Category: Zine Reviews

My Favourite Graphs
Saff Miro
https://www.instagram.com/saffmiro/

My Favourite Graphs is an A7 colour mini-zine of funny graphs and pie charts.

I do love a funny chart or graph, and this zine hits that spot. I’m not sure which one is my favourite – the Batman bar graph or the ‘likelihood of eating something healthy’ line chart. Either way, I was smiling all the way through.

I have to give a big hat tip to Saff because the colour in this zine comes from gel pens! (Or another coloured pen; I could be mistaken.) The colours are fun and shiny, and I’m impressed by how much work it must have been to put colour into every single copy of the zine.

This is a quick read but a fun and colourful one that I’ve flipped through a few times. One to check out.

The Success Rate of the Herbs I Have Bought at Bunnings
Rebecca Sheedy
https://www.instagram.com/rebeccasheeeedy/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/mildscribbling

The Success Rate of the Herbs I Have Bought at Bunnings is an A7 full colour mini-zine about Rebecca’s experiences with herbs bought from Bunnings (Australia’s everything including the kitchen sink shop).

This zine is like reading reviews before deciding to buy herbs, except so much cuter, more fun, and with to-the-point notes.

Basil, flat leave parsley, and four other herbs get a spotlight in this lovely little zine. Each page features one herb with the name, a drawing of the herb, and three* notes about Rebecca’s growing experiences. It’s not all dry facts, however, with adventures with a caterpillar and food uses for the herbs making it in.

There’s really everything to love about this zine, and I’m not even any good at growing… well, anything. I hope the ‘herbs I’d like to try’ part on the back means there will be a part two in the future.

*Except for chives, which gets two. Rebecca really doesn’t like chives.

Things To Do After a Long/Hard Day
Crash Reynolds
https://utopiabycrash.wixsite.com/hello
https://www.instagram.com/indeliblecrash/

Things To Do After a Long/Hard Day is a black and green A7 text mini-zine where the title explains what it’s all about. Mostly.

This zine is a brilliant reminder that you shouldn’t judge a zine by its cover, title, or even first page.

I opened this mini-zine to find the expected numbered list with some expected ideas – “read a book” – as well as some unexpected ideas that made me smile: “convince someone to make your favourite dinner”. But around the mid-point in the zine, things take a slightly odd turn. Crash keeps to the numbered list format, but the zine becomes part ideas list and part strange-but-true life story in the process.

I don’t want to give away too much, so I will say that I greatly enjoyed this zine, the unexpected turn, and the reminder that you don’t always know how something is going to end.

Beanstalk Volume 1 – the hat edition
Jess Hast, Annemiek Dekker, and Cassidy Shipp
https://www.jemhast.com/

Beanstalk Volume 1 is an A5 black and white zine with a variety of art and written pieces around the theme of hats.

Three friends getting together to make a collab zine? I started liking this zine before I even opened it.

Beanstalk 1 opens with a letter from Jess Hast, one third of the creative trio behind this zine. In the letter, Jess welcomes the reader to this, the inaugural issue, plans for the rest of the series, and even a fun story behind the Beanstalk title. (I won’t tell. Hehe.) Page one gives you an overview of the 22 pages (and who created what) as well as brief bios of each of the trio.

What follows is a variety of paintings, drawings, sketches, favourite hats list accompanied by notes, and more. There’s even a fun origami project so you can make your own paper hat. As noted in the TOC, some pieces are acrylic while others are ink, digital, fabric, and so on. I like that there’s nearly as much variety in medium as there is in the number of pieces.

One painting – Crazy Hat Lady by Annemiek – reminded me of a character from one of Clive Barker’s Abarat books (the first, I believe). A short man who wore a bunch of hats for sinister reasons. I immediately wondered if Crazy Hat Lady had an intriguing story. I do have to give a hat tip (wink) to the Mad Hatter reference in a later piece as well.

