Category: Zine Reviews

Defriending: Navigating the Friendship Breakup
Dr Faith G. Harper
http://faithgharper.com/

Defriending: Navigating the Friendship Breakup is self-explanatory as far as titles go. This zine takes you not only through options on how to do it but why it’s so damn complicated.

As a general rule, relationships DON’T last until death do us part… And when they don’t last, we have no fucking clue how to deal.

The thing about the zine that I appreciated the most is that it acknowledges the muddled greyness of the ‘are we or aren’t we’ middle space of the defriending zone. It’s not pretty, and this zine doesn’t try to make it so. As someone who is trying to figure out the best way to do the whole ‘defriending’ thing, it’s nice to have the reassurance that it’s as messy as it seems to be.

Don’t think this zine is going to throw you a pity party. Friendships involve two people, and Dr Harper gets into your responsibilities – whether you’re the defriend-er or the defriend-ee. The real lightbulb moment in this happened for me when Dr Harper got into the difference between whether something is a one-off event or indicative of a person’s personality. (What they did vs who they are.)

This zine ended up being a lot more complicated and involved than I thought it would be but, having read it, I realise that’s a very good thing.

Coping Skills: Because Sometimes Life Is Some Serious Bullshit
Dr Faith G. harper
http://faithgharper.com/

When Wanderer’s emergency happened, I found that I couldn’t tolerate TV, videos, or anything I’d usually do to distract myself. However, I did have this zine, and bit by bit, it did help…

This zine is one of a series called ‘Dr Faith’s Five Minute Therapy’ and just goes to show how effective a catchy title is. I didn’t know exactly what I was getting into when I ordered this zine, but I couldn’t resist getting it with a title like that.

Lucky me, it was a bet that paid off.

Dr Harper has created a list (love a list) zine all about things you can do to cope with what’s happening in your life. There aren’t really specifics applied to this like ‘coping with a car crash’ or ‘coping with the fact someone ate the last doughnut’. It’s like the title says – because sometimes life is some serious bullshit.

Coping Skills is written in the voice of a friend rather than a doctor (or parent or ruling force in your universe). Coping Skills is all about coping, but it reads as something closer to a conversation you’d have while out for coffee rather than one you’d have in a psychologist’s office. When it comes to stuff like this, it’s so important to hit that point of telling someone what they can do rather than just telling them what to do.

I must say that I have to admire that Dr Harper was so ‘meh’ about prayer and meditation one one page but then turned the perspective to a whole new light (that I hadn’t thought of before) on the next page.

I really love that there are suggestions for things to do that you actually can do. I’ve read too many lists and articles that suggest things that require money or other means when ‘money’ or ‘other means’ can be things that add to the stress of the situations in the first place. The suggestions in this zines are general enough that you know what she means but can apply them as you please.

I read this zine during a time when I was incredibly stressed and not sure how to function, let alone cope. It wasn’t a miracle, but it did help. That being said, I think this zine is a great zine to read for any kind of coping, be it more or less stressful.

Comics & Beer
Rory
www.createorperishshop.etsy.com

I’ve never been so excited to see that this was an ‘issue 1’ (implying there would be more) and so disappointed to find there were no more. That sort of stuff happens in the zine world, but I would be all over a sequel to this, no matter how many years later.

Comics & Beer is about life. Rory’s life. From the get-go, you know this isn’t going to be the ‘usual’ sort of perzine thanks to the intro being more of a multiple choice reaction quiz than a ‘hi, my name is X and I’m X years old’.

Rory has a great writing voice that has liberal pinches of sarcasm, dark humour, and disillusionment. It’s what grabbed me from page one and kept me reading. There are little pieces of humour that you might not catch upon first read. There’s even a mini-zine within the zine with short movie reviews. As far as added touches go, this is an excellent one.

That’s not to say there aren’t serious moments. In the piece about TV and our (humanity’s) relationship to it, this quote really got me:

I have shared probably 100 times as many emotional moments with a stupid plastic box as any other living person.

I love what I love and often read in those areas, so it can be a lot of fun when something like this comes to shake up my reading a bit. When it comes to my own perzines, I’m so stuffy about things and try to have themes and whatnot. It was really refreshing – and reminds me to loosen up! – to read a perzine that felt so wonderfully random in picking snippets of life. Even better, I love perzine that leave me wanting to read the next one in the series straight away. Alas…

The contact site listed doesn’t work, but that very well could be because (sigh) this is the only zine in this series. I was sad to find that out when I hunted down the Etsy site. At least you can still get copies of this zine, though. You should, too.

Ed Tillman’s delightful little photo zine “The 5 Cent News” will take you back to better times. Maybe better times never existed, but when you look at Ed’s zine you’ll believe they did. Ed’s photos somehow bring on a sense of satisfying nostalgia. From the really cool little band that slips over the contents, to the wonderful silence that permeates the photos, this zine will zap you into a childlike feeling of wonder. The zine just has a way of making you feel good.

edtillman.net

The Radical Uprise 6: Summer Kicker!
TheRadicalUprise

I know the timing of this might not be the best, what with the northern hemisphere heading into autumn, but here in the southern hemisphere, we’re pretty excited about spring. And, well, what follows spring…

The Radical Uprise 6: Summer Kicker! is an excellent example of a zine that is unabashedly and wholeheartedly what it is. What does that mean? In this case, it means this zine is a list zine with an abundance of ideas for what to do about your summer boredom – or the fact you should, you know, see the sun and the outside world.

