Category: Zine Reviews

My Mad Fat Zine
Seleena Daye & Holly Casio
seleenalaverndaye.co.uk
coolschmool.com

My Mad Fat Zine is a black and white half-fold love ode to the UK television show ‘My Mad Fat Diary’.

Seleena and Holly have very possibly made the longest, most well thought out fanzine I have ever read. From episode synopses to set designs and musings on ‘where are they now’, this zine really gives you everything you could want to know about this show.

With so many topics in the show like mental health, fat girl sex, family, friendship, 90s nostalgia and more, they certainly had a lot to write about. But they always kept it within the context of the show and how they felt about the topics’ representation within it. I enjoyed reading about how they deconstructed what could have been otherwise dismissed.

With synopses and character arcs discussed, I wondered if that level of detail might spoil the show for me, but I actually feel like I could watch it in a more thoughtful way now. Even knowing where a lot of things are going, there’s still a lot to be discovered and enjoyed.

I appreciated that Seleena and Holly also included their criticisms of the show. This isn’t blind adoration here. They comment on some rather significant plot holes and even write about imagined episodes in ‘the lost year’ between seasons two and three.

Along that same line, I liked reading about how both Seleena and Holly dismissed the show before falling in love with it. Something about that little detail made me laugh and made their fan-feels a bit more authentic to me.

My Mad Fat Zine references a lot of things I’m not familiar with and is about a show I’ve never seen. But I think a mark of a great fanzine is winning over people like me, and this zine has definitely done that.

Insomniughhh 2
Ashley
https://sites.google.com/view/insomniugh

Insomniughhh 2 is a black and white quarter-sized zine about life with a circadian rhythm sleep disorder.

I reviewed Insomniughhh 1 not long ago and was very curious to see where it went from there. Where the first zine walked more of an educational zine path, issue two dives into perzine territory.

Ashley writes about the heartbreaking isolation and troubles that can come with being someone who has a different clock to the 9-5 that is meant to be ‘normal’. There’s no holding back on topics like faking normal, the quest to find medications that actually work (and continue to work), and more.

I sympathised a lot with Ashley’s ‘graveyard of pills’ having had one of my own for my own conditions up until the point I moved a few months ago. That being said, I do think a ‘Things I’ve Bought While on Ambien’ is in order if Ashley ever feels up to it.

There is a little more margin watching that needs to happen for this zine with an entire line of one page cut off the bottom. But once again, Ashley pairs text and graphics an what I think is a balanced way.

While the two zines do differ, I feel like they’re a good pair that readers would do well to pick up together. In the first, you will find more info, but the second will give you a better glimpse of the reality.

Confessions
?
notyourleo@outlook.com

Confessions is a quarter-sized zine about beauty standards and growing up Filipino with a desire to be white.

Confessions gets right into things with no introduction as such nor table of contents. While I must admit this did throw me at first, the subject matter pulled me right in just as quickly.

The zinemaker writes about growing up with girls who were ‘obsessed with getting their skin paler’ and how it was actually difficult to find cosmetic products that didn’t have bleachers in them. The pressure to be white didn’t only come from peers, however, with the zinemaker’s own grandmother chiming in.

They go on to write about how in the rare instances that Filipinos are in the spotlight, they are often pale with perfected looks.

To put it bluntly, this zine made me sad. But it did so in an important way. I grew up with girls complaining about wanting to be darker – a story so similar to this zine but with the opposite colours involved.

That’s why these stories are so important to share as many perspectives as possible and maybe just come to new, better conclusions.

There are bright notes to be found with the author writing “i honestly think im beautiful” at one point. In a zine that touches on the pressure not only from media but from friends and family to be something else, I found that especially beautiful.

In regards to the contact details, I actually have the zinemaker’s name written down, but at no point in the zine is a name mentioned. I don’t know if thought was actually put into the choice – and I may be reaching with this – but it serves the subject. It gives this zine a feeling of being one story in many – highlighting the problem itself.

Confessions ends nearly as abruptly as it begins, but writing things that way is growing on me. It’s as if someone has dropped a box containing a life experience in front of me and simply said, “deal with it” instead of wrapping it up with pretty beginning and ending ribbons.

Small Potatoes Issue 1
Keira
IG: @k.huolohan
TW: @khuolohan

Small Potatoes 1 is a quarter-sized black and white slice-of-life perzine, and I have never found a zine cover and title combo so absolutely endearing. Love it!

It’s a week for coming back to zine-ing as Keira opens by writing this is the first zine they have written in over a year. Welcome back to zinemaking!

I really liked the variety I found in Small Potatoes. Don’t get me wrong – I like all life stuff kinds of zines. But Keira worked in life stuff, dreams, a short fiction story, poetry, and even book recommendations.

In the beginning they write that they want this zine to be an attempt to opening up, and I think they accomplished that. With so many different things, I think Keira has created a great start in showing their world bubble.

I’ve never been so inclined to ask a zinemaker if they wanted to be friends based on zine alone.