One little thing – and I’m being really nitpicky here – is the lack of page numbers or piece titles in the TOC. Or both. I had to count the pages every time I wanted to know who made what or what was used to make a piece. A small thing but a thing that would have made the zine experience flow a bit smoother for me.

I wouldn’t have thought that hats would be all that inspiring as a theme as I don’t often find myself cold enough to have the opportunity to wear one. I’m quite happy to say I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of pieces in this zine, how many made me smile, and how hats could be as special to people as teddy bears or favourite sweaters.

I’ll behave and not make any more hat-based puns. I will say that if you like hats and/or if you like zines that have variety, then this is one to check out (and it’s a series!).

Keep Going – A Mini Zine About Suicidal Thoughts
Hattie
https://www.etsy.com/shop/dogsnotdiets/
https://www.instagram.com/dogsnotdietsshop/

Keep Going is a one-page folded text zine letter of sorts to anyone struggling with suicidal thoughts.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this zine – and was a little nervous opening it up, to be honest. I definitely didn’t expect a heartfelt letter encouraging the reader to take a moment and keep breathing. Inside, Hattie touches on things like sunsets to watch and the wonder that is you, the reader, and your existence.

I appreciated Hattie’s tone in this zine. It’s not desperate or shaming like much suicide prevention literature (that I’ve come across) often is. It’s about the reader, the moment, and an acknowledgement of what’s happening.

There are obvious cautions to take with this subject. That being said, I found this zine to be the kind of gentle encouragement I find comfort in while dealing with the darker moments.

Perhaps it could be the same for you or someone you know.

Sugar Rabbit
Marta Tesoro
http://www.rabbittownanimator.com/

Sugar Rabbit is an A5 black and white zine dedicated to the love of sweet treats.

A zine after my own heart. Or, rather, sweet tooth.

Featuring drawings of a super cute bunny enjoying a variety of treats, Marta shares their love of sweets. (I didn’t mean that to rhyme, but there we go.) Each page is dedicated to a particular sweet – starting with (a winner in my book) M&Ms. I lovely, cursive handwriting, Marta writes briefly about why they love each treat.

I have a strong sweet tooth (surprise, surprise) so I expected to know about all of the sweets inside this zine. Lo and behold, deep fried Oreos are a thing!

Marta’s art style is absolutely adorable. A bunny hugging a marshmallow? So cute, and yes, more please. The style works so well with the subject matter.

I won’t get into the reasons, but I spend a lot of time feeling ashamed and being shamed for my sweet tooth. I really adore this zine space of cuteness, fun, and love for something that Marta loves. That I just so happen to love, too.

Sugar Rabbit is a sweet (pun fully intended) zine about sweet treats. If you like cute, if you like sweets, then definitely grab a copy.

Lots of Little
Sophie McPike
http://www.sophiemcpike.com/
https://www.instagram.com/sophiemcpike/

Lots of Little is an A6 black on cream paper collection of drawings.

Sometimes you just want something nice. Something that makes you smile and that you don’t have to think too hard about. This collection meets this desire wonderfully.

Lots of Little as a thick zine chock full of fun and cute (but not cutesy), drawings of bugs, flowers, trees, and other creatures. Some drawings are accompanied by handwritten text – usually a few words that go with the drawing. For example, “Little Friends of Fly” accompanies an assortment of bugs.

My two favourites are a trumpet filled with flowers, and a flower saying “Your emotional nature is strong and sensitive” to a snail. (I’d love to get the latter as a print because it speaks to me on so many levels.) Sophie’s art style falls comfortably somewhere in the realms of cute, fun, and – at times – amusingly bizarre. It makes for a zine that isn’t ‘too’ anything in particular – including not too happy and not too sad. (A peruse of Sophie’s site will give you a clear idea of the style found within this zine.)

Lots of Little is the kind of zine you can take as fast or slow as you want. A great zine companion for a lazy sunny afternoon or a quick trip on public transport. I appreciated the artistic wander through the loveliness and strangeness of nature.

