Category: Zine Reviews

Dear Crush
Lydia Martin
lydiamartin976@gmail.com

I didn’t intend for it to be ‘crush week’ in the review section of the blog, but here we are! I do love a good crush story (my first paid publication was about my crush), and Dear Crush presents notes the many crushes from her life – be them good and bad.

Colour! Unless you’re printing at home (and sometimes even if you are printing at home), colour printing can get expensive, so I suppose it’s no surprise that one might be attracted to the colour zine covers in amongst the treasure trove that is Sticky Institute. Colour combined with subject matter landed this zine in my stack of zine purchases.

Dear Crush features small pieces of art along with colour-copied sticky notes written out to crushes over Lydia’s life. Some where innocent. Some were quite obviously less so. I found myself wondering if the notes were in chronological order, as the seriousness of the ‘feels’ increased as the reading went on.

They are all short reads, so I had to remind myself to slow down and really take in the words as well as the drawings that went alongside them.

Art is like poetry to me – I often get the interpretations wrong. I couldn’t help my brain from being tickled by the presentation of the notes. They are, after all, on sticky notes. Reminders easily thrown away. I felt like Lydia might have been trying to say something about the nature of crushes by using sticky notes. In the end, though, I found myself feeling like there was a depth of feeling missing because of it. Maybe I’m supposed to feel that way? Perhaps that is the nature of crushes, the unrequited.

Either way, I’m not sure. It made me feel something, which is the goal of most art, but the feeling was of that of a shared secret that ended up not being as important as I thought it would be.

But hey, it made me think. It made me look at the presentation and content as one presentation instead of things that happen at the same time on the same page. Very curious, and an enjoyed intellectual dance.

There is something that I feel I must add into this review that isn’t about the content. I confess that if I’d been less anxious and paying more attention to the price of this zine, I wouldn’t have bought it because of the price tag. I have no authority to say what a zine should be priced at or how a creator should value their work. Colour print can get bloody expensive, I know first hand, but one of the reasons I love zines is because I can afford them. At $10, this zine is out of my range. It’s only by the levels of my anxiety and the fact I ended up having enough cash that I was able to buy Dear Crush.

Zine Crush 3
Various
http://pioneerspress.com/products/zine-crush-volume-3

Squee! It’s like Dear Anonymous for crush letters! *drowns in piles of fuzzy love hearts*

First let me apologise for my shoddy photography. The cover is actually a lovely pale yellow colour. My decision to go with natural lighting to photograph a bunch of zines was, for the most part, a bad one. Sigh.

Back to fuzzy love hearts.

Zine Crush is one of those things that I kind of thought that I might have heard of before, so at $2 on Sticky Institute’s shelf, I had to get me some of that. I’m so happy I did! This zine is great. And not just because of the very cute subtitle: even more confessions of like

I think crushes are one of those experiences that nearly everyone can relate to, be they sexual, intellectual, crushes on publications rather than people. One of the things that makes this zine excellent is that it includes all of those. It’s not ‘just for people crushing on other people’. I think that adds a fantastic element to the whole thing.

The singles ads/’ads’? here and there in the zine make it feel like more of a ‘zine crush digest’ with singles listings. The comics and the art add to this effect. I felt so ‘in’ (‘in’ what, exactly, I’m not sure. In the know? In with the cool kids?) while I was reading this. A digest of luuuurve. This is one of those zines that I’m so excited about, and I can quite perfectly articulate why.

I must admit that part of me went back to my wistful, angsty teenager days when all I wanted was someone to have a crush on me. How wonderful that would have been! Ah, the days of rosy glasses.

Anyway, definitely a thumbs up. I’m looking forward to hunting the first two down.

Strange News From Another Star
?
http://www.newseda.com/

Every now and then, you come across a person who has such a dramatically different view of the world than you that it feels like you’re speaking different language when you’re using the same words.

This zine was a bit like that. Down the rabbit hole!

Strange News From Another Star is a strange mix of comic, poetry, and cut and paste. I thought I knew what it was all about in the first few pages, but then it ripped out those assumptions. The first couple of pages mentions a book called ‘Interior Voyages’, and I felt like I was going deeper and deeper into someone’s subconscious or dream as I turned each page.

I like the surprise of it being so different, and I quite enjoyed the art. And how could you not like a zine that gently reminds you of which way is up and then invites you to step inside.

Perhaps, then, you can understand my Alice in Wonderland reference? (Eat me/drink me.)

I must confess, though, that I had no idea what most of it meant. I was happy to float along in my reading, but I can see that that sort of thing might bother some people. For me, it was more about the ride, even if the words were trying to say things that I just couldn’t straighten out in my head.

But, if you don’t mind the possibility of getting completely lost, then you should definitely give it a go.

