Category: Zine Reviews

Survival Tips for Dark Times: Things to Try When You’re Feeling Miserable
Liminal Spaces
https://www.etsy.com/shop/liminalspacesshop/
https://linktr.ee/LiminalSpaces

Survival Tips for Dark Times is a black and white slightly smaller than A7 zine of encouragement and things to try when you are feeling down.

“You’re allowed to do whatever it takes to feel better.”

Survival Tips for Dark Times opens with an introduction to the zine including how the zinemaker finds it useful to have a premade list of ideas for things to do during dark times. From there, we go into a list of some of those things – but wait, there’s more! After this list, Liminal Spaces includes a blank (but for some art) spread for the reader to create a list of their own ideas. They then wrap up the zine with more encouraging words for the reader.

I love this zine. Self-care is something I really struggle with, so I always appreciate ideas and reminders in that area. I love that Liminal Spaces went those extra steps to give the reader not only extra encouragement but extra space to write down their ideas as well. It turns the zine into something that you might put down and reference later into something even more interactive.

From the fonts used to the detailed art primarily featuring nature, the design is absolutely lovely to. I feel like the art style and even the paper weight fit with a zine about times when we feel a bit delicate, amongst other words.

I definitely recommend this zine through and through. Grab a copy.

The Seas
Iestyn et al
https://zinelove.wordpress.com/
https://www.instagram.com/_zinelove/

Full disclosure: I provided the cover art for this zine and have a piece included inside.

The Seas is an A5 landscape layout, full-colour zine featuring art, comics, and words all around the theme of the seas.

“Sit, listen and watch. Turn inwards and hear the voice inside. Let your spirit float and your eyes will open. There are many Seas on Earth – not all are watery, many are found in the 7 ½ billion people we share this planet with.” – Back cover

Perhaps is the class on mindfulness that I’m taking or perhaps it’s the amazing expanse of feelings bodies of water can bring, but this zine has me in such a contemplative state.

After the title page, The Seas opens with an introduction from Iestyn who, in words, contemplates literal and metaphorical meanings of seas. (But don’t worry – not too clinically nor in a confusing fashion.) From there we move immediately onto the opening, wordless comic by Miranda Smart that takes us easily flowing into the art and words contained in the rest of this zine.

There are comics, photos, words, art, and combinations of these all around the theme of seas. I would have thought the variety of things found in this zine might take away from or make the theme a little difficult to stick to, but I quiet enjoyed all the different interpretations. I’m especially impressed with the comic artists who convey so very much with no words at all. There’s some excellent visual storytelling in here.

I think Iestyn has a real artist’s eye for design, and that really shows in this zine. From the landscape layout that put me in the ‘view as a vista’ mindset as a reader to echoing the cover art within the middle spread to give it a very balanced aesthetic overall, The Seas is a lovely zine to take in on multiple levels. I love that Iestyn took the care to get this printed on nice and smooth matte paper but also with borderless printing as well.

Everything feels like a lovely touch with this zine.

I do think a little niggle for me would be having the artists’ names right there along with their pieces. That said, I did quite like how Iestyn handled the ‘artist blurbs’ at the end with page numbers so it also serves as an end-of-zine table of contents as well.

I love an anthology/collaborative zine that brings many people together, and The Seas fits well and truly into that love. There’s so much in here that got me pondering, and I mindfully journeyed through the whole thing.

The Seas is a beautiful and thoughtful zine through and through. I highly recommend getting a copy.

Witches of the World Volume 1
Habitual Novelties (Jason)
https://linktr.ee/habnopubco

Witches of the World Volume 1 is an A5 full-colour zine collection of detailed descriptions of witches of the world including real-world history, folklore, and more in a Dungeons and Dragons-esque style anthology.

I may have fangirled all over this zine shortly after Jason handed it to me.

Witches of the World opens with a title page (a title page!) and table of contents (which I will be talking about soon) before launching into the introduction of this zine. Jason writes about how this zine came to be, influences in its creation, and even plans for future volumes in the series.

From there we go not right to the descriptions but into instructions! Yes, my zine friends, this is not only a zine but a game you can play as well! When Jason delivered this directly into my hands at Festival of the Photocopier, it also game with a character stats sheet but also with dice as well! The next spread also includes a guide to the information provided as well as a key to all the information provided in each witch spread.

I love, love, love the layers to this zine. Informational, artistic, adding a game element as well… So much fun in one package. Jason has really thought of everything.

