Category: Zine Reviews

The Stay at Home Girlfriend #17
Kendy P.
https://www.instagram.com/missmuffcake/

The Stay at Home Girlfriend 17 is a half fold black and white perzine of summer musings.

One of the things I always love about Kendy’s zines is the variety. This issue has ‘Stuff I Like’, recipes, an interview, introspective pieces, and adventures in the life of someone who lives with cats. I always know I’ll find all kinds of interesting bits and bobs in this series.

The Stay at Home Girlfriend 17 opens with a picture of Kendy lying spread out on a gravestone and a brief welcome to the zine. I feel like this introduction fits the whole feeling of this zine so well. It introduces you a bit to Kendy as well as makes reading the zine feel like sitting down to a chat with the friend. The little ‘general feeling’ comment while you’re still putting the sugar and the bikkies on the table before getting comfortable.

‘Reflections, Self-Esteem, and the Pursuit of Finding Balance’ is the piece that hit home the most for me in this issue. I’m also a sensitive person and was a very sensitive child, and reading about how our parents’ responses to thing can influence – even as adults – was very valuable and validating for me. This zine was made in 2015, and I found myself wondering if Kendy has been continuing to show herself kindness and patience.

‘Redefining Crazy Cat Lady’ with Jenny Schlueter is a great interview. I love that people are stuffing the ‘crazy cat lady’ stereotype – a stereotype that could have a negative impact on cat adoption. All sorts of people have cats! The interview had a lot of information, too, from what to do if you find a kitten to why you should consider adopting a pair of kittens rather than one alone.

On the topic of cats, I absolutely love Kendy’s practise of sending out small care packages to sick/injured cats. That would have absolutely warmed my heart during my cat Asimov’s multiple surgeries, and reading such acts of kindness is absolutely lovely.

This zine is fun in looks with pictures, stickers, and hand drawn bits and bobs along with the text. Even the pages with primarily text often have little drawn elements or stickers. The beauty is that none of it is visually overwhelming. There is plenty for the eyes to enjoy but equally plenty of white space as well.

The Stay at Home Girlfriend 17 is a lovely perzine about life and cats that touches on serious issues but doesn’t get bogged down by them. If you like vegan recipes, cats, cemeteries, and perzines, you should check this (and the rest of the series) out.

Cats Not Kids #2
Purple Donna
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/purpledonna

Cats Not Kids #2 is an A6 black and white perzine about Premature Ovarian Failure (POF), veganism, not wanting children, cute pictures of cats, and more.

I love reading about a zinemaker getting such a positive response to their first zine that they made a second. I enjoyed Cats Not Kids #1 so much that I was eager to read the second.

Cats Not Kids opens with a short comic and written piece about having a phobia of phones – specifically of phone calls! Talk about one of the biggest ways I can identify with someone. I nodded along as I read, knowing all too well the sweating and fear that can come along with the ringing of a phone.

Donna goes on to write about Premature Ovarian Failure and the frustration around being constantly told ‘you’ll change your mind later’ when it comes to not wanting children. Add in the frustration of wanting to deal with POF without the focus on conceiving, and you have a big mess that all too many people have to deal with.

I felt (and feel) so much for Donna in this – stuck in a place where it’s implied that you must only want your ovaries and uterus to work correctly if you want children. Otherwise, even some medical professionals don’t understand why you would bother.

On that note, there is a stronger ‘don’t want kids’ tone to this zine than in the first, so if you’re sensitive to that, now you know.

Donna swings back and forth between cut and past style and text only. Bits and bobs like Donna’s favourite tweets and little comics add some fun elements and variety.

I think this second installment is a good zine and perfectly fine being read on its own or out of order from the first. I think a lot of people who want their uteruses and ovaries to work correctly without being pressured to have children at the same time will find a lot to identify with in Cats Not Kids.

Apples
Twitter: https://twitter.com/celuran
http://chickencollective.storenvy.com/

Wildlife of Victoria Volume 2 is an A5 black and white zine that is a continuation from Wildlife of Victoria Vol 1 – Semi-Domesticated Animals. In this volume, two chooks (chickens) go wandering around town, the importance of timing when walking a friend’s dog, a recipe, and tips on moving house when you have chooks.

