Category: Zine Reviews

Newspaper Blackout Poetry
Wolfram-J VK
https://www.instagram.com/queercontent/

Newspaper Blackout Poetry is an A5 black and white zine about what blackout poetry is and how it works.

If you’re not familiar, blackout poetry is the process of using pieces of text that already exist and blacking out everything except chosen key words, turning that piece of text into something new.

Newspaper Blackout Poetry opens with a bit of history about blackout poetry and how it’s actually an older process than you probably think. From there, we dive into various examples.

Blackout poetry is probably the poetic space I feel most comfortable in, so I was fairly sure I was going to enjoy this zine anyway. However, this zine went above expectations.

The first few examples are of ‘traditional’ blackout poetry with lines of text blacked out. The blackout didn’t quite completely obscure the text beneath. While that may have been an annoyance in others’ eyes, it made it all the more interesting for me. I liked comparing how I would have done it to how it was done for the zine.

The last two examples are very interesting. They take blackout poetry and turn it into visual as well as literary art. They add on lines, dashes, and small sketches to create something that’s pleasing to look at as a whole as well as at the smaller details.

The second half of the zine is made up of a ‘now it’s your turn’ section with pieces of text ripe for turning into blackout poetry. I always feel a little weird about zines that encourage you to write and otherwise change them, but that doesn’t make me love the idea any less.

My one nitpick is a lack of contact details, but you do at least have Wolfram’s name on the back to go on.

All up, I think this is a fun zine and it would be a great start for anyone wanting to dive in.

Precious Pearl
Veek
https://www.instagram.com/veek1313/

Precious Pearl is a ½ fold full-colour comic about the creation of a pearl. A precious pearl.

I laughed out loud. Oh, how I laughed. This says things about my level of maturity – none of them good.

This zine is going to be a tough one to review because I really don’t want to give anything away. There’s a twist to it that has me chuckling even as I type this.

Precious Pearl is a comic set in the ocean (as you probably imagined), and has a very sweet start full of nice colours and pretty fish. However, because this isn’t the first one of Veek’s comics that I have read, I started getting the feeling that it was a little too sweet.

I was right. Ha!

The art of this comic is a fun combination of hand drawing/colouring and cut out pictures of fish/aquatic life. I thought the cut outs were a fun addition to this comic that sort of set it apart from Veek’s other comics and put it more in line with the ‘children’s book’ that the back cover claimed it to be. The few words involved also played into this aesthetic.

All of it combined together to create an even funnier twist than it would have been with words alone. (Just to be clear, this one probably isn’t for kids.)

I apologise if this review is a bit frustrating because of my attempts not to give anything away. I will say that if you have a sense of humour that’s more on the immature side like mine, then grab a copy.

PS. I had Wanderer read this, and even he had a chuckle.

Drawn Poorly Zine: Identity
Collab
https://drawnpoorly.wordpress.com
https://www.instagram.com/drawnpoorlyzine/

Drawn Poorly Zine: Identity is an A5 collaboration zine of photography, art, and writing around identity in relation to chronic illness.

I have the impression that it’s is a bit cliché these days to call something powerful, but ‘powerful is the first and best word that came to mind when reading this zine. Over a dozen people have contributed to this zine, and I find myself going back over each page again and again.

Drawn Poorly opens on the inside front cover with an introduction to the zine and the people who made it happen – with contributions of work as well as financial contributions to bring the zine to life. Page one – a collection of speech bubbles on a black background, each with a quote response to the prompt ‘What Was Lost’ – sets a sombre and intense tone.

There are so many things about this zine that I think are striking. I love the variety of contributions. I love that pieces come with clear social media handles. I love that Drawn Poorly included quotes from people who have chronic illnesses but also from those who love someone who has a chronic illness.

Identity is such a complex issue, and the pieces really demonstrated that complexity without being coldly literal about it. I truly got a sense of real people behind the pieces – people who not only where dealing with their chronic illness but also what it meant (and didn’t mean) for who they are.

Kitty James’ piece ‘Identity’ resonated with me the most with how it can be such a long, lonely road to diagnoses and how labels can be very important to identity and not feeling alone.

“How could my illness define me when my illness could not be defined?”

I’m eager to read what comes next for Drawn Poorly. Pick up a copy, and let’s encourage them to make many more.

This Asian American Life
Katie Quan
www.facebook.com/thisasianamlife

This Asian American Life is a ½ fold full colour comic about Katie’s life and being an Asian American.

I know I usually don’t open with the aesthetic side of things, but hello smooth paper and great use of colour.

This Asian American life opens with a prologue about the zine and a bit, one-panel comic full of Katie’s comic self sitting in the middle of a lot of speech bubbles. Each speech bubble was filled with something Katie has no doubt heard more than once. Things that made me very sad knowing that people could say things like “Too rich to have a ‘real’ POC experience”. It did snap me awake to the fact that this zine wasn’t going to be all fuzzy lala. As Katie writes:

“…hopes to provide one perspective as a way of inviting dialogue about race/ethnicity, gender, and a coming of age experience.”