Noble Head Funnies #6: Who Is the Sassy Nibbler?
Edward Parker Bolman
sandfleapress@gmail.com
Rick Bradford
www.poopsheetfoundation.com

Noble Head Funnies 6 is a quarter-sized black and white collection of comics and serial comic instalments.

I don’t often see a lot of serials (stories/comics/etc told in parts over the course of multiple issues) in zines, and this is the first zine comic with serials that I’ve seen.

Noble Head Funnies reminds me of a variety show in all the best ways. There are continued stories from earlier issues, ‘ads’ for silly things that remind me way too much of Soylent Green, and other little additions surrounding the main story of the Sassy Nibbler.

Even better, they occasionally give nods to each other even though they appear, at first, to be separate story universes. I enjoyed this ‘meta’ quality of some of the comics. One makes references to earlier issues of the Noble Head series itself. Another comic sees a character launched out of its own comic earlier land rather amusingly in another comic later on.

I’d describe the humour of the comics as cheeky. With the title comic’s main character – the Sassy Nibbler – kidnapping toffs and nobs, it’s ‘old’ enough to be amusing to adults but ‘young’ enough to be a relaxing, amusing read.

The aforementioned serialisation of some of the comics included has me leaving a little conflicted. I know it harkens to other serials and the boost to sales/attention for the other issues, but in the zine world – where it’s often even harder than in other mediums to find the full set of something – I wonder how well these aspects translate. Alas, I’ll keep my bum firmly on the fence for that particular topic for now.

All up, Noble Head Funnies 6 is a comic read that made me smile for a number of reasons, and I’m curious about other issues (and not just because of the serials).

The Would-Be President
John Dishwasher
http://johndishwasher.org/

The Would-Be President is a black and white (with colour cover) US half-fold zine featuring a play inspired by Moliere’s play ‘The Would-Be Gentleman’.

The play opens (written in script format with stage and actor directions) in the Oval Office, with characters ‘Avinka’ and ‘Kirchener’ contemplating a mysterious meeting called by President Ronald Rump and three people they’ve never met before. From there we have a comedic play about people who aren’t who they seem to be, a speech that changes the world – and then doesn’t, and an amusing twist that would (I imagine) satisfy quite a few people if it ever became reality.

Funnily enough, this isn’t the first script zine I have ever seen, and I’m so glad people are making these kinds of zines. Goodness knows I could use as many laughs as I can manage of late, so a comedy script is doubly appreciated.

When it comes to politics, it’s easy to get everyone fired up in a hurry. However, I think no matter who you are, you need to be able to have a laugh. This zine definitely provides at least a smile with thinly veiled parody characters, plenty of jokes about language use, and an ending I definitely didn’t expect until the last minute.

I don’t want to give the ending away or most of the second half, really, so this is a little difficult to work around. I will say that even though I guessed the topic of the mystery speech before it happened, it was amusing to see it play out. (No pun intended. Mostly.)

Aesthetically, this zine is great. I was in theatre in my school days, and I can imagine hauling around this zine with my lines highlighted. Everything is clear, the font is easy to read, and, save for a hiccup or two, the formatting is spot on.

I was a little concerned in reading this because of the references that felt like they were definitely jokes but they didn’t land as well as they could have because I didn’t understand them. Not only am I not in the US, I don’t have television, either. For instance, Avinka puts a lot of emphasis on a lot of words (hat tip to dishwasher for making me feel irritated with her in a hurry), but I don’t know that I’ve ever heard the character upon whom she is based actually speak. So is that a play on reality or a funny thing thrown in for laughs?

Still, goodness knows people over here aren’t exactly enamoured with our politicians, so the humour is appreciated all the same.

If you’re in the mood for a longer zine read and a bit of funny prodding of Ronald Rump, Avinka, and Kirchener, then I think you’ll like this read.