Wildlife of Victoria Vol 2 launches right in with a tale about when chickens Harriet and Hermione went missing out of the back yard. With a combination of text, Twitter tweet screenshots, and even a screenshot of a text conversation between Apples and Apple’s mum, I quickly found myself getting pulled right into the events. (And a bit worried about Harriet and Hermione as well!)

I found myself glad that Apples carried over the use of tweets from volume one. While I’m ambivalent about the platform itself, the addition of the screenshots made me feel even more ‘in the moment’ with the story itself. Add in the pictures – even though they were a little hard to make out at times – and it turned into something more than an anecdote alone.

I found myself laughing out loud later in the zine at ‘the dog who would not be walked’. I love my dogs and my cat, but ‘what even are they’ is so true.

I wouldn’t have thought myself in much need of tips for moving house with chooks, but I actually read the section with a lot of interest. Apples’ sense of humour adds to it all, making the whole thing even more engaging.

I think both this zine and the first are a lot of fun. I smile and laugh as I read Apples’ adventures with various animals, Apples’ sense of humour is great, and I’m hoping there are more or will be more in the future.

Drongo Issue 1
Natalie Michelle Watson
https://www.nataliemichellewatson.com
https://www.instagram.com/nataliemichellewatson/

Drongo Issue 1 is a full-colour (with some black and white pages) zine a bit closer in size to US letter than to A4 with a variety of articles, comics, a quiz, and a couple of advice columns.

Nyx: How would you define the word ‘drongo’?
Wanderer: Someone who is a bit thick. An idiot.

(Just in case you were wondering about the title. Haha.)

I have been eager to check this series out since I first saw it, and – being the completionist I am – I knew I had to start at the beginning. After a while, you begin to wonder if the reality will meet the expectation and, for me, Drongo went above and beyond.

Drongo Issue 1 has all kinds of fun and funny things inside. It’s a bit ‘teen mag’ with anonymous confessions and advice, a bit educational with a piece on the history of the dunce cap, and even a bit perzine with a piece about trying to be someone you’re not called ‘The Lies We Feed Ourselves’.

But wait, there’s more!

This issue opens with funny, short ‘Letters to the Dippy-tor’. If the cover (with its ‘for mature audiences only’ warning) didn’t already set the tone for you, this will with the fun and often cheeky answers to sometimes strange questions. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of tone as well as content in this zine. Along with the cheeky fun, we had the serious for the perzine piece and the curious for the history of the dunce cap (more interesting than I would have thought). All of this really lent itself to even more variety and me feeling like it simply must be longer than its 20 pages (including front and back covers).

The look of Drongo is very likely what first drew you in, and it definitely doesn’t let you go. I loved everything from the funny ‘Wackdonald’s’ sign to the fun page borders adding a little something more for you to enjoy. There are all sorts of little details that just add to the fun.

Believe it or not, I still haven’t covered everything you’ll find in this zine.

If you like silliness and a good helping of Aussie humour, then definitely check out Drongo.

PS. According to the quiz, I’m only moderately lazy, so I feel better about myself as a human being.

Midnight Ice Cream
Aaron Eames
https://www.instagram.com/mrfoxaaron/
https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/585381446/midnight-ice-cream-photography-zine-art

Midnight Ice Cream is an A5 black and white photography zine featuring images of night life and night calm in the city.

Midnight Ice Cream opens straight away into a series of 24 black and white photos around a big city. (I’m guessing Perth or Melbourne, but I’m not completely sure. It doesn’t really matter to my thinking – more a passing curiosity.) There are no words in this zine, save for any captured in the photos. The zine takes you through what feels like a casual wander, appreciating the city.

Some of the photos are blurred to various degrees while others are crisp and clear. All this adds up to leaving you as the observer to make what you will of any possible themes, messages, or interpretations – or lack thereof – of the collection.

Aaron found a good audience in me in that big city night life holds a certain fascination for me. That is what makes me even more curious about why I felt more drawn to the photos with few or no people. Especially the photo on page four featuring a Subway shop with a bunch of empty chairs inside.

I feel like the choice of a kraft paper cover and interior paper that’s thick enough to stop any shadowing are small but important choices that keep the focus of the zine on the photos inside.

Photography is like other art in that it comes down to personal taste and what you’re drawn to. I wasn’t drawn to every photo in this zine, but I have enjoyed looking through this zine many times. I don’t know if it’s the city or the black and white photography (or both), but I like going through again and again to see if I can notice anything I didn’t see the first time.