Getting back to the dream stuff, you may be thinking that they’re a hit or miss topic to write about. I check Keira’s dreams off as a hit. I don’t know if it was the dream, the writing, or the combination of both, but there was one point where Keira writes, “I felt so peaceful.” I nodded along because I felt peaceful, too!

On the aesthetics side, Keira uses typewritten words with a combination of drawing and pictures that go very well with the text.

If perzines are your thing or you’re new to zinemaking, then pick up a copy of this zine.

PS. I love the little ‘contact details’ pun on the back. I won’t spoil it, though.

Insomniughhh 1
Ashley
https://sites.google.com/view/insomniugh

This zine may be about living with a circadian rhythm sleep disorder, but I loved reading in the intro that this zine is Ashley’s step back into zinemaking after about twelve years. <3

Insomniughhh 1 is a short but informative introduction into what a circadian rhythm sleep disorder is and what it’s like to live with one.

Ashley’s disorder comes in the form of feeling the need to go to sleep at 2.30 to 3.30 in the morning. From what the word ‘circadian’ actually means to a breakdown of sleep studies, Ashley provides a lot of information in what feels like more than fourteen pages.

I love how informative this zine is. I didn’t know much about sleep disorders beyond the basics, and I loved learning more. I especially liked the larks and owls part. Most people have heard of night owls, but I’ve never heard of nor thought about its morning counterpart. (Spoiler: Larks)

I had to chuckle in sympathy when I saw CBT on the ‘What They Tell You Works’ list. (More power to you if it works for you, but it’s handed out like a wonder drug.) I liked how Ashley followed that with the ‘What Works For Me’ list. For me, it served as a reminder that what ‘they’ say is not the be all and end all for options.

The sleep study part was an eye opener, however. As someone who got a ‘something is wrong, but we’re not sure what’ from her own sleep study, I found some hope in finding out that sleep studies aren’t useful in circadian rhythm disorders.

Insomniughhh is a handwritten zine, but I had no trouble reading. It has a nice balance of text and pictures. The text occasionally skips outside the margins, but not too badly.

If you want to learn about circadian sleep disorders, then this is definitely a great zine to start with.

Thoughts of a Queer Marshmallow #3
Queer Marshmallow
Queer Marshmallow

Thoughts of a Queer Marshmallow is a quarter-sized full-colour perzine about processing thoughts on past relationships (both with self and with others) and changing from those childhood dysfunctional behaviours.

Aesthetically, Thoughts of a Queer Marshmallow is a pretty chunky, text-heavy zine. I like how QM used different washi tapes on the bottom of most pages as well as to separate sections. It made the ‘heaviness’ of the text a little lighter – especially because it’s printed in colour.

This zine isn’t a zine to be taken on or read lightly. There is a lot contained within about about abusive relationships – familial and romantic – nightmares, and self harm. I found myself remembering a lot about the abuse I dealt with in my childhood thanks to a number of things that I had in common with QM.

I did admire how QM’s self reflection included the ability to be honest about their own past toxic/bad behaviours and how that impacted others. It’s all too easy to sugarcoat one’s own role in things, but QM doesn’t. It’s all right in there with everything else.

There were a couple things that were confusing for me in this zine. One was a sudden change of tone at the end that felt aggressive and without warning. I was most of the way down the page before I realised that it was a letter to someone.

The other thing I make note of because I think it’s a good point for zinemakers: With acronyms, spell it out at least once before using it full time. Even if you think people know that CW is ‘content warning’ (I figured that out), you can never be sure who your reader is. I had never for the life of me heard QPP before and had to stop reading to look it up. (Queer Platonic Partner) And if your reader has to look it up, you can’t guarantee they’ll find YOUR meaning for the acronym.

Thoughts of a Queer Marshmallow 3 is a relaxed pace zine filled with the inner thoughts of someone processing the ramifications of abuse. If you can take the prodding to your own history, then this zine could be a good example of starting the path of healing.

Intimacies Volume 1
Dara Idris
intimacieszine.bigcartel.com

Intimacies Volume 1 is a black and white half-fold zine about a personal journey with physical intimacy, sex, and expectations told through a collection of short essays.

By and large, I experience zines within the realms of zines that tell me things and zines that share things with me. It’s a delicate distinction and one that may only make sense to me (and I love both types). The difference is telling zines come across as ‘this is an experience, and this is what I take from it’ whereas sharing zines run more along the lines of ‘this is an experience – make what you will of it’.

With the exception of the introduction, Intimacies Volume 1 is a zine that shared experiences.

Over the course of various short pieces, Dara shares experiences from the view of someone who desires things like physical intimacy but questions those desires and the timeline in which to have them imposed by the world and society. Through these experiences you get a picture of what it’s like from the view of someone who explores everything from sex fantasies to the gravity of one’s first kiss – all with the same thought and respect.

Aesthetically, this is a text-heavy zine, with essays broken up by quotes in larger fonts and ‘new section’ tables of contents. I feel like this is a zine you need to sit down and devote your full attention to.