Shakespeare’s Lovers: Macbeth
Bloomurder Zines
https://www.facebook.com/bloomzine
http://www.bloomurder.etsy.com

Oh, dear zine. The very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly to your service. Hehehe.

Okay, so I’m apparently part moth because I like shiny things. When you’re facing a wall of zines at Sticky Institute, you’re probably going to be attracted to the shiny orange zine you see. At least, that’s how it went for me. The colour, the shine, and the texture that comes from a handwritten title (lurve) equals a sale from me.

Shakespeare’s Lovers: Macbeth is about exactly what the title says. A cliff notes type synopsis of the play follows a brief introduction. It goes further to talk about Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in their individual roles as well as how they fumctioned as a couple.

The zine maker’s writing voice in this is absolutely perfect. I dove right in and read it all the way through in one go. It’s one of those zines that made me feel like I needed to have the whole set in my hot little hands even though I’m not sure if there is a ‘set’ in existence yet.

Read it. Love it.

By the Skin of My Teeth Issue One
Sarah
http://thislunaticexpress.blogspot.com.au/
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/MoosZineCorner

My review of By the Skin of My Teeth Issue One is here if you’d like to have a peek.

On behalf of my friend Wing Nut, I have to say thank you for the big, easy-to-read typing. Hehe. I like all sorts, but it’s always nice to have something that’s easy on the eyes.

On to the good stuff! This zine continues on Sarah’s journey regarding mental health, but in this zine she shifts her focus to self-help and self-soothing. I always appreciate information about self-soothing because it’s something that I struggle with. Beyond that I like to see zine series that grow and expand organically from their original content.

She starts off talking about what has happened and is happening in her life, but then she moves into the big techniques for calming. I say big mostly because they are the ‘popular’ ones that weren’t new to me. But then she gets into more personal things like her favourite television shows and the different stuffed animals she uses on different occasions. It was at that point that I felt the ‘per’ part of ‘perzine’ really shined.

In and of itself, it didn’t grab me as very intense or informative (keeping in mind that I’ve been working on this sort of stuff for years), but as part of the series, it works. I’m curious to see where she goes in the next zine.

Pieces #5 On Change
Nichole
http://wemakezines.ning.com/profile/Nichole
https://www.etsy.com/shop/fictionandnot

I’ve reviewed Pieces 1-4, so if you’d like to check them out, you can find the links in my recently updated *cough*it’sabouttime*cough* Zine Review Index.

When I first get a zine, I have a quick scan to get a sense of the layout and what kind of zine I’m about to get into. The Pieces series never fails to be a pleasurable scan. I am a huge fan of the A5/regular page half-fold zine, but there’s something about the A6(ish for US friend paper) size that makes it feel a tiny bit more like a zine. A fun little treasure just for me. Pieces #5 is a smidge smaller than A6, and I love it.

Plus, I love how she continues to use white text on black for the change to more stream-of-consciousness type writing. The visual change to go along with the writing style change is a nice touch.

Now enough about paper, Nyx. Not everyone has teh lurve for the stationery like you do.

Pieces 5 is all about, you guessed it: Change. Looking to go back into regular work, contemplating a move and facing fears are topics that we can all identify with. As with previous issues, Nichole does so with that hint of vulnerability that makes you feel like you’re having a conversation with a close friend.

It’s strange to read something that was written in the past (2011) and yet have it apply so well to things I’m dealing with now. This zine is all about change, and Nichole’s writer-ly background along with a keen craving for the creative sits her well with what 2015 Nyx is sorting through. Maybe I have a severe case of narcissism, but even when the situations are different, her questions and thoughts ring true.

The beautiful thing about a perzine is that it’s like getting to know a person. You can read all sorts of things, but they can still surprise you. Nichole’s foray into S&M was a surprise but a pleasant one. I admire her bravery in a number of ways: admitting her wants and needs to herself, pursuing them with another person, and writing about the whole lot. As I contemplate what to write in my second perzine, I read what Nichole has shared and think deeply about what I could share with the world.

Another win for Nichole in the Pieces series. I’m very happy to see that she is continuing on with Pieces and is on Pieces #12. Looks like I’ll have to catch up.

Under the Influence: The Girly Review
Alexandra B Duguid
https://www.facebook.com/undertheinfluencezines/

Here’s a zine that (I think) came as part of a multi-zine trade. I’ve seen some current calls for submissions for this one, so I was eager to have a peek.

Music might not be one of the big things in my life, but I think that just served to give me a different kind of appreciation for this zine. I didn’t know anyone mentioned inside, but I look at it as a way to check out new bands and singers. I always love an excuse to look things up on YouTube.

I liked how Under the Influence managed to surprise me. The intro and first section set up expectations for the whole zine as far as layout and content. Then they broke out with illustrations (that reminded me of Gemma Flack’s work (compliment)) I really enjoyed and lyrics breakdowns. I enjoyed the change of pace in along with the more text-heavy pieces.

