Category: Zine Reviews

A Problem With Your Background: Real life problems of youth offenders
Richard Larios
https://www.instagram.com/feralpublication/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqkHGWfc44M5znpDg5adSog

A Problem With Your Background: Real life problems of youth offenders is a black and white US half-fold zine about how adults can be unfairly haunted by youth offences even decades later…

In A Problem With Your Background, Richard launches right into his story. This primarily text zine feels like it has one purpose: highlight how ridiculous the system is that can punish you so many years later (even though it’s not supposed to be able to do that with youth offences). Richard writes about difficult financial times that led to a job interview that would remind him that, unfortunately, with some companies he will never have to stop proving himself despite what he did as a teen.

I feel like this zine is a zine that exists to say “Hey, world! This happens, and it’s not right!” It’s an experience – a hard one to face and yet one so many people won’t realise even exists – printed out on a couple pieces of paper to speak to the world. I feel such a strong urge to pass this zine on so more people know. So more people can read about this and realise that, as horrible as this treatment is, this and worse happens every day.

As you may have noticed, this zine has me fired up. I’m angry and annoyed. I’ve always believed a writer’s job was to make the reader feel something, so in that, Richard has succeeded and then some. It’s a perzine with a punch, if you’ll allow the alliteration. And yet, I was impressed that this zine didn’t feel like the huge rant that it could have turned into with plenty more expletives and a lot more anger. But Richard writes effectively to the point.

This is one to pick up.

Creative Breakdown Insurance: How to Survive Your Worst Days of Creative Freelancing
Imogen Dall
https://www.imogendall.com/
https://twitter.com/ImogenDall

Creative Breakdown Insurance is an A5 full-colour zine about approaching problems that can come when you’re a creative freelancer.

Given the state of the world these days, I thought this zine would be a most appropriate read. Especially for all of the people who aren’t used to working from home.

Creative Breakdown Insurance opens with a minimalist first page that lets you know that it’s okay to hate the guide; that doesn’t mean you can’t use it. I had a smile at that, given that is how anything helpful can often go. Most of us don’t like being told what to do, but what works, works.

From there Imogen introduces us to the changing world of freelancing and how it can often come along with unexpected problems. Those problems (at least some of them) are laid out on the next page in the table of contents. I quite liked this page, as Imogen broke the contents into sections: Emergency Problems, Short-Term Problems, and Long-Term Problems. Each section is accompanied by an appropriately coloured alarm light.

Imogen covers many things from mental health matters to creative blocks to money matters. Every section is beautifully designed with readable fonts, bolded headers, colours, and even some lovely drawings to go with some. My graphic communications professor would have adored this. (And, of course, I adore it.) The quality of this zine is wonderful.

Each problem is also met with a number of different things you can do about it. I especially liked the checklist for “I Feel Miserable And I Don’t Know Why” checklist. I’m currently finding my way through a particularly harsh depression, and I was reminded of how easily it can be to forget the basics like even drinking some water.

All up, I found this to be a great zine that I will be referring to plenty. I highly recommend you check it out.

Sticky Stories
Saff Miro
https://www.instagram.com/saffmiro/

Sticky Stories is a full-colour A7 mini zine of short stories based around stickers and washi tape used in the zine. Each mini is handmade and slightly different.

I love this idea. I adore it! Talk about taking prompted writing from a different direction. I only have one copy (edition? version?) of this zine (hand delivered by Saff at Festival of the Photocopier! <3 ) so I don't know how much each zine varies. However, that simply makes me all the more curious and wanting to get my hands on another copy, so all the more wins to Saff in that regard.

As well as the idea itself, I enjoyed Saff's stories and sense of humour. The subtle tactile element that comes with it being the actual washi and stickers – as well as pretty sticky gems on the front cover – made is all the more fun. A unique zine for me to enjoy. (Hat tip to Ryan of Pocket Thoughts whose one-of-a-kind zine still makes me tear up in a good way.)

I think this is a lot of fun and a zine to check out for enjoyment as well as inspiration.

and here you are living, despite it all
???

and here you are living, despite it all is a full-colour A7 mini zine of images and short poems.

I’ve mentioned two things before in my reviews:

1. I know very little about poetry other than what I like
2. Sometimes I have a zine for quite a while and end up reading it when I need to read it

This zine touches on both… but it also inspires some confusion as well.

and here you are launches right into short poems, each one taking one or two pages. Each poem is accompanies by handdrawn swirls of colour and cut and paste elements. I must admit that I didn’t even think about pems until I saw the “All Poems by Rupi Kaur” on the back of the zine. Yet the classification became less important when I thought about the words. Each one speaks to me of finding strength in survival and self. Every piece became its own bit of art to me – to be thought about as little or as much as I desired. In my case, I thought about each a lot.

