even more interesting read than I anticipated.

Jesus the Asshole opens with a letter from Richard to the reader letting them know that this zine isn’t meant to be rude or disrespectful for the sake of being rude or disrespectful. He explains that it is ‘the honest ramblings of a young mind’ and even invites readers to make a zine of their own to help him understand things if he’s misrepresented anything. This introduction certainly got me curious about what was to come but also reassured me that this isn’t the zine you might think it is going by the title alone.

Please note that, on that note, this review is the same. I mean no disrespect in my comments. Only pondering and curiosity along with the things Richard has asked in this zine.

From there we get into the comic. Richard writes (and draws) about searching for Jesus, asking questions about Christianity that were never quite well answered. Asking more questions about things like, for instance, if everything is for a plan or purpose, why are there starving children in the world? If it’s up to man to take care of man, then that must be free will and thus not everything happens for a reason.

There’s more where that comes from as well with curious thoughts about the nature of hell, forgiveness, evil, and more all presented in this letter to Jesus form that makes it all the more approachable for the reader.

I quite liked the look of the zine with less structure and more words and drawings all over the page. It had the feel of someone who was also drawing while writing their letter or drawing while on the phone about the topic. Some of the words were hard to read at times, but not so much that I didn’t have any idea what was happening.

As someone who grew up with a church and asked a lot of questions (and wasn’t responded to very positively by adults for asking those questions), this zine really took me back. It also gave me comfort in its own way because I don’t feel alone in this part of my life. Logically I know I’m not, but it’s always nice to see it in zine form as well.

I especially appreciat that, toward the end, there is a gentle reminder that you don’t need to have a religion or be a member of a church to be a decent human being. You can still be good.

I can understand why this would be a sensitive zine for many, but I found it to be a great read. It got me thinking, made me feel less alone, and had a comics element as well. Definitely one to pick up if you’re comfortable with the subject matter.

Does This Count? Poetry From a Non Poet Issue 2
Don Leach
12 pages
https://www.instagram.com/notmovingpics/
http://notmovingpictures.blogspot.com/

Does This Count? is a US-sized half-fold, black and white zine of short poems written in one day from a non-poet.

If you’ve followed this blog and my reviews for a while, you know how I feel about poetry: slightly intimidated with a generous helping of fascinated. I think that’s why I got right into this zine as, on the inside front cover, Don ponders what it is to be a poet. Does simply writing poetry do it, or is there something else involved? Publishing? Acknowledged as good by peers?

Don doesn’t come to a conclusion – and I feel glad about that.

From there we go into the poems. Each page features two or three poems written in different fonts and accompanied by simple line art to make it very easy to tell them apart. They are written in a 5-7-5 syllable haiku style, which I quite like for its strong capacity for both depth of thought as well as depth of humour.

The poems were a mixed bag for me. Some felt absolutely complete and powerful, leaving me thinking about what the words meant to me personally and what they made me feel. Others felt incomplete like the barest moment in time. Yet other still lead me to turn them around in my head, gaining meanings that might not have been intended but worked for me. A mixed bag that I’ve come to expect and even enjoy in poetry.

The back features a little bit more about how this zine came to be: in an inspired session over the course of one day. I won’t go into all the details here, but I rather like the story of songwriter Robert Pollard ‘turning on the faucet’. It reminded me of a lot of writer advice that basically all boils down to ‘just get it down on the page’.

All up, I enjoyed this zine. The title definitely caught me, and the whole concept kept me reading. That someone even created this zine made me feel more comfortable with the occasional poem I write in my journal every now and then. I’d actually quite like to check out the first issue and am curious to know if there will be more to come after this. Check it out. No reason to be intimidated.

“Does any of this even matter? I’ve no idea. I just write what I write.”

Fuck You
Weirdo Brigade
https://linktr.ee/WeirdoBrigade

Fuck You is a US one-page-folded, full colour mini zine basically repeating the title in fun, colourful ways.