Check it out. Even if music isn’t your area, you could still find something you like.

Earth Kinnection Zine Vol. 1
?
http://errthkinnection.tumblr.com/

Get your guerrilla gardening on and follow up with a sweet spot of tea…

I am a self-described black thumb. I’m probably one of the few people on the planet who actually tried to grow ivy and ended up killing it. So you can imagine that I wasn’t quite sure how much I would be into this zine. Turns out that it’s not all about the gardening.

Earth Kinnection Zine gets off to a great start. There is a table of contents, enough cut and past to make it aesthetically pleasing, and some of the articles are portrait while others are landscape. I don’t know if that bothers other people, but I love it. It makes the whole zine reading experience.

The content covers all kinds of ‘natural living’ stuff. Guerrilla gardening, what a tincture is and how to make it, and even the 7 Principles of Alchemy. I was impressed with the variety of stuff in here. Though it seems kind of wildly different, it still all fits together in a way that makes the zine itself feel organic and ‘wild’ grown. The subject areas aren’t in my active interest areas, but I did enjoy reading along and learning about things. Some parts reminded me of high school biology (which I adored), and some of it struck the ‘call to arms’ green movement.

Unfortunately, I found a bit of the content to be hard to read. I could mostly see it outdoors, but there was no way I was reading it indoors without a lamp. (Full disclosure: my indoor natural lighting sucks a bit.) Here’s a bit of what I’m talking about:

It is absolutely possible that it’s only my copy. Photocopiers do as they please when they please. However, I did think it was worth the mention. I can’t exactly hop down to Sticky to see if other copies are the same.

The other ‘stick out’ thing for me stuck out because I’m an author. Intentionally misspelled words. I certainly try not to call anyone on mistakes because I make plenty of them myself. However, I’m 99% convinced that these spelling mistakes were not typos or, in fact, mistakes. Maybe there is some sort of cultural-type stuff happening with ‘iz’ and ‘humyn’ that I’m just not aware of.

One thing I need to point out (not just because of my growing fondness for tea) is the tea of the month! I love this. Tea is delicious (albeit I add milk, which could get me shot in some places), but it also has some pretty cool properties when you get up into drinking that stuff. But I look at this from a zine-maker standpoint, too. An ‘of the month’ thing says there will definitely be more volumes (moreso than ‘volume 1’, I think, but that could be just me). It’s a fun little tick of approval to put in your brain to let you know to check back for more if you like this zine.

All up, pretty cool. Not really my usual dance, but I was interested nonetheless.

How to Be Alone 2
Bastian Fox Phelan
?
bastian.fox.phelan@gmail.com

I bought this zine when I was last at Sticky Institute – and that was a long while ago. So I can’t help but find it amusing that the content of this zine covers subjects that have been on my mind very recently.

As you may have sorted out, this zine is the second installment in a series about being alone. There is no mistaking this as anything other than a perzine. Bastian talks about things like codependency, life after issue one (hinted at being about getting off Facebook, taking a break from dating, etc), and more. There’s also a side of the mystical with talking about past lives and ‘the north node’ (a new concept for me).

This zine doesn’t start out with an introduction but with a story about a bike accident. Like most people around an accident, I couldn’t help but pay attention. It’s like the start of the book. “This zine is the first I have made using just one arm” as a first line is an excellent hook that keeps me reading.

Even better, as you read, he refers to things written about in the first zine in a way that doesn’t confuse you but does make you want to get a copy of the first zine.

I find myself hoping that Bastian is doing writing in other ways as well. He definitely has a way with words and a writing style that I enjoy. I’ll be hunting down the first zine (and hoping for more).

Check it out.

Labor of Love
Amanda Joy
www.RiotgrrrlK97.etsy.com
http://wemakezines.ning.com/profile/RiotgrrrlK97

Sometimes with a zine, the cover pretty much says what it’s all about. 🙂

Pregnancy and motherhood are two subjects that I know very little about, so I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy this zine. Lo and behold, even though it was outside my sphere of experience, I found it quite interesting. A labour story, thoughts on motherhood… This is obviously not going to be everyone’s cup of tea.

It is what it is – and, for what it is, it’s good.

Amanda did lose me toward the end with the ‘Teen Mom’ reality show thoughts. (I don’t watch reality TV.) But disinterest in one section didn’t stop me from finishing the lot.

This is the first zine I’ve read in a while that really gets into the ‘cut and paste’. I try to keep a ‘you do you’ attitude toward aesthetics, but I have a growing fondness for all those bits and pieces. There are pictures, stickers, pretty papers… Very nice.

There’s also page numbers, a table of contents, and a clear contact page. There’s also a resource page with Amanda’s favourite links in the back. Talk about hitting all the right boxes on the Nyx list.

If you’re interested in the subject, then you’ll like the zine. Check it out.