Category: Zine Reviews

Submerging
Edited by Brian Cogan, Brett Essler, Mike Faloon, & Brendan Kiernan
submergingwriters@gmail.com

SUBMERGING

Submerging is a full colour half-fold literature zine that also features photographs.

“Euphoria is a trail of exclamations points that you follow off a cliff.”

Despite what I imagine was a typo pluralisation of ‘exclamations’, there is something darkly amusing about that quote.

Submerging is a zine that contains four stories that I am assuming are all nonfiction. They read as non-fiction, but there’s no indication or introduction in the zine that makes that clear. (Though the website does mention that the zine includes personal essays.)

We start off with an interesting diary-style piece that starts with anti-anxiety medication, wanders into the realm of analysing politics in the United States, and ends on a sad note in the Philippines. The pieces that follow cover a heart attack, a slightly stranger (in structure) piece about memory and health heartbreak (no spoilers here, zine friends), and a piece about aging.

I finished the first story a little confused and feeling like perhaps there was something in it that I just wasn’t understanding fully. However, I settled right in with the pieces that followed. The heart attack fascinated me (as strange as that is to type. The structurally stranger piece was still intriguing, and the piece on aging? It felt a little sad because of the inevitability of everything (and because of the age I’m at), but it ended on an unexpectedly cheery note that left me feeling good.

While writing exploring health – both mental and physical – may not sound appealing to you on the surface (it’s definitely an interesting topic to me, so win there), the personal element to these pieces draw you in.

Submerging is a nice zine to look at and touch. It’s made with smooth, glossy paper, and everything looks very clean and crisp. The typography choices are nice, and little things like the drop cap at the beginning of pieces adds to the overall package. I like the inclusion of photos as well. They break up the text, but there aren’t so many that it would confuse this being primarily a literature zine. (I can’t decide whether the cover photo or ‘En Route’ is my favourite picture.)

The writing voices in this zine worked well together, and I can see myself going back to read some of the stories again. If you’re looking for a literature zine with a taste of photography to check out – or maybe even submit to – then this is a zine to have a look at.

ADL -> MEL
George Rex Comics
http://www.georgerexcomics.com

“Once a year a pilgrimage is made by zinesters across Australia to Melbourne…”

ADL -> MEL is an A5 comic in pink about travelling from Adelaide to Melbourne for Festival of the Photocopier in Melbourne. If the title sounds familiar, that’s because I reviewed a zine by the same name by Rebecca Sheedy: (https://seagreenzines.com/2017/03/15/zine-review-adl-mel/) Let’s just say I was even more excited about finding this zine because not only is it another comic diary perspective about FotP and things surrounding it – Rebecca and George are mentioned in each other’s comics!

George takes us through the whole FotP experience – from the flight to Melbourne on the Thursday before to fun in the city before the flight home on the Tuesday after. While the reason for the trip may be Festival of the Photocopier, this zine documents all sorts of things that happened around the event as well – including a quiet night in after heaps of zine activities.

The aesthetic of this zine is so fun in that George designed three zines for a zine launch in Adelaide, and each zine was assigned a Neapolitan ice cream flavour. The reason why this zine is all pink because this one is strawberry! Being the completionist that I am, now I want to grab the other ‘flavours’. I also like the added touch that my zine is #27/100 of the second printing.

George’s art style is fun and on the more cartoon side of drawing. There are so many little things that made me smile – small details like the Daiso haul (Daiso is an odds and ends shop – most are $2.80), and George mentioning the panic that starts only after you set up your table at a zine event.

This is the sort of zine I would read before a zine fest to get a feel for zine events. It’s not a guide, but it’s sweet, and I really love the whole vibe. Definitely check it out.

Oh Brother! Some Stories About Growing Up With a Brother With Autism
George Rex Comics
http://www.georgerexcomics.com
@girlrexdoor

Oh Brother! is an A5 full colour zine collection of comics about growing up with a brother with autism – and it includes drafts and background material for the upcoming book.

I hardly know where to get started with this zine. I really love George Rex’s art, and that George would open up about what is very likely a somewhat sensitive part of their life in this way leaves me feeling honoured for a glimpse of a life perspective I would not otherwise get.

Oh Brother! is a beautiful and bittersweet zine. George keeps it real with the struggles – and silly moments – of having a brother with severe autism, but there’s no self-pity to be found. There are good times that are tinged by harsher reality and harsher times that can still have smiles. George is human like everyone else and sometimes wonders about the ‘what ifs’ but also shows there is a time and place for them. That we shouldn’t get mired in ‘what if’.

George’s art style is fun to look at, with little details to enjoy if you take your time with the zine. I really enjoyed seeing a comic in its draft form in the ‘extras’ in the back.