We then get into the witches pages, each spread is dedicated to one witch. Magic type, age, height, elements, world map, profile, items, and so much more are included. If you want character layout, this is it. I’d love to adapt this for some of the character development for my novels.

As with all Habitual Novelties zines, I love the little details – not only in the art included but in the zine overall. In this zine, the table of contents is actually a set of mini images of the spreads underneath the header for that spread. The header font style is fun and different without being ridiculously hard to read. Even each witch comes with its own small colour palette for what was used in the art.

I have never in my life played a game of Dungeons and Dragons, and I still think this zine is amazing and so well done. If that doesn’t say something, I don’t know what will.

Witches of the World Volume 1 is an awesome, fun zine that just goes to show that you can keep stretching the bounds of what a zine is and the things a zine can encompass. Definitely check it out.

Tips for being Baby
Pebble, a baby
https://www.storenvy.com/stores/1042727-chicken-collective

Tips for being Baby is a one-page black and white mini-zine full of baby tips for babies. From a baby.

This is a short and sweet review for a short and sweet zine – extra on the sweet. Tips for being Baby is a cute, text-only zine of baby tips broken up into sections like ‘eating food’, ‘making friends’, and ‘excellent things’. Each section has a number of fun little snippets to fit the category.

I’m not a parent, but I enjoyed this zine and found it quite adorable. I could see this sort of mini-zine being such a fun way of documenting your child growing up. It certainly have me a smile, and I only had the pleasure of meeting little Pebble once.

There are no socials or contacts on this one, but the cute wins the day. Plus I almost missed the secret inside and got an extra smile when I found it.

I think you’ll have a good idea of whether you’ll like this zine. It was a very cute little pick up in my day.

Healing – Musings From a Mental Ward
Sian May
https://www.instagram.com/dad.party/
https://www.depop.com/dadparty/

Healing – Musings From a Mental Ward is an A6 read and white zine of art and word musings.

This is one of those zines I have a hard time reviewing because I know I like it, but I struggle to find the words tell you why.

In a combination of few words and uniquely detailed drawings, Sian takes a journey of thought. ‘Musings’ is the perfect word. I felt like I was wandering with Sian as they processed being in a place that creates a lot deep thinking and complex feelings.

This zine reminds me of poetry – it presents a lot, but my interpretations from my own experiences bring a lot to the reading experience.

I think Healing is a zine to check out (if wards are not a sensitive topic for you). I’m looking forward to looking into more of Sian’s creations.

Drivel #1 – The New Issue
Gina Sarti
https://antiquatedfuture.com/artist/gina-sarti
https://www.instagram.com/okaysurefinewhatever/

Drivel #1 – The New Issue is a US-sized half-fold black and white zine full of a variety of pieces all around the theme of ‘newness’.

A zine with a dedication! Can we do more of that? It’s such a lovely touch.

Drivel is a cut and paste style zine with handwriting, (primarily) type, drawings, and (patterned) backgrounds. It’s the kind of zine a casual flip through will tell you is packed with plenty to read in an aesthetically pleasing way.

Gina opens with a dedication, a thank you for reading, and even a PO box for getting in touch if you’d like. How friendly is that? From there we go into plenty of fun new things like new treats, new romances, new words, and more. Interviews are involved as well – adding a bit of collab-ish flavour as well.

I’m a big romantic softie at heart, so of course I loved the ‘new romance’ part in which Gina asked two friends who recently started dating to both answer a series of very sweet questions.

Gina’s interview with their friend Rachel is very interesting. Wow is Rachel an interesting person! Plus I love the idea of friends – new or old – interviewing each other. There’s always more to learn.

Drivel is a fun zine full of variety, spice, laughs, serious moments… I enjoyed reading this a lot, and I hope there is another Drivel in the zineverse or it’s on its way.

Check it out.

Chainsaw Bunny Hates Everyone
Echo Publishing
https://echopublishing.wordpress.com/
https://www.instagram.com/echozines/

Chainsaw Bunny Hates Everyone is a full-colour one-page mini about Chainsaw Bunny’s feelings about people! Which may not apply to you…

Sometimes, I just ‘get’ Chainsaw Bunny. And sometimes, Chainsaw Bunny just ‘gets’ me.

This super fun mini features Chainsaw Bunny expressing their frustrations about people! But not all people. Not you. You can share carrots. Each page features CB in Nina’s fun art style in full colour. I’m struggling to find the words somewhat, but I loved how this hit the spot for me. Though not directly, it was a reminder to me to appreciate my wonderful friends all the more because they are awesome. Especially when other people are less so.