With suggestions like ‘Learn Calligraphy’, ‘Flea Market’, and ‘Go Raw for a Week’, there’s a great combination of active and quiet activities to suit various personalities.

The real beauty of something like this is that, though it’s a summer boredom breaker, it’s good all year ’round – regardless of boredom levels. You could grab this zine out for finding out something new to do for the day or for winter activities, too. Okay, so walking around barefoot might not be the best idea in winter, but there are plenty of ideas that are definitely year-round or could be with just a little tweaking.

The extra touch I really loved in this mini-zine is the extra space at the end to put in your own ideas for kicking the boredom (and the computer addiction). Either that, or listing out your answers to the prompt that comes before it: Create a summer soundtrack. I’m not sure what the original intention for these lines are, but either way, I love it.

Falling Apart: A Zine on Death, Grief, Mourning & Loss
Zippity Zinedra Press
https://www.facebook.com/ZippityZinedra/

Sometimes there are zines that I know are likely to confront me in one way or another – and this zine is one. I struggle with the entire subject of death, so the thought of reading people’s stories of grief and mourning was a bit daunting.

Falling Apart is a collection of stories, photos, quotes, artwork, letters and more from people dealing with death. I didn’t expect there to be such a variety not only in the content itself but in how people expressed their grief. It didn’t occur to me before this that grief and mourning happens in more ways than I’m acquainted with. One of those things taken for granted…

There is the cut and paste element that makes zines so awesome and has a combination of text, pictures, and even (readable!) handwritten pieces. I mention this because I appreciated that Zippity Zendra did it very well, keeping things in zine style while still letting the stories and photos remain the focus. Given the subject, I think this is the best way to go.

While I did have to hunt down the link to the Facebook page because I couldn’t find a URL or an email address in the zine, that is negated a little bit by the cover collage artist not only being given a special spotlight in the front but his details are listed as well.

This is another zine that I think you will know fairly easily if it’s something you’d like to have in your collection. Or you could be like me and take the chance with a zine you really aren’t sure how you’ll handle but read anyway because you might learn something…

Functionally Ill 19: Fully Favorable
Laura-Marie
www.etsy.com/shop/robotmad
dangerouscompassions.blogspot.com

Functionally Ill: Fully Favorable is the 19th is a nine-years-running (at the time this zine was made – it’s not dated) zine about Laura-Marie’s journey from the first diagnosis of bipolar disorder. In this issue, Laura-Marie shares some snippets from letters she’s written as well as touches on Social Security hearings, leaving a therapist behind, new psychiatrists, and more.

Functionally Ill doesn’t go into a lot of background or history beyond the brief introduction. Usually I would find that distracting from the content right in front of me, but something about Laura-Marie’s writing put me right into the moment where I didn’t need more information. I want it – I want to read more zines in this series – but it wasn’t distracting.

Laura-Marie’s experiences with Dr R made me angry about heavy-handed psychiatrists, and, thought this zine, I got a glimpse into what it’s like to try to get Social Security payments in the US. I liked that excerpts of letters to others were in the mix, showing the subtle differences in writing voice but almost getting a different perspective on events.

There’s a lot to be said for using zines as therapy, especially when you have a mental illness. However, there is also a lot to be said for using zines as a way to get past stereotypes and gain perspective. Though this was a brief look, it was an interesting one.

Meta Zine: It’s a Zine About Zines
Davida Gypsy Breier
http://www.leekinginc.com/

A zine about zines? Yes, please! What we have here, my friends, is everything I want in a zine about zines that is so good, I can’t help but want more.

In Meta Zine, Davida has created a zine guide that introduces you to (or further informs you about) the world of zines. When I say world, I mean world. While it’s light in weight, this zine is anything but light in content.

Part I is an introduction to the world, culture, and history of zines. Davida mixes the evolution of zines with personal experiences and philosophy. (But at no point does this feel like a perzine.) Davida examines what, if any, definition ‘zine’ actually has and the desire of some to create that label. This moves further into the current zinemaker and inspired yesterday’s post regarding thoughts about the legitimacy/policing of digital zines. There is no preaching or personal politics in this, though. It’s an exploration of the history and associated thoughts – thoughts I’ve also had as a zine reviewer.

Part II takes you into the hands-on world of actually making a zine. From supplies and margins (don’t ignore margins!) to printing and selling, Meta Zine gives you all the basics to get you started if you are otherwise hesitant. There are even more sections, including a number of zine resources for finding, selling, and trading.

Meta Zine is only 23 pages long (half fold, looks to be a 10pt font if I’d guess) but still somehow manages to pack it with so much information. It’s fantastic. This is the kind of zine I would make if I had Davida’s level of knowledge. If I had the money, I’d happily buy dozens of copies of this and send them to everyone who expressed an interest in the zine world.

If you want to know about zine history, how to make zines, some of the philosophy behind zines, anything else related that I haven’t mentioned, then get this zine. It is an utterly fantastic place to start.

Read
Chris Graves
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Today’s review is a short and sweet one for you.

Read is, as Chris puts it, “A mini-zine of mini-reviews OR A taste of some of the things I’ve read in the last month”.

I like that it’s not just text on paper (nothing against zines like that, though). Some reviews have mini-pictures of the covers, and there are little bits of colour here and there as well. I find it funny that the same book – The Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult – has been recommended in the two book review zines I’ve read. I’ll have to check it out.

This zine does contain on of those things that makes me go ‘hrmph’ – lack of contact/social media. You might make a zine just for you or only for your friends, but you never know if your zine will end up all the way in Australia with someone like me who’d like to see your website. 🙂