I write a lot of serious reviews here, but I have been absolutely full-on cranky all week, so I wanted to check out something that made me laugh. I’m all for spreading sunshine, but I have some saltiness too, and this zine fit my mood perfectly.

Fuck You is a quick read mini with different ways to say ‘fuck you’ set with colourful drawings and backgrounds. There’s no real start or end other than the front and back covers. I don’t know if WB had anyone in particular in mind when they made this, but I love how general it is. If I was a bolder person, I could absolutely see myself carrying multiple copies and handing them out to people who were being… less than kind.

There are no zinemaker details on here, which is usually a sticking point of mine. With this zine, however, I think it’s fitting. The message is the message, and it feels complete just as it is.

There’s something about swear words and rainbows paired together that makes me smile. Paired with a cranky week, this zine made for the perfect release of feels in zine form.

Mummies: A Zine About the Dead
Arinn Westendorf
https://www.arinn.com/
https://linktr.ee/ari.nn

Mummies: A Zine About the Dead is an A6, black and white zine about various mummies found around the world.

An educational zine about mummies with perzine elements included. Count me in.

Mummies opens to some socials details (thank you!) and a cover page before launching right into what we’re here for: mummies! Each spread features a drawing of the mummy on one page and a short description on the other. The description includes the mummy name, approximate date of death, date of discovery, and location followed by what the featured mummy means to Arinn.

Something about Arinn’s drawing style reminds me of Bedtime Stories on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/BedtimeStoriesChannel) – haunting and a little cold, which is so appropriate for the subject matter. Having the drawings of the mummies to go along with the details is a great idea and not only makes it have more impact with the readers but also gives the zine a complete feel that the zine would definitely lack without them.

Mummies aren’t really a passion of mine by any means, but I found this zine a very interesting read. I liked getting a glimpse of knowledge about the mummies and to see them, but more interesting was the impact that each mummy had on Arinn and Arinn’s fascinations with mummies overall.

Mummies: A Zine About the Dead is an interesting mix of educational, art, and perzine. Check it out.

The Lost People: How Pop Culture Helped Me to Deal With Trauma
Marvellous
https://twitter.com/Marglow3
https://www.instagram.com/badquilla/

The Lost People is a full-colour A5 zine about processing childhood trauma and abuse through pop culture.

Marvellous opens the zine with an introduction to himself and how being an abuse survivor has defined him. Talk about being hooked in the first few paragraphs. Marvellous really spoke to me straight away when he wrote about carrying several identities within them:

“I’m the child who wasn’t listened to, I’m the teenager who is always hurting, I’m the young adult who was trying to not let himself drown in the pain of abuse.”

As a child abuse survivor myself, this resonated so much with me. It is one of those things in my life that I just took for granted as part of myself and how I think about myself but never really thought of beyond that. Seeing it on the page like that, written by someone else, was really beautiful to me and was yet another reminder of how powerful zines and shared experiences can be.

From there, Marvellous writes about processing trauma through pop culture. I was delighted to find more similarities between us. While I always knew the movie Spirited Away (and all Miyazaki films really) had a powerful impact on me, it was interesting to take in the story through Marvellous’ interpretation.

Marvellous also processed trauma through other movies and books as well. Because of the strong connection I have to Spirited Away, I found myself eager to write down the things I hadn’t seen and read so I could do so later.

The design of this zine is quite well done with the colours of the background soothing words about an intense journey. Watercolours keep you flowing forward and typed words with a mix of written parts here and there keep variety on the pages.

The Lost People is a good zine about how pop culture can actually help us but also represents a zine for abuse survivors wanting to reach out. I’m a little wary of these subjects for my own mental health, but I found this to be a fairly gentle reaching out. Marvellous expresses himself in a way that resonates rather than triggers bad memories (at least, that was my personal experience).

This is a good zine to check out and one that I hope Marvellous expands further in the future if he cares to do so.