Category: Zine Reviews

Anecdata 1
Olivia M June
Oliviaszines.tumblr.com
www.ParadoxNowCreations.etsy.com

Zines often ‘catch’ me for one reason or another, drawing me in to take a look inside straight away, and Anecdata 1 is no exception. While this zine may be mini in shape, it’s not mini in size. This isn’t a one-page folded zine; it’s a cut, stapled, 32-page solid read.

Anecdata 1 talks about group housing, stimming (a new-to-me term), mental illness, skin, and more. Olivia has a strong and yet open writing voice that’s intriguing and makes me want to pay attention. Plus, she swears more than I do, which made me grin.

I found myself nodding along a lot while also writing down things to get more information about later. There’s even a section of recommendations for mental health zines, and I love seeing zines supporting other zines in that way.

It was interesting to read a perzine from someone whom I felt I had so much and yet so very little in common with. I felt like I was being taught a lot of new things, but in a casual, conversational kid of way. Olivia’s openness and expression about being in therapy and other life experiences has really inspired me to take a close look at what I let myself feel and express when it comes to my mental illness.

There is a lot going on in this little zine, and I enjoyed very much. Anecdata 1 has been a lovely introduction to a whole new(-to-me) world experience, and I look forward to reading more in the series.

Asperger’s & The Re:Spectrum of Human Emotions / Perfect Mix Tape Segue Number Six
Joe
https://microcosmpublishing.com/

I was excited to receive this zine because I know little about Asperger’s and hoped to learn more (especially because of a loved one). What I found inside was both confronting at times and different to what I expected.

Asperger’s & The Re:Spectrum of Human Emotions starts with an overview of Joe’s story of abuse, loss, and coming to terms with his reality through the scope of an Asperger’s diagnosis. What I expected to be a ‘101’ of sorts was actually a perzine about his thoughts regarding his experiences, the diagnosis, and his thoughts on finding resolution for abusers and the abused.

(I must admit that I am pretty impressed that he clearly states that he emotionally abused people. If only I could have achieved so much from those who abused me.)

This zine became confronting for me when it started to address the topic of abuse. For Joe, these two topics are now and forever linked, so it’s only naturally that his story be told through addressing this subject as well. However, instead of leaving it at only his childhood, he takes it to the next step of sharing thoughts on resolution and why he thinks punishment doesn’t stop the abuse.

As someone who was abused, I found myself needing to stop purely reacting to what he was saying and actually think about it. The reaction to hurt is to punish, so the thought that vengeance and punishment alone can be lacking for both sides wasn’t something I could just take in stride at first read. A lot of what he wrote does make sense, but it did take some breathing through my emotions/immediate reactions to actually understand where he’s coming from.

It was interesting to read about someone who desired to make peace with both sides of himself: someone who had been abused and someone who has been abusive (by his own admission).

To the other side of the split.

Perfect Mix Tape Segue Number Six reveals a little more of the pain while also satisfying my desire for more ‘introduction to Asperger’s’ level information that I was wanting in the first section. It presents a characteristics list as well as Joe’s feelings about it.

What really shook me was the list of things do to in interactions and relationships list. Yes, some of the things seemed natural, but other things like “Do I try to do nice things for my partner without being asked” are things that even the ‘neurotypicals’ forget in their relationships.

I’m someone who is, if anything, toward the opposite side of things as far as empathy goes and am an abuse survivor. I also have someone in my life whom I suspect may be on the Asperger’s range, and I want to know more about their (suspected) experience of the world.

Both of those things added up to a zine read that I carefully took my time with and thought a lot about. Am I still sorting out my thoughts and feelings about the things in this zine? Yes, absolutely. However, I am grateful to someone who is willing to document their experiences, and I’m glad I read this zine.

Dead Templeton Issue 1
Ellen and Gideon
www.deadtempleton.bigcartel.com
www.deadtempletonzines.etsy.com

I don’t often review music/music-related zines because I feel like I’ll be out of my depth. (Unless someone has a Punk 101 zine out there.) Thankfully, zines are very good at shattering my assumptions about what they’ll be about, almost always a pleasant shattering.

Dead Templeton Issue 1 is the most ‘cut n’ paste’ zine I’ve seen in a while, filled with all sorts of goodness to look at as well as read.

The very beginning of this zine made me smile because it’s such a great reason the make a zine:

Zines are something that seem to be missing from our area, and we always thought they were super cool and important for whatever scene was going on. So we figured,

“Hey, punk rock is dead here, let’s have some fun. Let’s make a zine.”

Opening up with a piece about the music in the show Daria and the complications involving the music in the show vs what they were able to put on the DVD. Double win for Daria and for immediately bucking my expectations of what would be in the zine. That the next piece was a ‘non-piece’ that was and wasn’t about goats…

If you want variety, then this zine has it. Along with the aforementioned piece, there is an interview, an album review, show reviews… It’s a music zine with side salads of humour and human interest.