That being said, all lives are multi-faceted. This comic has funny moments as well as sad and politically charged moments. Katie’s comics cover things like being a new(ish) driver, tired days, toxic relationships, and feeling ‘between race’.

As I mentioned at the beginning, this zine has very nice paper that really serves the art. I like Katie’s use of colour – keeping things mostly to a certain range like reds, greens, or blues. There are smaller details in different colours, but I think this is the first time in a long time I’ve noticed something like that.

I don’t want to call Katie’s art style minimalist because I didn’t take nearly enough art classes to know if that’s an accurate description. The comics are, for the most part, one-page comics with some of them only made up of one or two panels. The details included are the necessary ones and no more, really. (It’s amazing how much can be expressed with eyes and eyebrows alone.) It’s sweet and inviting and doesn’t leave me feeling overwhelmed that I may miss something.

Overall, I highly enjoyed this zine. I feel like it was the beginning, though, and I want more! Haha. I look forward to checking out more of Katie’s work.

Pieces #7: on belief, delusion & love
Nichole
https://www.instagram.com/corridorgirl/

Pieces #7 is a quarter-sized black and white zine on belief, delusion, and love. On the realities we construct, the comforts we cling to, and finding a way to keep going when they all fall apart.

I hardly know where to start. So much happens in this zine, and I feel like my words are truly lacking when it comes to expressing how I feel. I actually started reading it a while ago, but I quickly realised that I needed to wait until I could really take all the time I needed to read and take it in.

Knowing that Nichole no longer distributes this zine along with the cover images and words left me with a somewhat wary feeling when I started reading. The feeling grew stronger with the list of words and definitions (including ‘belief’, ‘delusion’, and ‘love’) that followed the touching intro. Not wary in that it would be harmful to me – though Nichole does warn that some things may be triggering along the lines of depression, self-harm, and losing touch with reality – but rather feeling in my gut that I was about to read (and undoubtedly get invested in) something intensely personal to Nichole.

I struggle to sum up the events in this story because I keep feeling like I am somehow taking away from what this zine is and Nichole’s experience. However, for the sake of review, I’ll do my best.

Nichole writes about a personal demon created out of fear and how it became a terror-filed comfort in avoiding other fears and perpetual beliefs – even when doing so was to her detriment. She writes about how people who aren’t bad people can still be bad for each other and feed into each other’s demons. The roles we adopt, and the blurring of lines within relationships.

When all of these things escalate, they begin to crack and tear – taking Nichole’s sense of reality and autonomy right along with it.

Nichole’s honesty is breathtaking and shows such a level of self-awareness and self-understanding. She documents events without second-guessing, blaming, or softening the edges of the experience. While I imagine there are still some things not included, what she did commit to paper is intense and shows a level of vulnerability I think anyone could learn from.

“I think I wanted to lose” she writes at one point. A point at which I had to pause for a moment because I’ve felt that way, too, but never seen or heard it expressed before. Not in that way. Not in such an experience. Even if I didn’t identify with that specific situation, I think a lot of people can identify with the hell you know being better than the heaven you don’t.

As cliché as I am about to sound, it’s the depths being so dark and painful that make it a truly beautiful relief when Nichole does reach out to get help – and writes about continuing to work on things.

I’ve never been so emotionally invested in a perzine. Partly because I identify with some of Nichole’s experiences in more ways than I care to share in this review. Partly because I know it must have taken so, so much for Nichole to put this down on paper – let alone turn it into a zine.

As I mentioned, Nichole no longer distributes this zine, so I can’t say as to whether you’ll ever have the chance to read it. If you do, give yourself time and the space to read it, as it is an intense read – and one I’m honoured that Nichole chose to share with me.

I Hate Raisins
Monstark
https://www.monstark.com
I Hate Raisins is a black and white mini-zine of hatred towards raisins.

If you hate raisins, you still have nothing on Monstark’s level of loathing.

I never thought I could love a zine filled with hatred, but zines make interesting things happen, and here I am. I Hate Raisins is absolutely fantastic. With words and art, Monstark takes the reader down the dark, depreaved hole that is the existence of raisins.

You may thing hating raisins would be pretty bland, but this zine packs a lot – and it leans well into the adult content side of things (devil’s bullocks anyone?).

I wish I was more well-versed in comics so I could give you some comparison to Monstark’s art style. I can tell you that it’s detailed to the point of being extra gruesome in a way that made me grimace at one point and serves the subject matter oh so well.

If you hate raisins and/or appreciate a grittier sort of art style, then pick up this zine (because my copy is staying in my permanent collection – hehe).

