Category: Zine Reviews

A Guide to Being Cool
Jane Cantwell
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/AdventuresinKindness
#luckyjarzines

I got this, A History of Abandoned Hobbies, A Guide to Letter Writing, and A Guide to Op Shopping as a lovely little bundle.*

A Guide to Being Cool is a full-colour, A7-sized zine that is a lot of fun. I wasn’t sure what to expect with zine given the title, but I quite like it. I think there is a cheeky undertone to the “guidance” inside – a message that isn’t stated outright but can easily be taken. I quite like that element to things.

Plus, as it turns out, I’m already pretty cool. Haha.

Another cute offering from Jane Cantwell.

*The links will only begin working as the other reviews are posted.

LP’s Lists: A 24 Hour Zine
Logpoes
https://yourfriendlp.wordpress.com/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LogPoesShop

I feel like it might say something bad about me how I derive pleasure from getting ‘limited run’ zines. I love list zines, I was ordering another zine from LogPoes anyway, but seeing this in the description on Etsy made getting it all the more pleasureable:

List zine written for the 24 hour zine thing challenge. 24 pages, A6, full colour, limited edition of 24 copies. I’m not reprinting this zine, so when they’re gone, they’re gone. 🙂

Anyway, list zine! It doesn’t take much to figure out what this zine has inside. I absolutely love lists (to the point where I had to get myself to stop making them for a while) and especially list zines. I find that list zines have this awesome way of showing so much personality with so few words. LP’s Lists is no exception. With excellent handwriting (a must for zines that are handwritten) and simple art, you get to know LPs desk, current reads, current music…

I love that, as the intro, LP gives a list of reasons why she decided to make a list zine. A little bit of cheekiness goes a long way.

My favourite list, though? “What I Order at the Sushi Restaurant” It’s always nice to find another sushi enthusiast. Yum!

It’s a quick-ish read, as you might imagine, but I enjoyed every minute.

Hey Ho Banjo
Mariah Calman
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/KeepCalmMariah

Sometimes you see a zine, and you just know that you have to grab a copy. That’s what happened to me, anyway.

I am the proud human to two dogs and one cat, so I have a soft spot in my heart for things cat and dog. The Etsy listing for this zine had a few peeks inside, and they reminded me so much of my dogs. Well…

To get to the technical bits, this zine is lovely in that it has a slightly stiffer card for the cover (I always appreciate that) and higher-than-standard GMS paper inside. I love the feel of higher GSM paper, and – while sometimes it doesn’t matter – I think it can really be of benefit when you have a zine with thick, black sections. I think if there had been and show-through on the pages, it would have taken a tiny bit of my enjoyment of this zine away. As it is, the pages are crisp and there is no show-through.

On the surface, this is a quick read, but I’ve gone back through it a few times to enjoy the humour and the art. For some reason I can’t quite put my finger on, the art in this one really fascinates me. I keep finding myself looking at the pictures, holding them really close to my face, and then holding them at normal distance again.

The to-do list is so cute and reminds me so much of my dogs.

Obviously if you don’t like(?!)/aren’t into dogs, then you might want to pass over this zine. But if you have/have had dogs, I think you’re really going to like this one. It’s definitely a keeper for me.

A Guide to Letter Writing
Jane Cantwell
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/AdventuresinKindness
#luckyjarzines

I got this, A History of Abandoned Hobbies, A Guide to Being Cool, and A Guide to Op Shopping as a lovely little bundle.*

I’ve been writing letters since I was a kid, so I don’t exactly need help in that department, but I do like having ‘sets’ of zines, so…

A Guide to Letter Writing is a beautifully bright full-coloured, A7-sized mini-zine. I love all the beautiful colours in this zine. It makes the whole thing more fun and nice to look at. Another pleasant surprise to be found inside was that, instead of list of tips and tricks, it’s set up like magnet poetry words on a fridge. Each page has a header (like “How to Decorate a Letter”) with the typed suggestions all pasted in at different angles below.

Very fun.

*The links will only begin working as the other reviews are posted.

Things I Know About Cooking and Not Eating Animals
Shit and Sundries
http://universalwastelandpirate.tumblr.com/

I’m not anywhere near to being vegetarian or vegan so I have to admit that I was wondering if I would really get anything out of Things I Know About Cooking and Not Eating Animals. As it turns out, I did.

I love that S&S starts off with a funny, ‘keepin’ it real’ confession about her beginnings in becoming a vegetarian. I’m not here to judge anyone’s reasons behind their life choices, but admitting that it came from something silly makes the zine more relate-able. When you’re talking about potentially sensitive subjects, a bit of humour can definitely help.

There’s a bit of most things I think you’d expect to see in this zine. There are things she wishes she’d cooked with sooner, recipes, how to re-hydrate dried beans, and more. It certainly introduced me to some things that I’d never even heard of before (textured vegetable protein, anyone?). Plus, just because I’m not a vegetarian, it doesn’t mean I don’t love my beans and own a dehydrator.

There’s a blank page in the back for ‘notes and stuff’ that I think is cool. I’ve never seen a notes page in a zine before. That may be for obvious reasons, but I like seeing new and different things in zines.

All up, it might not be quite my thing, but it was a good zine in the subject that taught me things without preaching to me.