Furthermore, I ended up losing some time to scrolling through Aaron’s Instagram feed. Haha.

If you like black and white photography, city-based photography, and/or Aaron’s Instagram feed, then take a look at this zine.

Strange Romance #1: A Shit’s Fucked Anthology
Edited by Iggy Nicklbottum
Graphic Design by Josh Corea
http://shitsuxpress.com
https://www.instagram.com/shitsux/

Strange Romance #1 is a full colour zine that is a bit smaller than A5 size full of stories, poetry, and art all along the theme of strange romance.

Strange Romance opens with a poem called ‘Love and Demons’ about a strange love under the full moon, setting a tone that plays into the title completely. What follows are stories, poems, and art – some equally as strange as ‘Love and Demons’ and some moreso. From odd creatures to love beyond the grave, Strange Romance hits the spot for creations out of the norm.

Tourist is my favourite of the collection – a short story about loving each other despite mistakes made. I predicted some of the elements but was pleasantly surprised to find it ended a bit differently than I expected.

I love the look of this zine so much. The cover art is fantastic (and horrifying), and it’s made to look like a well-worn trade paperback. I keep touching the ‘cracks’ and ‘rips’ in the art. This is carried inside with yellowed and stained (looking) paper. This is broken up in the middle with a couple of art pieces printed on glossy white paper, but I just smiled at that because I’ve read more than a few old books with crisp glossy paper pages in the middle to feature photos.

My cover photo pic doesn’t do it justice.

My editor side picked up a couple things here in there, but the combined package of the looks and the content kept me reading right along.

I’m happy to see that this is #1, implying that there will be more in the Strange Romance series. I think if you like the odd, the strange, and/or the slightly weird in writing as well as art then you will enjoy this zine.

That Girl 16
Kelli
Cover by Roland Martin
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/thepillowproblem
$5 US PPD / $8 Intl PPD

That Girl 16 is a black and white half-fold memoir zine (zine-oir?) about boys, breakups, and growing up as a slightly drunk, punk teenager in and around Hollywood.

That Girl gets into the writing straight away and opens with a gorgeous first sentence that immediately made me smile:

I believed I found my soulmate in kindergarten…

How lovely is that? I easily settled into the first section – a short tale of young crushes and teachers who spoil everything. Kelli’s amusing descriptions of their kindergarten acquaintances quickly made it clear that they have a fun writing voice when they decide to be cheeky. Later descriptions of people, albums, and places are (in my thoughts) the real strength of the writing.

Kelli goes on to write about significant relationships with both people and music. The main relationship that takes her through a significant part of high school is with Tom – someone she met largely due to a love/hate relationship with Pisces men. From hanging out with their group of friends to the challenges of dating a homeless person while trying to manage life as a highschooler.

Aesthetically, That Girl is primarily text with various stamps and small pictures to go along with the worry. Each section starts off with the first sentence in a different font, which I thought was a nice touch. A different take on the drop cap and a nice way to visually separate the different sections.

Kelli mentions various names of celebrities, band names, and places I’m not familiar with, but it didn’t take away from the reading much. I did feel a bit lost at times simply because Hollywood is so far away, and I’m not likely to go there. But a memoir is more about the feelings than the places, and she did really well setting up feelings in the first section.

It was also a little jarring when the relationship with Tom ends in one section, but he’s referred to in later sections. This happens a couple more times as well. That said, I haven’t read a memoir in a while and am very used to linear timelines.

The last section switches to third person (‘she’ instead of ‘I’). It reads well, but I must admit that I don’t understand the choice.

Kelli’s high school experiences are nearly as far away from mine as they could be, so I didn’t find a lot in this zine to identify with in experiences, but I could certainly identify with the feelings of connecting to people and music. Besides, part of what makes people fascinating is their differences, and that’s a large part of why I like reading memoirs.

That Girl started very sweetly and ended up being an interesting look into a world I know next to nothing about. A few people have commented that I don’t review a lot of punk zines on SGZ, and I’m glad to have had the opportunity to do so with this zine. Memoirs can be a little tricky in the recommending, but I think there’s a lot to appeal to a lot of different people – from punks to those who have fallen hard in love when they were young.

Cats Not Kids #1
Purple Donna
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/purpledonna

Cats Not Kids 1 is an A6 black and white perzine about life with a dysfunctional uterus, the heartbreak of leaving furry family members behind in the UK when moving to Australia, and preferring to have cats rather than kids.

