Category: Zine Reviews

Plague
Edward J Grug III
A5
http://webcomicsnation.com/grug/
tedprior at yahoo.com

Plague is one of the few full-comic zines I own, and I love it. (Not just for the tragic cat story, either.) I love the thicker card cover and the crisp printing on quality paper. The little things show that extra work and dedication to creating an excellent comic on a tactile level as well as visual.

The amount of detail perfectly suits the story being told, adding to the scene without being distracting. The story is excellent, and I can’t help but make a connection to thinking about a horror Tom and Jerry. The fact that not a single word is said in the comic only helps the impact of the visual story told.

Even more exciting? You can find part two on Grug’s site (listed above).

This will definitely be a permanent part of my zine collection.

The Nutella Cookbook
Anna Williams
US Half-Fold
saucerville.etsy.com
saucerville at gmail.com

This is the first zine I ever owned, so I decided it was only right that I start up with The Nutella cookbook. Even if only one of three links on the back still works, and the zine appears not to be available right now…

Yummy! I love Nutella, so I’m not surprised this is the first zine I bought. The cover – made of slightly glossy paper makes the Nutella spread background look even more delicious.

The first thing I noticed when I flipped through this zine is that there is a lot of white space – including entire blank pages. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I’m not used to it in zines, and I would have liked even more to read in this zine.

It’s composed mostly of recipes, but it also has ‘My First Nutella’ stories and an introduction to the Unofficial Nutella Test Kitchen (a uni dorm kitchen). The extras rounded out the recipes and made for a more ‘complete’ experience.

I haven’t tried all of the recipes, but I have tried a delicious few. I’ve also tweaked and played until I made my Nutella-inspired creation: peanutellas.

All up, The Nutella Cookbook will remain a part of my collection.

Now for the giveaway! Yep, I want to celebrate my first review in years. I am giving away one zine pack with all of my zines.

Don’t Call Me Cupcake, Occupy Melbourne, Dear Anonymous I, Dear Anonymous II

All you have to do to go in the running to win the lot is to leave a comment and say hello (or whatever else you’d like to say). If you haven’t left a comment before, don’t worry if yours doesn’t show up. I have to approve everyone’s first comment.

Have at it, have fun, and all that good stuff. I’ll announce the winner next Thursday.

Open internationally.

Title: Gag Me With A… Issue Four
Author: PinkPressBlitz
Type: 1/4 page
Author Site(s): http://gagmewitha.blogspot.com

Review: You have to love an anthology zine where many voices come together in a mish mash of art. This zine is chunky not in the physical but in the content. Choc full of stories, poetry and art, Gag Me With A… has been put together by an expert who knows how to fill a small space with a lot of content without making the eyes strain. I’ve found myself coming back to this zine many times – sometimes looking at the art and sometimes reading the words. Sometimes both. This zine and I fit together on a strange level. I hope to get more editions.

Paper Can’t Win by Keith Landrum is my particular favourite of the zine, though Tender Little Mushpots by Eric Guashino comes in a close second.

On the technical side of things, this zine checks all the points: there is a website URL, an easy to read email and even instructions on how to submit work.

STATUS: For Trade

Title: Doctor Who: a minizine of fave quotes
Author: ma mckearing
Type: A6
Author Site(s): ?

Review: This is one of those times where I feel like a school teacher reminding students to put their name on their work… There *is* an email address on the back, but I’m not one for emailing to hunt down details for a review. That probably makes me a bad reviewer… Moving on…

This full-colour little lovely details one person’s introduction to the world of Doctor Who, some favourite quotes, artwork of the various Doctors and even a page dedicated to all of the men who have played the Doctor. As a relatively recent fan of the show, I found this zine a lovely little ode to the show. Anyone who loves the show will find it enjoyable.

STATUS: For Trade

Title: Without a Map: A You Adventure
Author: Metlinsley (?) Oblivion Spin
Type: A7 (? – itty bitty!)
Author Site(s): ?