What’s clear to me is that this is definitely what you make of it – like most forms of art. What I’m not clear about is whether this is a zine by Rupi, in honour of Rupi… There’s no social link or other name to look up. Admittedly, I wasn’t familiar with Rupi (or the controversies) until I looked it up thinking that the person who made the zine was Rupi.

Now I have no idea.

Alas, I’m reviewing it anyway. Because, for me, the words are important. They gave me some quiet contemplation time in my own mind, for which I am grateful. So whether Rupi made this or someone made it in honour of those words, thank you.

Full Disclosure 1-3
Hadass Bar Lev
https://hadass420.wordpress.com/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/pmsmess/

Full Disclosure 1-3 is a full-colour set of three A7 mini-zines, each of which is based on a prompt from a friend. These minis were mad as part of ZineWriMo 2019 (the prompts list set by yours truly).

Full Disclosure 1 takes on the topic of being Jewish and living in Israel, 2 takes on motherhood, and 3 takes on Hadass’ zine origins. Each zine is a short read but an interesting one, and I am grateful to know more about someone I consider to be a friend.

I love the ‘prompted by friends’ type of zine because you never know what people would like to know about you, and you never know what you have yet to learn about people you know. Hadass’ layout for these zines is simple and easy to read – each like a mini-perzine.

I found all three minis equally interesting on different levels. I enjoyed learning more about Hadass and also enjoyed Hadass writing voice, which is full of metal and strength. Each mini left me more interested to read the next – the set making me eager to dive into her other zines.

Hadass is always great about including ‘loud and clear’ socials, which is very much appreciated.

I can see this set of zines being a great first step to people not only being introduced to Hadass as a person but to her fun, badass style. I quite enjoyed them all and hope to see an extension of this set into a series come ZineWriMo 2020.

Going Deep: An Adult Guide to Sports
Mash and Corn
https://snakebite.bigcartel.com/
https://www.instagram.com/snakebitepress/

Going Deep: An Adult Guide to Sports is a NSFW, full-colour, US half-fold zine about the ins and outs of some sports terms with all the innuendo you could ask for.

If XYG: Examine Your Grammar – An Adult Guide to Language was the zine equivalent of dating stage flirtation, then Going Deep is when they introduce you to their collection of handcuffs and really hope you’re as excited about it as they are.

And yes. Yes, I am.

You’d think with a title like ‘Going Deep’ I’d have been a little better prepared for what I was about to read. Not so much. This zine goes right in hard on the first page with a graphic that made me gasp at first and then laugh out loud. Their intro is a brief one comparing sports to life while also pointing out that a lot of life is about sex… They even add in some interactive fun with a QR code as well.

From there the zine is broken up into sections like ‘Plays’ and ‘Penalties’. Each reference is explained in easy to read text with some illustrations to drive the point home, so to say. There’s absolutely no shyness here as Mash and Corn embrace sex, innuendo, and all sorts of fun terms that various sports provide.

I spent a lot of this zine feeling like I was on a fun night out with a couple of friends who are clearly more experienced and knowledgeable than I am – but who are also very excited to teach me. I laughed, my eyes went wide a few times, and, all the while, all I could really do is sit back and enjoy the wild ride.

Sports, am I right?

I don’t want to spend too much time in this review comparing Going Deep to XYG because I like to approach zine reviews in that way, plus it’s not necessary to have read XYG to enjoy this zine. That being said, I adore seeing zine creators grow and evolve through their work. It could be a bit of the peach fuzz of time showing through, but I feel like they’ve moved from ‘quite naughty and giggle-worthy’ to ‘very naughty and laugh out loud’ in their work. I don’t see a lot of adult-specific zines – especially to do with the topic of sex, and this was great. I’m pleasantly nervous to see what they come up with next!

I either full on laughed out loud or giggled at every single page of this zine. Maybe that just speaks to my (im)maturity level, but I think this zine is a fun must for everyone who enjoys some adult humour – even if you’re not that into sports.

(Phew. Made it through without turning everything into a dirty joke.)

Dad Jokes
Saff Miro
https://www.instagram.com/saffmiro/
https://twitter.com/saffmiro

Dad Jokes is a full colour mini ‘lift the flap’ zine full of some awesome dad jokes.

I love this zine so much. There’s the TL:DR right there for you at the start.

This cute zine has one dad joke per page with each joke consisting of two parts: one, the joke opener, and two, the punch line hidden by a colour illustration that you flip up (or down) to reveal.

This is so much fun on so many levels. I would have appreciated a mini-zine full of dad jokes in a ‘standard’ set up for the smiles – smiles always being welcome! – but the ‘lift the flap’ element is awesome. That adds a kid-like element for the reader (I loved lift-the-flap and other interactive books when I was a young one), which goes so well with the whole feel of the zine.

