Category: Zine Reviews

The 125th Street Demon
Robert Walton
www.moreverbs.com

The 125th Street Demon is a short fiction zine featuring a short story about a man on a train…

I quite like the formatting for this zine. I know this is going to get me in hot water for some crowds saying this, but it’s formatted like a book. Not to the extent of title pages and dedications, but the font, the drop cap… Book layout and styling is something I love doing, so I can’t help but noticing the qualities. (Admittedly the drop cap doesn’t quite make sense in all its uses, but I still like the look of it.)

The one thing I didn’t like – and I know I’m being a bit picky here – is the way it’s stapled. The staple ‘teeth’ face outward instead of into the halfway mark. This isn’t necessarily a problem, but I did get poked. Something to consider if you staple your zines.

The story itself is an interesting one. You start questioning whether you should be trusting the protagonist at all and whether the man is unhinged. The ending leaves you satisfied but with a few questions – questions I’m happy to leave unanswered.

If you like fiction zines and slightly weird/unnerving stories, then I think you’ll like this zine.

ADL —> MEL
Rebecca Sheedy
http://mildscribblings.tumblr.com
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/rebeccasaurusrex

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Rebecca Sheedy’s art style? No? Well here we go…

ADL —> MEL is a short zine about flying from Adelaide to Melbourne for a short stay during Festival of the Photocopier 2016. I almost hesitate to say ‘during the Festival of the Photocopier 2016’ because while that may be the reason for the trek, it’s only a part of things.

You follow Rebecca’s journey with brief commentary from Thursday the 11th to Tuesday the 16th. As I mentioned, Festival of the Photocopier is a part of the events, with various zine launches as well as the main event zine fest itself. But no one thing gets too much attention. It’s all like cliff notes, and you follow along with what is shared both in words and images.

Taking it back out for a moment, I really like the cover. It’s a really nice touch in that it’s a copies plane ticket cut out and pasted to tan cardstock. It’s very unassuming and simple, which makes the colour and detail of everything inside pop all the more.

Rebecca’s art style is so simple on first glance, but then you realise just how detailed it is. From polka dots on pants to the tiny zine covers. It’s so fun. There are times when things are perfectly enjoyable whether they are in colour or in black and white, but I feel like Rebecca made absolutely the right choice by going full colour because it only adds to the awesomeness that is the Sheedy style.

This zine is a ‘slice of life’ zine in its truest form. I think based on that alone, you should have a good feeling of whether or not you’ll enjoy this zine. If you’re at all unsure, then definitely check out Rebecca’s zines. (My favourite is ‘X‘ about growing up with The X-Files.)

Rebecca’s zines have always been and will always be zines that reside in my forever collection in the ‘not for borrows because you might lose them’ section.

The Zines on Toast Tour
Alex Wrekk, Steve Larder, Natalie, Edd Baldry, Tom Fiction, and Isy (thank you comments!) (as drawn by Steve)
?

The Zines on Toast Tour is a road trip travel comic zinester style. The story follows the ‘fun idea made into reality’ of these six zine friends as they drive across the US seeing the sights and giving zine readings along the way.

This zine really caught my attention from the get go. I do so love crisp, clear handwriting and this art style. However, even more than that, I love the different style of the cover. I’ve never seen an ‘the cast’ style of introducing everyone involved, and it gives a feeling of the ‘fun’ vibe that continues inside.

I really love the art for this zine. The panels are small but they are detailed without being too busy. While I couldn’t exactly say, “Oh, that’s Alex, and there’s Steve” in every panel, I didn’t find that as confusing or a negative.

I was a little worried that a zine like this might have inside jokes and references I didn’t understand. I didn’t have to worry, though. Funnily enough, the references that were made had asterisks and notes to what was being referenced.

As far as attribution for this zine goes, I must admit that I’m a little confused. I’ve listed everyone on the cover (and by the cover you can see where to start finding these people if you want to know more), but I have no idea who the ‘Me’ is of this group. I’d have to scan through it again to see if any of the speech bubbles refer to ‘Me’ by name…

This is a zine that I like looking at, and I will do so again many times in the future.

Bio-graphy/logy
?
tl2gzine@gmail.com

Today we have a very short and small accordion fold mini-zine that fits right into the palm of my hand.

Bio-graphy/logy is a short story about you, taking on the rarely use ‘second person’ writing style. You are Michelle, and you love the ocean. Your story is a very sweet one with pencilled illustrations to go along with it. (I must say the I’m very impressed with the printing because it looks drawn by pencil rather than printed.)

Your story is a simple and sweet one on the surface but has hidden depths if you care to think about them.

All up, this is quite a lovely little zine.

how it feels now
Carrie Mercer
cocoanap.etsy.com

‘how it feels now’ is a full colour, 22 page quarter sized zine about the 2016 US election and Donald Trump’s presidency.

In this zine, Carrie is so distraught by Trump’s being elected that she can’t bear to refer to him as anything other than DT. She talks about the American people, her worries for her LGBTQ friends, the future of women’s rights, and more.

Carrie pulls no punches, not hesitating to speak her mind about how she feels regarding the election and possible ramifications. She moves back and forth between anger and concern – something I imagine many Americans are still teetering between the two. Without speaking of politics directly, I can’t help but feel for her in her frustration and fear.

There is a bright spot to be found in the self-care list to help lift your spirits at the end. I love lists and self-care topics, but I think this one goes to show a lot that Carrie still positivity and strength even when she’s feeling such strong things.

