Author: Nyx

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.

Two-Timing Dog: Transylvania Bible #3
16 pages
M.J. Ocasio & Monstark
http://mjocasio.com/
https://www.monstark.com/

Two-Timing Dog: Transylvania Bible #3 is a 7cm x 10.7cm black and white comic about a tragic couple dealing with supernatural forces.

My completionist heart wanted to wait to see if I could find the second comic in this series, but my curious soul overruled and I jumped right into this instalment of the Transylvania Bible series.

Two-Timing Dog opens with a ‘gorgeous in its simplicity’ inside cover with information about the two creators. (Links type of information to be found on the back inside cover.) On page one, we are introduced to a familiar scene of sitting across the table from someone. But it’s immediately clear that all is not well with the argumentative words and throwing of a dish. The story then plays on reader expectations, seeming to lead you down one road with the argument at hand only to reveal something much darker and sinister beneath it all.

Like with The Puss and the Shade (review here), you may be able to tell that I don’t want to give away any spoilers. I will say that, as a writer as well as a reader, I loved the play on words – despite how it all ended. Wow. I suspected something along the lines of how it did end, but I ended up surprised just the same.

Also like the first of the series, this zine is beautifully presented. The cover is a shiny metallic grey, the paper inside feels gorgeous and textured, and the art is as magnificent and haunting as always. It’s a small zine, so I appreciate that the creators manage to balance detailed art and storytelling without the comic panels feeling too crammed or otherwise overwhelming.

I’ve been a fan of horror since I was a little girl, so this is definitely my kind of comic zine. I really want to get my hands on the second one and hope that this series is a long running one. I think this and this series is a must have for anyone who appreciates horror – especially horror in comics and short stories.

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.”