The thing that I found really special about this zine is that it feels as much Rob’s (George’s brother) zine as it does George’s. Yes, George made the zine, of course, but it’s focused on both of them as siblings with a lovely dose of parental moments worked in as well.

Absolutely grab a copy of this zine – let’s help George make these comics and more into a book*!

*This zine is a collection of shorts that will help fund the full book of around 300 pages.

decency is a relative thing
Sober Bob
https://www.instagram.com/soberbobmonthly/

Decency is a relative thing is a zine “exploration into the weird and not so wonderful wasteful world of people who won’t stop buying housewares.”

“There is no relief or release from consumerism.”

If I shared all the quotes I wanted to share from this zine, I would end up sharing half the zine.

In Decency is a relative thing, Sober Bob takes us through the similarities between people who hoard homewares and then breaks things down into four common ‘types’ of homeware hoarders. What I thought would be an interesting zine that, in the end, wouldn’t have much to do witch me, ended up being a zine that had me looking around the house and examining my own habits.

By writing about the four types of people who hoard homewares, Sober Bob touches on huge problems in the invasiveness of business in creating trends on social media. Not only that but how some people feed into a negative system by not being completely transparent about what is and isn’t actually paid/advertising.

A side shout out to touching on the problems of the real estate sector and how carefully placed wicker baskets shouldn’t make a house more expensive.

This zine isn’t a complete flaming blast at everyone, however. In fact, it shows a real sympathy to the kinds of advertising that we’re subjected to and even more so now that social media not only influences what is “normal” outside the home but inside it as well.

Even more, Sober Bob touches on the impact of the ‘trend’ on the longevity and ethical practices (or lack thereof) in keeping up with the ‘trend’ lifestyle.

An interesting moment came for me when I realised that I have ‘followed the trends’, too, in the past. Despite my days working in an op/secondhand shop giving me a strong aversion to stuff for a long time. I began seeing more and more YouTube videos with fairy lights (they’re not just for Christmas anymore!) and ended up buying some myself. I don’t regret getting them by any means because they give me joy, but if you think you’re immune to trends…

Aesthetically, this zine is lovely. The title is gold-foiled (which I suspect is a cheeky visual metaphor), and the entire zine is printed on gorgeous cream-coloured textured paper.

The thing I love about this zine that actually goes beyond the zine itself is the interesting (in my opinion) conversation it inspired between me and Wanderer, for which I give my thanks to Sober Bob.

You may not think that a zine about homewares is for you, but I think you should still check it out. This zine is as much a zine as it is the beginning of a conversation. Grab a copy.

Rabbits & Relics: Okunoshima (Rabbit Island)
Rae White
https://raewhite.net/
https://twitter.com/wings_humming

Rabbits and Relics is an A5 black and white zine about Rae’s exploration of Okunoshima – Rabbit Island.

I have always wanted to travel to Japan, so to say I was excited about any sort of Japan-related zine is a bit of an understatement. I’ve heard of various animal places like the fox village and cat island, but rabbit island was new to me.

I think the thing that really struck me about this zine is the glimpse of reality Rae gives in this zine. At the start, Rae mentions how the contrast of adorable rabbits and World War 2 relics is both striking and confronting.

Take what you will of the beautiful living alongside the symbols of the horrible, but it really spoke to me. This isn’t some glossed up, glossing over happy fun time tourist brochure. Rae provides us with real pictures, with facts both playful and painful.

Aesthetically, the font is big, clear, and easy to read. I don’t need my glasses or ideal lighting to read this zine. The photos Rae includes echoes their feelings about the island with pictures of desolate buildings next to adorable rabbits.

This zine also serves as a good introduction to the island in that it has a ‘how to get there’ page as well as a couple popular theories about how the rabbits got to the island in the first place.

Rabbits and Relics as a fairly quick, interesting read about Okunoshima. It’s definitely worth checking out if you have any interest in Japan, rabbits, World War 2, or anything in between.

SlowQuest II: Meet the Wizard
Bodie
http://www.slowquest.com
https://www.instagram.com/bodieh/

SlowQuest II: Meet the Wizard is a 9.5×8.5cm fantasy choose your own adventure comic zine(!).

This is one of those times when no one will have sympathy for me, but I will still say it’s so hard to stick to my reviewing system. I was so excited to read this zine, but I had to wait because I’m a ‘responsible adult’ and ‘shouldn’t immediately drop everything I’m doing to read a zine’. Sigh.

SlowQuest I is a beloved zine in my collection, so I was incredibly excited to see not only that there is a second one but that it has more pages (more choices!) as well.

As I mentioned, SlowQuest II is a choose your own adventure zine, which means that there are many possible outcomes to the choices you make in this fantasy realm. You have received an invitation to work for the wizard, but actually getting to the wizard isn’t as simple as it sounds.