Fuck Fame
http://www.missionminicomix.com/

Fuck Fame is an A7-sized mini-zine that calls to task the privilege granted by popularity – specifically within the band/punk scene.

This is what I love to see in a mini-zine – especially mini-zines made out of a single piece of paper. Just because you don’t have a lot of space doesn’t mean you can’t still have a lot of content. Fuck Fame is a well done comic zine with excellent, surprisingly detailed art, clear handwriting, and a message that needs to be heard.

I very nearly missed the URL in there, but they placed it well. Haha. Excellent use of space.

A Guide to Op Shopping
Jane Cantwell
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/AdventuresinKindness
#luckyjarzines

I got this, A History of Abandoned Hobbies, A Guide to Letter Writing, and A Guide to Being Cool as a lovely little bundle.*

A Guide to Op Shopping is an A7-sized zine in full colour with maps as backgrounds. (Love it.) You definitely get the sense that Jane is a serious op shopper and likes to hunt down a bargain. I’m not much of an op shopper myself, but her zine (and my wallet) make me feel like I should really get into it.

Though I am familiar with op shopping, I did learn something in that I didn’t know a student card could possibly get you discounts. That’s definitely good to know.

The little note on the back (I won’t spoil it) made me smile and wrapped up the whole thing nicely.

*The links will only begin working as the other reviews are posted.

X
Rebecca Sheedy
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/rebeccasaurusrex

The “X” is actually CUT OUT of the cover to reveal the green paper behind. I swear, if I love that any more, I would burst into a pile of confetti and doughnuts. Love it!

There is so much work put into this one small zine – it’s fantastic. Very detailed, full colour art set up in a comicbook style, printed on nice glossy paper, the green paper just on the inside cover, the aforementioned ‘X’, and even a little sticker on the front to say that it’s a “Bonus Unsubmitted & Unfinished Honours Thesis” (with every purchase of its companion zine that you can find on the Etsy shop).

I’ve come to see that I don’t quite have Rebecca’s level of love for the X-Files, but I’m happy to admit defeat to someone like Rebecca. This zine shares her dedication and love for the X-Files through her childhood/teenage years. I enjoyed following along with the various X-dedicated projects she did alone as well as with her friends.

I like that this zine is about the X-Files (<3) on the surface, but it's also a reference back to some things in my childhood. From what I gathered in this zine, Rebecca is only a year older than me. This zine kept me smiling not only about the show but about things like becoming a master at pausing the VHS recording to skip the ad breaks and making my own newsletters in Microsoft Publisher 95.

The only nitpick I have with this is that there aren't any sort of contact details on here. That in combination with a title like 'X' is going to make it hard for people to find the person who made it. I know this is a bonus zine sold with other zines, but things get separated.

Definitely one for the permanent collection, that's for sure.

SAD: Sensitive Adult Daily – A Zine for Sensitive Adults
Darcy L Rock
http://sensitiveadultdaily.tumblr.com/
http://www.sensitiveadultdaily.com/

I traded for this at the Festival of the Photocopier after someone at the Sensitive Adult Daily table handed Wanderer a card that had me giggling.

The mixture of humour and anxiety had me wondering what I was getting into with zine, but I had to check it out.

It’s hard to know where to start with this zine because there are so many good things to talk about. Despite it being 8 pages (not counting front and back) long, every time I thought I knew how to take it, it brought something new. First it started with quotes, then it went to art, and later it got into things like cognitive distortions. There’s even a ‘confessions board’ and classified section (both of which you can submit to).

It’s like an entire community space within a mini-zine. It’s fantastic.

I think the thing that I like the most is that it includes ‘sensitivity’ along with mental illness. I think there are a lot of people who aren’t diagnosed as mentally ill out there who hear ‘you’re just too sensitive’ (or something of the like) too often. That this zine could grab their attention, too, is an excellent thing.

As it turns out, Sensitive Adult Daily is holding a Kickstarter going toward helping the creator distrubute this zine for free. Check it out here.

‘Bots is ‘Bots: Issue Six
Gregg
http://botsisbots.blogspot.com.au/

Check out my reviews of the other ‘Bots Is ‘Bots issues in the Zine Review Index.

Gregg was kind enough to send me issues 1-6 of his zine ‘Bots Is ‘Bots last year(ish?), and now I’m finally reading issue six.

This issue is unlike the others in that it has very few words – none of which are actually spoken by the characters. Instead of the usual collection of strips, this is one big comic featuring pictures of ‘a day in the life’ for all the bots. From waking to sleep, we follow them through their lives (as they stand as of this issue). It’s sweet, and the variety of layouts kept it interesting and pleasing to the eye.

But… I’m left wondering if this is it for Glad ‘Bot, Mad ‘Bot, Chad ‘Bot, and Sad ‘Bot. The comic itself is a little sad – nostalgic, even. There isn’t a strip for the invitation to play Words with Friends nor is there a strip for the thanks Gregg usually gives out. There’s nothing but Gregg’s name and the name of the zine to go on for contact details.

I hope it’s not the last one.

I think ‘Bots is ‘Bots Issue 6 is a zine that will be more appreciated by someone who has read the zines that came before this one.