Review: Itty bitty zine! Once again, I love zines presented in a non-traditional way, but man, I’d be afraid of losing this in my purse! It’s pretty small. I imagine there are smaller ones out there, though…

Without a Map is a poetic zine, written in the second person – meaning it addresses YOU the reader. Text pressed onto the black and white background gives you a feeling that the pretty words will only lead to bad things. Like with most poetry, I wavered on what I thought of it and what I thought it meant. All in all, the poem itself left me feeling so-so, but I liked its presentation.

(Yeah, even uni poetry classes couldn’t teach me as much appreciation as I should have…)

STATUS: For Trade

Title: ???
Author: Georgios
Type: ~A6 (~A5 half fold)
Author Site(s): http://www.fanzines.gr/

Review: This is the first time I have ever read/reviewed a zine in a different language. It’s in Greek (I think), so I don’t even recognise the letters. It’s probably not really fair that I review this given those facts, but I’m going to have a go anyway.

This is probably the ‘neatest’ zine I’ve ever looked at with a stapled binding, perfectly cut and folded pages, precise printing on good quality paper… This is obviously someone who takes a great deal of care on presentation. The art is simple but cute. I don’t quite understand what’s going on from the pictures, but I like looking at them anyway. Even though I don’t understand a word of it, I’d like to see more from this person.

STATUS: For Trade

Title: Side by Side & Spring is Here
Author: Sassy Spinster
Type: A6 Accordion Fold Double-Zine
Author Site(s): http://theduskofdawn.blogspot.com

Review: When it comes to the zines I make, I am a bit of a traditionalist. But I really love when people go for more creative ways to present their zines. An accordion fold might not seem all that great or creative, but it gave Sassy Spinster a way to present two zines – two stories – in one neat package. Love it.

You may recall my previous review (probably below this post if you’re looking at the blog) of an art zine that didn’t really jive with me. This is another artistic zine with ‘Side by Side’ featuring full-colour, detailed art while ‘Spring is Here’ tells a much simpler black and white tale. I love how Sassy uses juxtaposition with this zine. Two stories, two sides of the picture, one story is complex, deep, and complicated while the other is light-hearted and darkly humourous. She has taken a way of structuring a zine and turned it into a play on the structure.

She probably just made it for fun and didn’t think about these things, but reading into deeper meanings is the joy of the reviewer…

STATUS: For Keeps

Title: in the headlights
Author: Dennis Pomales
Type: A6
Author Site(s): http://minotaurelab.com/

Review: This little zine came, I believe, in the mail through a zine trade. in the headlights is a zine full of almost surrealist art. It’s a full colour zine, which is good because I don’t think it would have worked as well as a black and white. The colour is part of what makes the art. The art is not really my zone/area when it comes to art, but I do like the colour. As an author, I’m all about words, however, and find myself a little so-so on a zine with no words and the art doesn’t appear to tell a story either. (It could be that I’m just not seeing it.)

STATUS: For Trade

Title: stolen sharpie revolution 2
Author: Alex Wrekk
Type: 10.6×13.8cm book
Author Site(s): http://alexwrekk.wordpress.com/

Review: I bought this little lovely on Etsy, and I am glad I did. This zine is a book to the point of having an actual ISBN. It’s full of pretty much anything and everything you might want to know about not only making a zine but spreading it around, running a distro, and more. I’m the kind of person who worries about doing things ‘right’ (which, I know, is not exactly singing to the zine-making tune), so this little book gave me some reassurance as well as ideas.

It’s not a ‘must have’ because, I think, zines are about freedom and innovation. But, it is a good resource if you want one.

STATUS: For Keeps

Title: Brainscan 25.5
Author: Alex Wrekk
Type: A6
Author Site(s): http://alexwrekk.wordpress.com/

Review: I bought this little lovely on Etsy and have enjoyed reading it a few times. Though it was created in a 24 hour zine challenge, it shows no lack of quality or content. In fact, it is the content that keeps me coming back. In this edition of Brainscan, Alex talks about life and mail. I love mail, and I like reading about other people’s lives, so this was always going to be a winner for me.

She goes through the various post boxes she has had over the years and the stories associated with them. I easily identified with her, as she used mail as a sort of SOS to the world. The same goes for the zines she makes. I quite like this zine and recommend it.

STATUS: For keeps