I was proud as punch that I didn’t die on my first combination of choices, as that’s definitely a possibility in this zine. Of course, there are so many possible paths – drink potions, get lost, punch a bear – that I happily spent time going through every possible combination of steps.

As I have no doubt mentioned a number of times at this point, Bodie’s art style is fantastic. He creates art with such intricate detail, and it really shows through in this zine with two-page spreads of certain settings that I greatly enjoyed looking at up close.

Bodie’s attention to detail carries into the zine itself as well with rounded corners, trimmed edges, and borderless illustrations on cream-coloured paper.

I certainly don’t want to give anything away, but I found the ending of this zine quite curious and hope it means more SlowQuest adventures in the future.

I imagine at this point you know what I’m going to write… Grab a copy!

Forever Incomplete #1
Kirsty
@mskirstyface

Forever Incomplete is a perzine about life with OCD, confronting myths about OCD, living alone, and more.

I must say that I do like a good a good intro. Forever Incomplete starts off with a short intro about who Kirsty is and what’s in the zine. While that isn’t exactly necessary, I do like knowing a bit about the person whose life I’ll be reading about as well as what they’ve chosen to share with me.

From the introduction, Kirsty writes about life with OCD and how the stereotypes about OCD can be wrong. I appreciated the eye opener – especially when it came to busting the myths around OCD. It reminded me that there are nuances and facets to everything – even the stereotype that people with OCD are particularly neat and tidy.

I identified a lot with Kirsty’s zine story and the particular kind of embarrassment that comes with really liking something that you’re not very good at. I’m glad that despite the comparisons and crafting ‘misses’ that zines stuck.

I did have a private little smile at the ‘Things Which Don’t Happen to Heterosexual People’ because a few have definitely happened to me and Wanderer (hetero couple) because we’re in an age gap relationship. (Please don’t take this as me taking away from the disrespect and discrimination homosexual couples deal with regularly. I only mean to say that I empathise. Wanderer and I have also experienced the ‘triple take’ just for holding hands, etc.)

I also have to point out how much I love the part about all the things you can do with an English MA. It’s regarded as such a useless degree when it’s actually a lot more flexible in terms of career paths than many other degrees.

The cut and paste aesthetic is lovely and makes me want to get out my paper and scissors. Different sections are denoted by different fonts – something I’m seeing more that is growing on me.

Forever Incomplete is an informative zine as well as a good perzine. There are plenty of reasons to read it, so check it out.

Practical Zine Making
Vampire Sushi Distro
www.vampiresushi.co.uk

Practical Zine Making is an A7 black and white zine about zine making – specifically about zine layout.

Zine layout is one of those things that seems like it should be simple but can, at times, be annoying to try to get your head around. Practical Zine Making makes the whole thing a lot easier by not only writing about zine layout but by showing you with clear pictures how to make/number half-fold/A5 zines as well as quarter size/A6 zines.

I think this is a fantastic little reference zine. I wish I had more copies to hand out/send out to zinemakers, as layout can often be a headache – especially when you’re just getting started.

Definitely pick up a copy if layout is at all a pain for you.

the little zine of mindfulness
Amber is Blue
https://www.instagram.com/amberisblue/

The Little Zine of Mindfulness is an A7, full colour zine with tips for what you can try when you are depressed or dissociated.

I like a good self-care zine, but there is something really nice about a self-care mini because it’s something that I can take along with me easily anywhere. A bit of confidence and calm in my pocket wherever I go.

This mini-zine contains five useful tips – some even new to me despite all the self-care zines that I’ve read at this point. Each tip is framed in blue. I really liked this choice because I think that, along with each being on its own page, the ‘frame’ could be something to help the reader focus on one thing at a time (something I struggle with even at the best of times).

While simple in its nature, I think this is another handy mini to add to your collection of self-care zines.

Femme as in…
Sab and Anni?
https://www.instagram.com/queer_marshmallow/

Femme as in… is a full colour A7 mini-zine about what it means to be femme to the zinemaker.

Femme has a collection of short, strong statements that would remind anyone about self-care and speaking for themselves. Place on backgrounds of delicate flowers, these statements feel even stronger and more confidence-inspiring.

I was talking to a friend the other day about how nice mini-zines are because you can just slip them in your pocket for whenever you need them. With Femme, I can easily see this being someone’s ‘confidence in my pocket’ booklet.

This mini zine didn’t have any contact details, but I do remember where it came from, so at least there’s that…

Some of the statements were a bit aggressive for me personally, but I completely understand where it’s coming from.

If you’re a femme and want some strong statements to keep close, this may be the mini-zine for you.