Carrie give a great example of readability in handwriting. It was easy to read, and the mix of text with cut and paste made for an over all enjoyable zine in both look and content.

Skin Folk: A Tattoo Appreciation Zine

Skin Folk: A Tattoo Appreciation Zine
Tracey, Zen, Sandy, Chris, Alex, Rebecca, Cormac, James

Skin Folk is a full-colour accordion-fold mini-zine answering the question: “Why did you get tattoos?”

Before I get into anything else, I’d like to say that I love the concept of this zine. The idea to simply and beautifully – through art and words – respond to a question that can often lead to defensive commentary is a wonderful thing.

The art inside is small but intricate and amazing. The images look great and, paired with the lettering used for the answers, it makes for a very complete, enjoyable zine. The answers themselves are a mix of beautiful, thoughtful, and funny, all coming together to make sure the zine doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Alas, there are no contact details to be found. The people I have listed above are contributors (I’m guessing) from a page simply titled ‘Thanks’.

Being an accordion-fold, I do fine myself wishing that more had been included on the blank ‘backs’ of pages, but that’s certainly not going to stop me from making this part of my much-enjoyed forever zine collection.

Brainscan 27 Ten Stories
Alex Wrekk
https://portlandbuttonworks.com/

Brainscan 27 is a mini-zine about endings and adjusting to new realities. Looking at the world with new eyes.

This is a somber zine, but not self-pitying. While there are few words in number, they convey a lot more in emotion and further implications to the small life moment it captures. The small size and few(er) words actually lends itself quite well to this intimate acknowledgment of living in a moment, being in that moment, and then getting on your bike and riding away.

I was thinking how ridiculous it was that we had just signed our names to each page in a huge stack of papers to end something that only took a on page marriage license to begin.

Brainscan 27 encompasses a moment in one person’s life, but I feel like it could resonate with many more people than first glance might lead you to believe.

The Perks of Being a Librarian
Karys
gallergirlzine@gmail.com

The Perks of Being a Librarian is a one-page multi-fold zine listing reasons that it’s pretty awesome to be a librarian.

At one reason per page with text-only pages, you’ll get through this mini-zine in under thirty seconds. Even so, the thoughts that may bubble up in your mind while reading them may cause you to pause or smile more more than once like I did.

While none of the things were surprising or revealing to me (librarian was one career choice that nearly happened for me), it was still nice to read them all collected together like related tidbits.

This is a very quick zine to read and enjoy, but I can easily see it being a fun, small gift for a librarian or someone looking to be a librarian.

i’m sick.
Katie
www.thelalatheory.com

Sometimes I feel like I pick up the zines I need to read when I need to read them, and they are just right to help me get past whatever creative hangups I have at that point in time. This is one of those zines. (Take that as you will.)

i’m sick is a (mostly) text-filled mini-zine stream of consciousness pondering about fever dreams, being sick, people, music, work, and reminding oneself that your alive. Sick as Katie is, they venture forth to the library and contemplate whether the boyfriend will ever call.

It is a touch self-pitying, but who doesn’t get into a bit of grumpiness and self-pity when they are ill?

There’s something about a smaller zine that either makes it more ‘fun and light’ or more intimate. This zine is the latter. It meanders not only through thoughts but but feelings as well. It starts out making you wonder if it’ll venture into a rant while instead it just gets a little grumpy before wandering on to more interesting things. Somehow you end up on something important and vulnerable all at the same time.

This zine reminds me that not everything – not every work created – has to have a point, a wrap up, a ‘the end’ at the end. I mean that in the best possible way. Sometimes things exist simply for the sharing of them because we had a moment where we wanted to connect or simply to express something. It reminds me to loosen up about the standards I hold myself to.

Even Katie says in the zine:

I really just wanted to say hello and to remind myself that I’m alive.

Sometimes I begin to wonder if I read way too much into things. Then I read a sentence like that and remember there are beautiful things to be found even in word rambles.

Sober Bob Supplementary
Sober Bob
http://soberbobmonthly.bigcartel.com/
@soberbobmonthly

I must admit that this zine review is partly fuelled by my enjoyment from watching @soberbobmonthly ‘Your Story’ videos on Instagram… That and my immense love for garlic dill pickles.

Sober Bob Supplementary is a single-page, quarter folded zine about the places we live in, restoration, and the backward “logic” of local councils. It’s about work, people, unemployment, and it always being okay to make zines. All on one double-sided page.

(As someone who lives in a place that cares more about historical renovation rules rather than actual historic buildings, those parts resonated a lot with me.)

My favourite part in this is this quote:

…it’s a worthless to a job but not worthless to me…

That really sums up a lot of passion pursuits, doesn’t it? It sums up so much of what’s wrong with society and what’s right with individuals. It reminded me that my art only needs to be important to one person.

I feel like I’m really getting back to basics when it comes to my love for zines, and this zine is a good example of that. It’s one piece of paper folded twice, and I feel like Sober Bob uses that in the best way. There’s the 1/4 front and back covers, a half page, and then the inside, which is the unfolded full page.

You might not be impressed with a single folded piece of paper, but I appreciate the variety in page size as well as direction. For me, it touches the fun creativity of zines in tense times – even within the zine community.

This is another one of those zines that I wish my friends would make. Random or not so random thoughts paired with whatever their art looks like. Whatever makes them happy – because that makes me happy.