Category: Zine Reviews

Last Thursday, a friend contacted me about proofreading his novel – by Monday. It’s hard to say no to a paying job, so I told him I’d have a go. I managed to do it by editing from Friday arvo to Sunday night with breaks only for sleeping. I’m actually proud of getting it done on time, but I had to put everything else aside. I still haven’t caught up.

I have a few smaller zines for you this week, so I figured I would review them in one post. Not to take away from the awesomeness and importance of mini-zines. More that I figure two or three mini-zines adds up to the prattling I do on one bigger zine.

I apologise for the pics being a little dark. First up, a poster edition of YOU.

I’ll be honest: I can’t resist a free zine – even in poster form. I’m a big fan of YOU in all its incarnations. If you want to know more about that, then check out this post.

My Learnings
Heard
A7
?

My Learnings is a very simple mini-zine filled with simple life truths – most of which are fewer than seven words. It’s not a complex read by any means, but perhaps that is the point. It’s a quick read but a pleasant one.

Mini Moz Fanzine
Alice Belle
A7… or is it! Surprise when you fold it out to A4

Mini Moz is a passionate tribute to Morrissey. Not quite the traditional mini-zine, you don’t just read it through. There are different bits written in different directions, making it more of an exploration. I quite liked that unexpected treat – even if I’m not all that familiar with Morrissey.

*****

Both mini-zines do prod a pet peeve of mine, which is no contact details, no blog URL, so on and so forth. I don’t begrudge anyone the desire to remain anonymous (Dear Anonymous, anyone?), but I would have liked to check out more. Especially Mini Moz given she’s such a talented artist.

How do You Take It? 2014 (Issue #14)
Tasha
A6
https://lifeasawhitepickettfence.wordpress.com/ (No longer operating.)

That moment of strange excitement when you come across a zine, see the author’s name, and think, “Hey! I know her!” That’s the little thrill I received when I saw this zine is by Tasha. She’s one of the first people I traded zines with on WMZ back at the beginning of my zine journey.

‘How do You Take It’ starts off with a diary-type entry noting Tasha’s thoughts on the first day of a new year. While the writing is a touch flowery (if I’m to be honest), it does fit with the kind of self-examination that usually comes with the start of a new year.

The sentiments don’t last overly long before she launches into a cynical rant about resolutions which began with these words (that made me smirk):

‘Tis the season to publicly commit to ridiculous lifelong aspirations; to promise the unrealistic and make soundedgoodatthetime kinda plans!

There aren’t exactly solid, clear breaks as such, so everything kind of travels into the next section on its own. While probably not intentional, it does work for a bleary-eyed zine created on Day One of 2014. It does wrap up with a reflection upon the previous year. I like this because, while she takes a cynical view of resolutions, she shows that she can still appreciate the meaning of a new year and its significance.

YOU
Anonymous
This one? A page in a greaseproof bag. Next one? Who knows?
http://zinewiki.com/YOU

Writing a review of an edition of YOU is like reviewing a limited edition Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavour; it’s iconic for some parts of the world, and you never quite know what you’re going to get until you dig in.

Good analogy? I’m not sure, but I don’t think I can think of anything better.

According to its Zine Wiki:

YOU (November 2001-) zine takes the form of a free anonymous letter addressed to you from various writers, usually handwritten, often sealed in a paper bag, published by Luke You.

YOU ties into the curiosity that is so intrinsic to most of us. Something sealed in a paper bag? For free? I must know what’s inside. This curiosity is followed closely by an urge in much of the population – voyeurism. While it grants the writer the bliss of anonymity, it also gives the reader a glimpse into a life that the reader would very likely never know.

For me, YOU is like a present. Someone has given me something special: a moment of their life. I’ll never know the writer, and the writer will never know me, but I will still be able to hold onto this moment. This little piece of life that someone threw out into the universe.

This particular letter is about a beautiful moment. I smiled even though I didn’t know some of the names referenced. I dwelled on the handwriting, curious about the hand and the person that would write with those particular words and curves of the letters. Even before all that, I got to open the bag – getting the same kind of enjoyment I get from opening happy mail.

I love it, through and through.

Winged Snail Mail 1
Sarah Hoffman
US Half-Fold
http://wingedsnailmail.tumblr.com/

I’m sure I’ve prattled on about how much I love happy/snail/postal mail, so I’ll keep myself in check in that department and get right to the zine review.

From the get go, this is a well-organised zine. There’s a clear table of contents right in the beginning (yup, ‘in the beginning’ is a talking point – I’ve seen them placed elsewhere in zines), and the table itself is separated into sections. There are zine reviews, articles, an interview and more. I haven’t seen a lot of first zines with so much variety and content. An excellent start for a zine that, I hope, will have many editions.

Winged Snail Mail 1 is tripped up (ever so slightly) by two things. The first is forgetting about the margins. A couple of things were cut off. I think I worked out what they all are, but I don’t like having to work for it. I’m a lazy zine reader. 😛

The second is dark copying. It really only messed with this one page:

It was impossible to read in my usual reading lamplight. (I’ve brightened this picture up on the computer.)

But she makes up so, so much for that by making a move that is one of my personal favourites:

Clear, easy-to-read details. Love it.

It might sound like I’m being harsh on this zine, but I’m one of those really annoying people who nitpicks the things they like. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t bother.