Like with many of Nina’s zines, I was delighted to find a little something something on the inside when I unfolded this zine. I won’t give it away, but it’s so much fun and made me a very happy bunny.

Truly, I recommend everything from Echo Publishing, but Chainsaw Bunny definitely has a special place in my heart.

Things That Are Not Face Masks
Zappix Art
https://www.instagram.com/zappixart/
https://linktr.ee/zappixart

Things That Are Not Face Masks is an A7 black-on-green-paper mini art zine about, well, things that are not face masks.

Oh, dear zine friends. I wanted a short and sweet zine that would make me smile after a very long week, and this mini really hit the spot.

Each page features two different drawings of people wearing things that are definitely not face masks along with a description of what said ‘not a mask’ is. These made me smile so much not only because I’ve seen the memes of people wearing things like thongs as masks but so much more so because of Zappix’s sense of humour. Things I would never think of – including “This zine” – gave me a chuckle when one is very much needed and appreciated.

There’s even a rather, ahem, adult item that made me laugh out loud because it’s definitely not a face mask! I’ll leave that one for you to discover, though, and just grin cheekily when I think about it.

Things That Are Not Face Masks is a mini to pick up. Things are incredibly rough, and we need all the smiles and laughs we can get. This is definitely a zine for that.

State of Mind: An Exploration of Emotions
Mary
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/ReflectiveZines
https://www.instagram.com/reflectivezines/

State of Mind is a full colour, US-sized half-fold zine with art and collage exploring five different emotions.

In State of Mind, Mary takes us on a journey of hand drawn art and cut out words and phrases exploring five different states of mind: mania, anxiety, dissociation, psychosis, and hyperfocus. Each state is given its own full page filled with (but not cluttered) colour and different expressions for that state.

Collage can be a little bit like poetry for me – I know what I like, but I don’t always know how to explain why I like it. However, in State of Mind, I found it quite easy. Each page features a hand drawn person who is Mary’s physical representation central to all the words around it. I quite liked that element not just visually but almost as a visual metaphor as well in that we can often be surrounded by labels, questions, and so forth when it comes to being in certain states.

I was also struck by what a great way this is for helping people who might otherwise feel overwhelmed at the prospect of trying to express how they feel about being in certain states. I love the idea of sitting at a table with markers, pens, and a bunch of magazines to cut up for the pure enjoyment of not only making art but exploring things in an artistic way.

One little nitpick is that this came with no socials whatsoever. There is always the part of this nitpick of mine in that some people prefer it that way – to be anonymous in their zine creations. But, as it’s on Etsy, and there are no notes about keeping it out of reviews/sharing, I think it’s okay to mention.

I quite enjoyed this zine and am glad to have it as part of my collection. I think it’s a good one to check out to not only help you in exploring your own emotions/states of mind but perhaps in also inspiring you to find creative ways to help others explore theirs. I very much hope to see Mary make more of these zines exploring other states as well.

Hearts.
Shivani Anora N.
https://www.instagram.com/shivaniandwords/
https://www.facebook.com/shivaniandthings

Hearts. is a full-colour A5 zine of short poetry in combination with collage based around the suit of hearts in a deck of cards.

“Love. The season of spring… Home… The hearts suit of a deck of cards has been said to represent all those things & more…”

I’ve been reviewing zines for quite a while now, and while I love zines through and through, I still can’t help but have a little extra smile when I see someone do something that I haven’t seen before. In the case of Hearts. I quite like how Shivani has paired short poems to one suit of a deck of cards. It seems like a perfect match with both poetry and cards having a lot more meaning below the surface if you care to look.

Each two-page spread features a single playing card (in order from ace to king) on alternating backgrounds on the left and a poem on a minimalistic background on the right. The colour is vibrant but not overwhelming, never taking away from the card and the poem.

Shivani’s style of poetry is what I’m seeing more and more of – no rhyme or structure as such but plenty of meaning depending on how far you want to dig and how long you’d like to contemplate it. As I’ve mentioned here plenty of times, poetry is definitely not my strong suit. Some of the poems in here went a bit over my head. That said, what I enjoyed touched me with the intensity and heartbreak that surrounds love.

As a side note, I’m also not all that familiar with card meanings, but I wouldn’t be surprised (and am actually curious to find out) if there is an even deeper connection between the words and the card they have been paired with.

Hearts. is a poetry zine that left me feeling contemplative and curious about what the next three zines (with the next three card suits) will bring. If you like the more ‘modern’ style of poetry, then this is a zine to check out.