Category: Zine Reviews

The Stay at Home Girlfriend #24
Kendy P.
https://www.instagram.com/missmuffcake/

The Stay at Home Girlfriend #24 is a half-fold black and white perzine about zines, mental illness, recipes, cat fun, and more.

Kendy opens this issue of The Stay at Home Girlfriend with a piece about mental illness difficulties – the physical repercussions, how comorbid conditions can make each other worse, and the value of group therapy. Dealing with OCD, anxiety, and depression, there is a lot to identify with in Kendy’s experiences. There is a ray of sunshine in everything, though, with Kendy continuing to keep working on things and viewing it all as a journey.

Following that comes the variety of things I have come to love in this zine series. ‘Things I Like’ gives a fun peek into Kendy’s world with plenty of things to check out if you’re in Berkeley. Kendy then goes on to reflect on fears about the Trump presidency, tabling at EBABZ (East Bay Area Book and Zine Fest), and the loss of the amazing zinester Ara Jo.

I loved reading about Kendy’s zine goals as well as goals for the year to come (2017 for this issue). Lists are a forever favourite. While I’m not vegan, I’m always curious about the recipes Kendy shares (of which there are plenty). Even her cats get involved in this issue with some humours pieces: ‘Dr Mady Explains the Ancient Art of Blood Letting’ and ‘Mortis’ Natural Home Remedies for Hair Balls’.

The Stay at Home Girlfriend series always feels like a letter from the friend who always sent at least five pages of all sorts of things going on in their lives. It’s a zine that doesn’t push or pull – rather saying “Here I am – readers alwaus welcome”.

I’m not sure if that makes sense to anyone, so I’ll say that I quite like what I’ve read of the series and always want to know what happened next in Kendy’s life.

How to Sleep
Neik Glasshouse
http://nuonis.com/anatomic-air-press/

How to Sleep is slightly smaller than A6 and is a black and white zine full of tips to help you to get to sleep and stay asleep.

“With this guide, I go deeper into the beauty of sleep and how you can use it to grow.”

When I first saw this zine, I thought it might be about something else with a clever title. Lo and behold, a title that gets right to the point. Haha.

How to Sleep opens with a table of contents and an introduction to the zine. Neik writes about the reasons for writing this zine and their respect for the state of sleeping. The reader is meant to take this zine and the contents within as they will as it’s more personal than scientific.

The zine is split into two sections: ‘What You Need’ and ‘Steps on How to Sleep’. Part one is shourt at three pages, but it brings up important reminders for the place you spend about a third of your day. Not all of the suggestions are doable (mostly from a money-related view), but that’s what you get with many guides.

I found part two interesting with more than a few things I’m going to try in an effort to improve my sleep. It’s a more ‘internal’ vibes and energy answer to the more ‘external’ environmental approach in part one. I like that Neik explores before, during, and after sleep rather than only how to get to sleep. Neik even talks about cultivating an internal alarm, which is something I always thought was a funny trick some people could do.

There was one small bit that rankled me enough to make me pause. In a section about reflecting on reasons to feel gratitude, Neik includes a footnote:

“If you prefer to be an asshole and do not want to strive to be a human being that exerts good vibrations, then being grateful might be a very hard thing for you to do.”

I found this to be aggressive for a zine that opened with a more relaxed and open tone. It also ignores that actually feeling gratitude can be something that does have to be worked on and that mental illness that can make it difficult to feel gratitude. These things to not make someone into an asshole.

Aesthetically, this zine is quite lovely. Vellum provides an ‘outer’ cover and is used in the middle of the zine for an introduction to sleep stages. The layout is great with a small font size but still a nicely readable sans serif font. (Save for a section at the very end that is especially tiny. Done on purpose, according to the author, but to what end, I’m not entirely clear.)

While I do have my niggles with this zine, I think it has interesting suggestions for getting more out of your sleep. If you’re looking for a more meditative approach to your sleep, then give this zine a read.

The 24-Hour Zine
Latibule
https://www.instagram.com/latibule_art/

The 24-Hour Zine is an A6 full-colour zine full of collages and writing based on suggestions made by other people.

Full disclosure: Latibule and I livestreamed together on Instagram during part of the making of this zine, and the idea of taking suggestions from people came from me.