Kari-graphy – A Show-and-Tell About Calligraphy
Kari Tervo
http://zinewiki.com/Kari_Tervo

Kari-graphy – A Show-and-Tell About Calligraphy is a ½ fold black and white zine about calligraphy.

Okay, so the title is already descriptive enough, but what can I say? I like to stick to a format. Mostly.

A zine for the love of calligraphy! Definitely one for me, I actually remembered seeing this when Kari first brought it out, and now I finally have my hands on a copy – and it’s even better than I thought.

What I thought being ‘I know heaps about calligraphy’.

This zine is an excellent starting place (or even a ‘further down the line’ place for people like me) for anyone interested in calligraphy. Kari is definitely thorough – moreso than I expected given the zine’s 16 pages and some of the large examples of the things written about. (Not complaining! I like plenty of examples.) This zine turned out to cover all sorts of things like basics, tips, calligraphy gear, and more.

Kari-graphy takes on a perzine quality in the section “Kari-graphy: A History”. I had to smile reading it because I have a very similar history with calligraphy – except I ended up putting names on certificates for the drama club rather than the National Honor Society. The things you find out you have in common with people!

You may think that calligraphy is a dry topic, but Kari really makes it her own with her sense of humour – even on page one:

“…one of my favorite hobbies: calligraphy, or, as it is more formally known, fancy-letterin’.”

Those are the sort of things that give me a chuckle and make me want to check out more zines by the author.

Aesthetically, this is a great zine. It’s easy to read, there are a lot of examples of what is written about – from practise pages to font examples – and the cover is made of lovely parchment paper. Even more cool – the inside of the back cover has a mini-poster Kari has made for you to keep.

Obviously this is a very specific topic for a zine, but if you have any interest at all, grab a copy.

Nice Things That Happened to Me Because of Pokemon Go!
Avery Flinders
https://twitter.com/averyflinders

Nice Things That Happened to Me Because of Pokemon Go! Is an A6 full-colour zine about positive things that happened around and because of playing Pokemon Go.

This zine opens with a silver linings recounting of how Pokemon Go came out a couple of days after a car crash left Avery without a car. A game that involved a lot of walking after losing the car proved to be a big plus. From there, Avery writes about more good times that involved or came from using the game.

As I read, I had to admire Avery’s bravery. Not only were there actual wanderings through unfamiliar places – that ended up leading to fun things like a sculpture garden – but Avery also met with new people through the shared hobby. Reading this put a smile on my face. The centre spread even has pictures of various pokemon in different places.

I have to give kudos to Avery for the cursive writing that is actually readable. There are two little niggles in the forms of the margins cut a little bit here and there (nothing too bad), and Avery didn’t include contact details. But, as always with the latter, it could be intentional.

Nice Things is a lovely zine. (Minus the car accident happening, of course.) Pokemon Go got a lot of flack, as popular things do, but it also provided a lot of good – as evidenced by the stories here. Avery shares the good vibes and the positivity, and the world can always use more of that.

A Cure Fanzine Issue 1 – Sugar Girl
RuRu Productions

Homepage 2023

Push is a slightly smaller than A5 full-colour glossy zine about The Cure.

“My zine & documentary project, PUSH, is a love letter to the fans who have surrounded and supported The Cure. And to The Cure, of course!”

Full Disclosure: I’m not all that knowledgeable when it comes to music, but I do love a good YouTube ‘scavenger hunt’. I’m playing a The Cure playlist while reviewing this.

Push starts us off with a gorgeous opening about the writer’s first Cure live show, and how it changed their life. While I haven’t listened to much by The Cure, I felt that nostalgia for those moments of music in my life that meant so much. The intro sets a lovely tone for the entire zine.

What follows is a collection of quotes, pictures, lyrics, recipes, fan art, stories, and more. So much fun! When I think of band fanzines, recipes don’t really come to mind, so I thought it was a lot of fun to find song-inspired sweet creations. (The red velvet cupcakes sound divine.) There’s even food ideas for a Cure-themed dinner party!

Now this is a fanzine in a way I haven’t seen before.

The aesthetic of Push really supports and emphasis the overall feel with all the colour and the cut and paste style.

Not being all that familiar with The Cure, I expected a lot of this zine to be lost on me. To my pleasant surprise, most of it wasn’t. I enjoyed the positive vibe and the enthusiasm of the zine. I felt curious enough to track down the songs referenced – which, I imagine, is the second best thing after connecting with fans. I’m also curious about the documentary project the goes along with it, so win there, too.

I’m undecided as to whether this zine could have benefitted from some ‘newbie’ information. On one hand, any info is helpful to people like me, but, on the other hand, I didn’t feel particularly left out. Only curious.

Push is a great example of an unexpected fanzine, reviewed in the eyes of someone outside their usual/intended audience. I’m glad I had the chance to check this zine out. If you like The Cure, then I think you’re going to love this.