I’ve mentioned before how I love the little things that move the zine experience into more than experiencing what’s in your hand. Well this zine comes with a Spotify playlist. I don’t have Spotify, so I wasn’t able to check it out (yet), but I still think it’s a pretty cool add on in a world where including a cassette or CD could shoot postage out of budget. Not only that, they say they’re going to make a playlist for every issue.

I have one nitpick in that some of the type is tiny – I mean really tiny – and even my near-sightedness didn’t help me out. Making that small text white on black makes it a smiggle harder to read again. At least, by lamp light, like I was trying to. That being said, this is a first zine, and it can take a while for people to find their zine layout groove.

When I traded for this zine months back, Punkrawkdewd said that the second one was nearly done and looked even cooler than this one. I hope I can get my hands on a copy.

It Will Be Okay
MissMuffcake

www.missmuffcake.etsy.com

It Will Be Okay is a mini-zine featuring quotes and drawings to give you a positive boost to your moment, your day… It’s definitely adorable, as you can imagine, but with a quote from Ice Cube tucked in there along with one piece of “adult language”, it’s not quite for the very young. (Unless you’re cool with that.)

I like that things are facing different directions (nothing is upside down, though), so you don’t just flip through this. That might not be another person’s thing, but something that gets me to interact more with a zine that I might otherwise quickly go through is a good thing.

Stickers and drawings definitely add to the fun vibe, but I think this added extra, something to physically ‘take away’ from the zine wraps it up perfectly:

That, my friends, is an itty bitty button/badge that you can take out of the zine and put anywhere you please. I absolutely adore it.

I hate to list any nitpick with a zine that is created with such positivity, but I do have to mention… While Missmuffcake does put a name down on the back, there aren’t any other sorts of contact details or a shop URL… But, a name like Missmuffcake makes the Google search a much easier one than searching by zine title, so it’s practically not a search at all. 

Even so, now you have the link above, and I have this lovely mini-zine (with button/badge!) to put in my forever collection.

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Little side note: I’ve hit a point where people have started sending me zines specifically for review. Because of that, I’m creating and trying to maintain a queue so it’s all fair as far as timing goes. That being said, today’s zine, yes, skipped the queue. It’s been a hard week for so many reasons both personal and on larger scales, so I wanted to review a zine that had a message I really needed to hear today. I promise to keep deviations from the queue to a minimum.

Sketchbook 1
Scheree Reeves
http://www.scheree.com/

I’ve always admired people’s ability to draw well. When I was growing up, it seemed like such a magical talent to have. To see things like Sketchbook 1 where some drawings are ‘broken down’ into the individual strokes of linework makes is all the more fascinating…

Sketechbook 1 is just that – a sketchbook of sorts featuring all sorts of Scheree Reeve’s pieces at various stages of completion. There are ‘rougher’ (I say rougher, but they’re gorgeous by their own right) pieces as well as a full colour, completed centrefold. When it comes to what’s drawn, there’s a lovely variety: from humans to animals and creatures between.

Really, though, when it comes down to it, I think I would have enjoyed it just as much with less variety.

This zine is beautifully presented on heavier, glossier paper that suited the completed pieces very, very well. It was a little strange to see the ‘rougher’ sketches on such nice paper, but not to an extent that it took away from the enjoyment of it. For the overall zine, it was a good choice.

An even better choice? The fact that everything is in full colour. From lines to completed pieces, having full colour really breathed life into everything that I think black and white would have fallen short with.

This is the kind of zine that’s easy to flip through or dwell on depending on your mood. I can see myself going back to this and looking through it many more times simply for the pleasure of it.

Doris 15 DIY Anti-depression Guide
Cindy (except for the piss article by my sister)
http://www.dorisdorisdoris.com/

When you put the words ‘Doris’ and ‘anti-depression guide’ together, you know I’m there.

Doris 15 DIY Antidepression Guide gets off to (what I think is) the best possible start: with a comic and an acknowledgement in the very first panel that a little bit of depression is a natural part of living in this world. No, constant happiness is not a realistic expectation. It’s a small thing, but it’s nice to see that aspect of living acknowledged before we get into the nitty gritty of addressing depression.

It’s also nice to see that I’m not the only person whose handwriting wanders a bit…

Cindy has a truly unique writing style in that I always think I’ve settled down with her writing voice and where I think she’s going with things. Then, all the sudden, COFFEE! (or the like). It’s not always sudden, but this zine (and Doris zines in general) is less of a guide and more of a conversation. It wanders into all sorts of useful spaces, but if you want a 100% serious, step-by-step guide, then this might not be the zine for you.

That being said, it all comes back around to this feeling that Cindy wants you, the reader, to get more/the most out of life and living it.

I really appreciate that Doris got into the physical stuff. (Namely, UTIs and other kidney stuff that can kill you.) Yes, depression needs to be addressed through mental self-care, but being physically unwell can have a huge impact on our mental health as well. I’ve seen a lot of care guides that seem to forget that part.