The one thing this cute as mini is missing is some socials, but with Saff’s name nice and clear, it’s pretty easy to find the Instagram and Twitter.

Definitely grab a copy of this one. It’s a smile waiting to happen in your life.

Murals of Marin 1-4 Mini Zine Set
True Zine Marin
https://www.instagram.com/shellbobmv/

The Murals of Marin 1-4 is a set of US-sized one-page folded, full colour mini-zines murals that can be found around Marin County, California.

I reviewed Murals of Marin 1 here – https://www.seagreenzines.com/zine-review-murals-of-marin-1/ – so this is more of an extension of a review than a review in and of itself.

Murals of Marin as a series features one lovely full-colour mural per mini-zine. The individual pages give you the information of the who, what, etc, while unfolding them reveals the secret full picture of the mural in its entirety inside.

I’m so glad to see this expanded into a series. As I mentioned in my first review, I can see this turning into a tour series of zines (of sorts, when the world recovers from its current chaos). An art tour without the gallery, if you will. Each zine gives you the starter information, and it’s up to the reader to enjoy the zine at home or go exploring.

Even if you consider yourself not ‘into’ art, I think this is a zine series to check out. The colours are gorgeous, the murals are gorgeous, and they have a great energy that inspires me to see what I can do with zines.

Truly the Shittiest Archaeologist Ever
Julia Eff – https://twitter.com/julia_eff
California Rachel – https://twitter.com/hitchcockienne
http://crapandemic.storenvy.com/

Truly the Shittiest Archaeologist Ever is a small, black and white accordion-fold zine of collected live tweets from California Rachel while watching the Indiana Jones trilogy.

I don’t remember why now, but when I was a kid, I loved the Indiana Jones movies. Before I was old enough to know how many things were wrong with them. Haha. Bring on the zine!

Truly the Shittiest Archaeologist Ever sets you off on a different to the norm adventure straight away with the accordion fold set up along with starting at the bottom of the accordion and reading up. Julia briefly introduces the zine – a collection of livetweets from California Rachel. What follows is a fun assortment of clippings that can also be a fun ‘when did that happen’ game if you haven’t watched the movies in a long time.

The tweets are hilarious, salty, and quite adult. Full of swearing, no holds barred statements, and other references, this isn’t a zine to leave around willy nilly. That being said, one of my favourites is the seemingly innocent:

“THE DOG??? YOU ARE NAMED AFTER THE DOG?????????”

As I mentioned, this zine is an accordion fold. I think it’s fun and works in a physical way to reinforce the Twitter feed look and feel of the zine. The tweets are small but are still quite easy to read even in lower light.

I think there is a little give and take with this one because I think you need to at least be familiar with the movies and be okay with the Twitter format in general. Being an adult is also pretty essential. Hahaha.

From its format to its content, I quite enjoyed this solid poke and prod at Indiana Jones. A fun one to have a look at.

Blunt Talk
Various
https://www.wizd-az.com/store/p127/BluntTalkZine.html

Blunt Talk is a full-colour US half-sized zine about all kinds of topics related to cannabis including history, legal matters, recipes, stories, and more.

As you know, I love zines for a lot of reasons. This zine I love because it’s like a little reference manual or guide to get you started on whatever path your curiosity takes you in regards to cannabis. There are so many topics covered!

Blunt Talk opens with an introduction to how the zine came together over the course of a year and their aim to shift – if not completely get rid of – stigmas regarding cannabis. As someone who studied the subject for various projects over the course of a semester, I appreciate their efforts. It’s clear the dedication and passion the contributors have for the subject.

I think my favourite part has to be the Leafly Holdings circle chart showing the myriad of different ways cannabis can be useful for helping physical, mental, and emotional difficulties. It’s colourful and informative in a way that’s easy to take in. (While still encouraging the reader to do your own research!) There is a lot of information in this zine, and varying the ways in which it is conveyed is refreshing. There are also statistics as bar charts, and I do love statistics.

I also quite like that they chose to mix the serious in with some not so serious. History and societal commentary alongside recipes and even recommended activities depending on what strain of cannabis you’ve had.

The look of this zine is quite nice. The text can be a little dense in places, but the type font and size are readable, and there are plenty of images included as well. I especially liked seeing all the old posters and advertisements regarding cannabis.

One thing that threw me a little is not including authors’ names with the pieces. There also weren’t any links as to where to find the zine itself, but a quick Google search sorts that out. In the grand scheme of things, the former is more something I noticed rather than something that bothered me all too much.

Blunt Talk is a great zine packed with so very much information about cannabis. They state right at the start that they don’t claim to be experts. But with so many links to follow, it’s easy to supplement your knowledge beyond the zine and form your own opinions.

If you’re at all curious about the topic, this zine is a great place to start learning.