Cats Not Kids starts off with a brief introduction about finally making a zine after thinking about doing it for a long time as well as an introduction to Donna – a fellow expat who fell for an Aussie and made the leap to land in Melbourne. (You bet I love how much we had in common right off the start.)

The things Donna and I had in common continued with Donna talking about dealing with period problems from youth and the frustration of uninterested doctors forcing her to take things into her own hands. It’s always frustrating to read about people coming up against block after block with medical professionals, but there is some comfort in knowing you’re not alone.

Things take a very sad note when Donna writes about needing to leave her beautiful cats behind in the UK – not by choice but because of bad timing. A sudden change in legislation meant all the preparations to take them along were lost time. As someone who lives with a lovely cat and two rambunctious dogs, I really felt for Donna’s position of really having no options.

This zine was a quick read and one I enjoyed a lot. I was worried that this might include some negativity towards people who want or have kids (given the title), but it doesn’t. I’m looking forward to reading the next ones.

Small Potatoes #4
Keira
https://www.instagram.com/k.huolohan/
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/ZinesByKeira

Small Potatoes 4 is an A6 black and white perzine on cream paper about anxiety, work, and a lot more.

I’m in a chatty mood, zine friends, and there are a lot of things I enjoyed about the latest instalment of Small Potatoes.

Small Potatoes 4 opens with an introduction about little things we do even if we can’t remember the reason why we do them, Keira’s pride in finishing the zine, and the struggle to finish it while spoons were scarce (their energy was low). I identified so much with it being easier to write things happening in your life down and “just hand[ing] people the zine and hop[ing] they understand.”

This intro – and the updates on things they wrote about in previous issues – really epitomise while I like reading a while series. I adore reading about how people grow and change over the course of a zine series. This intro reads like Keira is becoming more comfortable with sharing their thoughts on paper. They also invite readers to respond and share about a zine they are making (one I’m contributing to!).

Keira writes about anxiety and medications, shares drawings and poetry, gives a driving update (congratulations on passing your driving test!), and more. They actually opened up the zine to suggestions for what to write about in this issue, and they wrote about why and how they give – my suggestion! I’d actually forgotten that I’d made the suggestion, so it was a great surprise. As someone who has experienced their generosity, it was interesting to read about their background and thoughts on giving.

In ‘Retail Work is Real Work’ Keira writes about how people abuse retail workers and make judgements about what ‘real’ work is. (Hint: These people don’t consider retail work ‘real’ work.) I’m always sad to hear about people treating other people badly, but I was impressed how Keira got angry but also fought with facts. The main fact being that there aren’t enough jobs to go around in Australia full shop.

I have a lot of love for this and the series. The variety of subjects, art, and poetry make for unexpected surprises in each issue. It’s easy to read with a clear font and contact details. There’s a lot to enjoy. Check it out.

PS. I love the subtitle.

10 weeds you can eat!
Urban Edibles
http://www.urbanedibles.org (not working)

10 weeds you can eat! is a ¼-ish size black and white zine introduction to weeds you can eat.

10 weeds opens with an introduction to who Urban Edibles are and about the zine itself:

“Urban Edibles is a cooperative network of wild food foragers in Portland, Oregon. By creating awareness about what is available in our own neighborhoods, we hope to re-establish the connection between people, environment and food.”

There are so many things I really like about this: more time outdoors, getting more in touch with nature, finding more natural, abundant sources of food that are otherwise wasted – and plenty more. This zine is a guide in every sense of the word with each plant – ‘weed’ – given a page to itself that contains its common name, scientific name, a sketch, description, instructions for how to harvest it and its food uses.

If you want a guide to edible weeds, then this is a great place to start. Just when I was thinking this is a pretty comprehensive zine, I found that they’ve included a guide to leaf shapes and a page for notes as well. If you’d like further reading, they have a list of works referenced, too.

One thing I really appreciated – and always do when it comes to zines with food/health topics – is the note on the first page:

If in doubt, don’t!

I think notes like those remind people to think for themselves, double check, and make sure they are taking responsibility for their bodies and lives.

I was sad to see that the Urban Edibles site wasn’t working when I checked it. I’d love to see more zines like this – especially around the world so readers can get more local suggestions.