I haven’t read much of Doris, but I think it’s the kind of zine you have to at least try one of. They do my head in sometimes, but I quite enjoy them.

Why I Love Nic Cage (And You Should Too) Activity & Fun Book
K. Sheldon & Kendra K.
http://goteamkk.tumblr.com/

This is a zine that makes me smile every time I look at it. It’s one of those zines that reminds me that “if you can dream it, you can zine it”. I think it’s pretty easy to see why.

Yes, this zine really is an activity and fun book. And don’t think that just because it’s a zine that it’s not up to standard. This is a proper activity book with colouring, drawing, a maze, a word search and more!

This might not be something you want to just hand off to a kid, though. (Being an adult does not prohibit you from enjoying activity books!) Just in case you thought this was for kids. I mean, you could, but that centrefold… Oh, man, that centrefold… I have had this zine for quite a while now, and I still can’t stop myself from chuckling a little when I think about that.

(Spoiler hint: You can see a version of the centrefold if you go to the Tumblr page. You can’t miss it.)

The thing that really gets me smiling is the little ‘seal’ on the back that says this activity book is ‘unauthorize’. Love it!

I almost want another copy of this so I can play in one but have the other for keeps. Haha.

I F#cking Love This Album
Various – Put Together by Chops
http://www.theworddistribution.com/

I F#cking Love This Album is Fishspit’s first foray into teaching me all about a lot of music that I’ve barely or never heard of.

As far as a first step goes, this one is a good one.

I F#cking Love This Album is a multi-contributor zine that takes you not through individual songs that the contributors love but the albums that they love. As Chops puts in the intro:

You didn’t have to pick your “favorite” album, or the first album you fell in love with, or the album you most like right now, just an album you love.

When it comes to zines like this that explore favourites or loves, I’m glad to see that there are multiple contributors. That way you can get all sorts of recommendations that are inspired by different backgrounds and influences. Where I expected a zine of text where everyone shared their favourite and that was it, I was impressed to find different takes on the prompt.

One person responded in comic format, and another person focused on the often-overlooked movie soundtrack album. All this made for a more engaging read and even more different varieties of things to look up.

You’ll still get what you expect with this zine, though: a scavenger-hunt-esque zine that may introduce you to music you’ve never heard of before or that reminds you to go back and listen to those old loves.

Everything Dies 7
Box Brown
BoxBrown.com
Everything Dies

I think Microcosm Publishing describes this awesome and hilarious zine series best:

One of the best and most promising new comic artists out there today, Box Brown writes and draws the Everything Dies zine series as a hard (and oft times hilarious) look into the religious myths of our world.

Everything Dies 7 takes you into the great flood myth, but not the biblical one. This is the Sumerian version with the crankypants Sumerian god Enlil getting upset at all those vexing humans.

This zine comic is great. I’ll come out and say that right now. TL;DR: Everything Dies 7 is excellent.

Box Brown’s style is very enjoyable and reminds me a little of the Felix the Cat cartoon style that I used to watch as a kid. (Which is meant to be a compliment; I love Felix!) He has a great way of using the images to really enforce the humour found in the writing. I laughed out loud more than once (“It vexed him so hard!”) thanks to Brown’s sense of humour. Especially in the little things like a god saying ‘hullo’ instead of ‘hello’.

Love it.

What really made it a keeper (though, let’s be real, it was a keeper pretty much from the first time I saw it) was the addition of letters and responses in the back! All still keeping in the style of the overall comic and just giving it that little something extra.

In and of itself, the comic is so enjoyable and definitely one of those zines that I don’t even let people borrow because I don’t want to lose it. Still, I feel like there’s even deeper examinations to be made once I get my hands on 1-6.

PS. By clicking on the Everything Dies link above, you can grab every Everything Dies comic (for a fair price) and start reading right now.

The Life and Times of Billy Roberts #76
Billy
https://bunnyears.bandcamp.com/

Every time I feel like I’ve settled in with the variety of shapes, sizes, etc that zines come in, something new comes along. This time? A zine that’s a pamphlet! No binding required, one page, two folds, columns… The Life and Times of Billy Roberts is the most appropriate title ever; I feel like I’ve received a ‘life digest’ from Billy.

In issue 76, Billy talks about the month of things breaking, new friends, the therapeutic value of concerts, and more. There is a lot packed into this zine, and yet each section is only as long as it needs to be. It’s like catching up with an old friend ‘quick letter’ style without feeling like anything is being left out.

Aesthetically, yeah, it can get a little beat up in the mail (as evidenced in the photo above), but I’ve seen worse done to bigger zines in envelopes. I’m just pleased as punch that this made it all the way to me in Australia and that I’m feeling like I’m part of the mailing list.

I really hope to see more issues of this in my post box.