The writing can get a bit confusing as people are named as letters, and the only people who seem to be consistent are Dara and ‘you’. I did get confused in the first piece as to who was speaking with whom and who Dara really was in the context of that piece.

The ‘background’ details got confusing for me at other times, too, but at those points I was so engaged on the thoughts about sex and intimacy being written about that it didn’t stop me.

This zine also had single lines that really stuck out to me:

‘And who knows what I want, except me?’
‘…we were taught to take care of so much, not least our bodies which were never, ever ours.’

Though the first line in the copyright note on the back was more about the laugh it gave me:

‘Don’t be a dick is a good rule, isn’t it!’

By and large, the writing is incredibly vulnerable and open about such intimate things like sexual fantasy and self-pleasure that it gives the zine as a whole its own kind of beauty. It’s a zine of exploring thoughts but not presenting you with conclusions.

If you think that sounds like the zine for you, then check out Intimacies Volume 1.

Connection Edit: Shine
Jessica Maybury
www.thejessicamaybury.com
@codenamewallaby

Connection Edit: Shine is a black and white zine collection of blackout poetry. If you’re not familiar, blackout poetry is where you take a piece of text and black out words so the words remaining – your poem – reads as something different to the original.

So if you’re thinking ‘so it’s just a bunch of blacked out words’, then this zine may not be the zine for you. Or you could stick around and let me win you over with my review.

It’s been a while since I’ve sung this particular tune, so I’ll mention that poetry is not a strength of mine. I often don’t understand it and miss whatever points were being made. That being said, I have a strange fascination with blackout poetry.

The text for these poems come from a book called ‘Shine’ given as a gag gift and the last magazine Jessica’s nana read before the end. (Sorry for your loss.) I found the juxtaposition of flippant and serious a strange one, but I wonder if it was intentional in showing that you can make serious out of funny and vice versa no matter what the text.

The poems can be a little hit and miss, but when it hits, it does so in ways I love. Phrases like “To My Nobody” and “You have to shine bright” stuck with me and made my mind drift pleasantly from the poem at hand. No big spoilers here, but the poem on page 7 is definitely my favourite.

I found myself rebelling at the thought of ever finding out what the original text read beneath the swathes of black.

Honestly, I missed the aesthetics for the words on the first read through. I was so focused on words and possible meaning, but I don’t see that as a bad thing. I am glad that I went through to check out the visuals because I liked the various washi tapes and pictures used.

If you’re curious about blackout poetry, check out this zine.

Taking Up Space
Holly Casio
www.coolschmool.com

Taking Up Space is a black and white mini-zine comic about taking up space with your body.

This zine is so sweet and sad at the same time. As someone who takes up a considerable amount of space, I identified a lot with how uncomfortable it can be. It’s not only physically uncomfortable to try to make myself smaller for other people and their perceived expectations, but it’s mentally uncomfortable, too.

I like Holly’s art style. It’s soft and fun – perfectly suited to the zine and its message without taking away from it.

The comic ended on a lovely, fun note that left me feeling good about a subject that it’s all too easy to feel upset about. In few words and fewer panels, I felt empowered to give the world the metaphorical bird and take up whatever space I need to take. Love it.

If you take up space, then pick up this zine.

Someone Stranger #5: The Silent Pen Issue
Zippity Zinedra
www.facebook.com/ZippityZinedra
zippityzinedrapress.tumblr.com

Someone Stranger is a black and white perzine that is hard to describe, so I will let Zinedra do it:

The following is my experiment at ‘ghosting’ myself, tongue in cheek style.

Someone Stranger is a zine that seems to be in its own category with strange thought meanderings that encouraged me to stop thinking so much and just enjoy the ride.

Right from the foreword, Zinedra had me thinking of how strange a concept ghostwriting was when put into the context of the zine world only to turn around into Zinedra deciding to ghost themself in this zine.

After ghostwriting came the tumbleweeds.

I know that I have had some very random things in common with the people who write the zines I read, but tumbleweeds have to be the most random. Because, yes, I quite like tumbleweeds. I laughed out loud at:

Tumbleweed is to western movies like chocolate is my mouth: a place to call home.

I quite liked the ‘I am not/I am’ piece that was like stream of consciousness writing but with a solid prompt/direction.

The zine continues on with a collection of interesting – and, honestly, sometimes trippy – pieces that include things like fighting with one’s shadow and an altercation over pancakes. Toward the beginning, I decided to stop thinking about it so hard and, by the end, I had no idea what was going on.

Don’t get me wrong; it was a strange journey but funny as well.

Aesthetically, the pages are mostly white with various pasted images, quotes and the like around the typed words. I may be reading too much into them, but I do like the humour and cheekiness of the images.

I find myself at a little bit of a loss after reading this zine. Not in a bad way but like I’ve just watched a movie, and I’m not quite sure what to make of it. If you’re looking for something different, unexpected, and a bit fantastical, then give this zine a go.