With such a great start, I am looking forward to seeing what’s included in issue two. This is part of my ‘for keeps’ zine collection.

How to Make a Mini Journal
ShimzBar
A5 (A4 half-fold)
http://www.etsy.com/au/shop/JournalTopia

I love journals – all sorts of them – and I’ve been making journals for years now. So when I saw a zine about making journals, you can imagine I was pretty excited. Unfortunately, this didn’t really measure up.

I have probably said before that one of the beauties of zines is that there isn’t just one thing that they are. However, I do have certain expectations. I expect more than print outs with some font changes. That isn’t meant to be insulting; it is quite literally what this zine consists of.

That’s not to say a zine can’t be all typed out without any images. What I really missed with this zine was the personality behind the zine. This is very good information zine for anyone who is a beginner with journals. But it’s purely information.

I really shouldn’t hold that against it. I read zines to connect to other people, and that was something that wasn’t met here. Another person will have another view. I do think three double-sided A4 pages shouldn’t cost quite so much.

Fat-tastic 1
Sage
1/2 fold (US)
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/sage

Last week, I reviewed Fat-tastic 1, so click on that name if you’d like to check out that review.

The next best thing to reading a good zine is seeing a good zine evolve over multiple editions. While this is a transition from 1 to 2, it’s still a transition. The zine itself hasn’t grown a huge amount, but the content inside has expanded. There is an interview, more art and poetry, a letter… Fat-tastic 2 will appeal to many different crowds by embracing the different forms of expression.

Though I must say, something about the middle spread image makes it my favourite of the lot.

Sage doesn’t proclaim herself some body-positive guru or anything like that. She fully admits that she is still learning to accept her body, love herself, and treat herself well. To me, her admitting the vulnerability of ‘still learning’ (instead of ‘I’m an expert!’) is the number one reason I’m eager to dive into Fat-Tastic 3.

Fat-tastic 1
Sage
1/2 fold (US)
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/sage

Body image is a pretty complicated subject for me. I’ve struggled with those sorts of issues since I was a child. So I was a little scared when I ordered this zine. Scared of what, exactly, I’m not sure. Either way, there was no need.

Fat-tastic is, well, fat-tastic!

This is a compilation zine, which I think is the strongest format for the subject. When it comes to issues like body image, the best thing to know is that you are not alone. Fat-tastic takes full advantage of that by not only creating a zine of multiple voices but in multiple expressions of feelings. There are personal written pieces, pieces of art, poetry and even a DIY tutorial.

This was the first time I’ve read body-positive anything, and I am glad to have a great introduction. I’m looking forward to reading the next issues and seeing how the zine grows.

New Hearts, New Bones 16 : Evil Has Many Faces
Cheering and Waving Press
Touch smaller than A6
http://wemakezines.ning.com/profile/CheeringandWavingPress

This little zine is marked as free zine, but I received it in a trade. (Such is the way when postage to your country stinks). It’s a ‘traditional’ zine in the sense of it being black and white, clearly cut and paste, and stapled together in a slightly askew way.

This zine is almost a call to revolution. At least, that’s how I read it. It starts off with a ‘tragic but true’ statement and then prods you into taking action. Into stopping the monotony of it all. While it didn’t inspire me to throw away the ‘shackles of the man’ (and I type that with no sarcasm intended), it was a short, sharp reminder that there is more to the world than the things I immerse myself in.

A bit deep for such a small zine? Perhaps. But I’m in the mood for some stirring of life beyond what it is now.

You Don’t Know Me
Gemma Flack
A5
http://www.gemmaflack.com/

You Don’t Know Me is a beautiful black and white zine of little words and hand drawn images. While it may be easy for some to breeze through it in a minute or two, it can have a lot more meaning if you let it.

On the fact of it, it’s composed of a few sentences – but they are sentences I have thought thousands of times. I am a woman who has judged and been judged based on appearance only. So, instead of flipping through the zine, I slowed down and really looked at the drawings. Gemma’s drawing is both straight to the point and intricate when you pause a moment to look closer.

*Special note on the back: For each copy of this zine sold, $1 will be donated to IWDA: International Women’s Development Agency, advancing women’s rights in Asia & the Pacific.

Updated Report of Observations Which Somehow Seem to Reflect Abstractly on Life (Stat 2)
Sarah McNeil
A6
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/SarahMcNeil

Have you ever looked at a zine and wondered why you didn’t think of that? Well played, Sarah McNeil. Well played.

That sounds antagonistic, but it’s really not. I love statistics and graphs, and this zine is filled with them. From pie charts to bar graphs, McNeil has taken subjects from her life and laid them out statistics-addict style. I love, love, love it.

And wish I’d thought of it. But we’ve been over that.

While it might sound like a ‘cute’ sort of zine, there’s actually more than what a glance will tell you. The ‘Junk in My New Apartment’ pie chart and ‘Alcohol Intake’ line graph are amusing. Combine those with the ‘Sexual Preference’ and ‘This Zine’ pie charts start to give you a view of real, complex life. It’s becomes something akin to blogging via statistics. There is a level of vulnerability that I wouldn’t have thought possible through charts and graphs.

There are also a few more… visually amusing line graphs, but I’ll leave you to discover those.