The 24-Hour Zine opens with an explanation of the challenge (a 24-page zine made in 24-hours) and how Latibule created most pages base on prompts from her Instagram followers. I feel weird mentioning how much I like this idea given the circumstances, but I really do and would love to both do it more myself and see it done more by others.

With prompts like ‘sunflowers’ and ‘utopia’, this zine is full of colour. As a primarily collage zine of this style, I would expect it to be in colour, but I’ll still say that printing it in black and white would have taken something away from it. How Latibule interprets the prompts – especially prompts with less obvious colour associations – makes the zine all the more interesting.

Save for the middle spread, each page has its own prompt. Most of the prompts are from others – each idea credited to the person’s Instagram handle. However, some pages are Latibule’s own. With people coming up with unrelated prompts in the mix, quite a few different emotions are expressed in paper, washi tape, drawings, and sometimes words.

I’ve been enjoying flipping through this zine again and again. There is something relaxing about taking in all the elements of the various collages.

If this sounds like something you’d like to check out, then definitely pick a copy up and get lost in its pages.

Masculinities
Cindy Crabb (Editor/Interviewer)
http://www.dorisdorisdoris.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Crabb

Masculinities is an about 18cm X 21.5cm black and white zine about what it means to be a man and shaking up meanings within masculinity as expressed through a series of seven interviews.

Masculinities opens with an introduction from Cindy who explains that they didn’t know what to expect from the interview process. They’d seen a world where they shook up what it meant to be feminine and brought to light a lot of things that were wrong. They wanted to do the same for masculinity – and Masculinities emerged.

From there we dive into the interviews, the first between Cindy and Shane Parish. Shane talks about masculinity, manhood, how both those things were tied up on violence, and more. From there we go on to read a series of interviews that had a variety of subject matter and perspectives that I didn’t expect. Classism, masculine expectations and the impact that has on body image, masculinity and disability, abuse, sexuality, gender identity, learning to be a nurturing father… There is a lot to explore, and this zine feels like a great place to start.

Masculinities stands out aesthetically due to its non-traditional size. The drawing you may come to expect from Cindy’s Doris zines is present but I’d say not quite as much as the Doris series. There’s something entirely pleasing but mysterious about the cover. It is a bit of a fragile zine because of its size and a thin paper cover, but it did weather a house move well.

The interview ‘A Different Kind of Strength’ between Cindy and Brontez really stood out to me as Brontez’s story is one of growing up gay in a small 1960s town but is also so much more. The dynamic of a matriarch head of house was such a fascinating dynamic, and I found myself surprised at the positive masculine interactions Brontez experienced.

Even for its 28 pages, there is a lot to think about and process in this zine. The actual interviews are relatively short and get right to the heart of the stories, and yet I found myself taking the interviews slowly to make sure I was understanding – as much as I could – what each person was saying.

Masculinities has a lot to offer with different perspectives, things to consider, and maybe even things to question in the reader’s own life – all within personal stories told in these interviews. I will be reading this one again.

Cats Not Kids 3
Purple Donna
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/purpledonna

Cats Not Kids 3 is an A6 black and white perzine about family planning clinics, contraception, not wanting kids, and more.

Cats Not Kids 3 opens straight off with a piece about spending 17 years on contraception that it turned out Donna didn’t need to take! Talk about getting me feeling angry right from the get go. I’m so sick of doctors who think the pill is the be all and end all of reproductive health. As you can imagine, Donna had a few thoughts to share about the situation.

Donna writes about conversations she’s had with people around not wanting children. (I’ve never felt so grateful that, for the most part, people have left me alone on that front.) She brings up good points like why do people so often say “you’ll change your mind” to people who don’t want to have kids? Why should someone have to share about their infertility – a private health matter – to actually have their decision respected?

Cats Not Kids also has a small comic and some facts about phone phobia that I greatly appreciated (being phobic myself). I didn’t realise the extent to which it is recognised.

I was sad to read the note at the end of the zine that lets the reader know that this is the last of the series – or trilogy, if you will – but such is the way sometimes. I’ve greatly enjoyed all three. If you’re interested in any of the topics I’ve mentioned in the reviews (Cats Not Kids 1, Cats Not Kids 2), I think you will enjoy them, too.

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.