Category: Zine Reviews

The Lost People: How Pop Culture Helped Me to Deal With Trauma
Marvellous
https://twitter.com/Marglow3
https://www.instagram.com/badquilla/

The Lost People is a full-colour A5 zine about processing childhood trauma and abuse through pop culture.

Marvellous opens the zine with an introduction to himself and how being an abuse survivor has defined him. Talk about being hooked in the first few paragraphs. Marvellous really spoke to me straight away when he wrote about carrying several identities within them:

“I’m the child who wasn’t listened to, I’m the teenager who is always hurting, I’m the young adult who was trying to not let himself drown in the pain of abuse.”

As a child abuse survivor myself, this resonated so much with me. It is one of those things in my life that I just took for granted as part of myself and how I think about myself but never really thought of beyond that. Seeing it on the page like that, written by someone else, was really beautiful to me and was yet another reminder of how powerful zines and shared experiences can be.

From there, Marvellous writes about processing trauma through pop culture. I was delighted to find more similarities between us. While I always knew the movie Spirited Away (and all Miyazaki films really) had a powerful impact on me, it was interesting to take in the story through Marvellous’ interpretation.

Marvellous also processed trauma through other movies and books as well. Because of the strong connection I have to Spirited Away, I found myself eager to write down the things I hadn’t seen and read so I could do so later.

The design of this zine is quite well done with the colours of the background soothing words about an intense journey. Watercolours keep you flowing forward and typed words with a mix of written parts here and there keep variety on the pages.

The Lost People is a good zine about how pop culture can actually help us but also represents a zine for abuse survivors wanting to reach out. I’m a little wary of these subjects for my own mental health, but I found this to be a fairly gentle reaching out. Marvellous expresses himself in a way that resonates rather than triggers bad memories (at least, that was my personal experience).

This is a good zine to check out and one that I hope Marvellous expands further in the future if he cares to do so.

Nice Bum, Where Ya From?
Ryan Pocket Thoughts
https://www.instagram.com/_my_name_is_ryan_/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/pocketthoughts/

Nice Bum, Where Ya From? is an 11cmX9cm full colour zine of art revolving around funny rhyming pick up lines involving backsides.

It’s Friday, and I’m in a cheeky mood (pun fully intended), so I decided to pick up one of Ryan’s zines for some smiles and laughs. I was not at all disappointed.

Nice Bum, Where Ya From? launches right in, carrying on from the funny rhyme (and hairy bum) right on the front cover. From there we are treated to six pages – each featuring a bum-related rhyme and a related drawing. They range from (for me): “Did he really write that?” to “I really need to stop laughing in the next five minutes”. That probably says something about my (low) maturity levels, but… I don’t care. I appreciate the laughs so much.

Ryan’s art style is realistic, colourful, and just plain awesome. Do some pics get a little naughty? Well, about as much as you’d expect from a zine with a hairy bum on the cover. But I think it’s all great. My favourite is the one with a Valentine’s Day flair, but I will say no more on it… You’ll have to see for yourself.

I love Ryan’s zines. More often than not, they remind me not to take myself or whatever I’m making creatively too seriously. His zines remind me to smile and laugh. Definitely grab this. And maybe one for a friend who needs a laugh too.

Fritkot 1-3
Antek
a.blampied(at)hotmail.be
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/pleasetakeonebooks

Fritkot 1-3 is a set of three A6, full-colour collections of photomontages.

One more thing to love about zines is zines like these ones making me feel like I have a cool art exhibition right in my hands.

Fritkot 1 opens with a welcome note from Antek letting the reader know that this is a selection of photomontages from the collection they have been creating over the past five years. What follows is a list of the title of each piece included followed by Antek’s sign of.

We then launch right into twelve (in each issue) pieces for the reader’s enjoyment and contemplation.

Zines like this used to intimidate me because, with little to no guidance, I was afraid of getting the ‘wrong’ interpretation from things. However, these days, I enjoy the mystery and finding my own meanings.

While not every piece strikes me, what I like, I really like. For example, ‘Suburban Street’ in issue two features a graveyard with a cityscape (clearly my description does it absolutely no justice), made such a huge impression on me I found myself losing time just looking at it and thinking about what I felt it was ‘saying’ to me.

Further, while no issue has a theme as such, issue three interested me a lot. The front and back covers imply otherwise, but the pieces inside really gave me the impression of being in the world but not being in the moment. Being too focused on superficiality or small things to see the bigger picture. Am I right? Am I wrong? It doesn’t really matter. I’m enjoying the journey of thinking about it.

Fritkot is an interesting series of photomontages that can prod your mind if you let it. If you like photomontages and collages or would like to start checking them out, then have a look at this series.

Pre-Existing: A Zine About Disability & Chronic Illness During 2020
Anna Gecko & Others
https://www.instagram.com/oleandrsstudio/
https://oleandrsstudio.carrd.co/

Pre-Existing is a full-colour, US-quarter-sized zine about various people’s experiences with disability, chronic illness, medication, and other related subjects during a pandemic.

Pre-Existing opens on the inside cover with a few article headlines about COVID and disability, warming the reader up for the content to come. What comes isn’t gentle, however, with the page opposite featuring an art piece called “Sacrificial Worker” featuring a worker with a medical ID bracelet on. It’s a little dark to see all the details of the art, but it still says so much about working during the pandemic.

What follows are short written pieces covering topics from getting diagnoses to getting/trying to get treatment in this ‘new world’. They are quick reads in word count, but they leave you with a lot to think about long after you’ve finished reading them.

There is hope mixed in with the frustration however, with one contributor writing this about having found a chronic illness support group:

“It was the first time I felt like I didn’t owe an explanation about why I couldn’t do something.”

Beautiful.

Along with the Sacrificial Worker art being a bit too dark (printers are printers are printers), my other nitpick is that the text is cut a bit in a few places. That said, it didn’t pause me for long in my reading of this zine. There was also a small, considerate touch that I don’t see very often – washi tape put over the staples internally. That’s such a nice little touch (especially for someone who has been poked more than a few times by staples).

All up, Pre-Existing is a shorter read and one that I’m glad exists. This is one of those zines that helps us to have sympathy and empathy for each other, lets the contributors have a place to express themselves, and might even help some readers take it easier on themselves in whatever they are dealing with.

Weird Fruit
Emily
https://www.instagram.com/emeezines/

Weird Fruit is a 10.9x9cm full colour zine about strange but real fruit.

I don’t know what it is about winter or maybe a lot of rain, but I am all about mandarins. Yummy yummy fruit. Perhaps that’s why I was drawn to reviewing this zine today.

Weird Fruit is one page folded and opens right into a collection of six different kinds of fruit that are weird (and interesting, by my judgement). Each page is dedicated to one with the name, description points about the fruit and a drawing of the fruit itself featured.

I really liked this zine even more than I thought I would. Education is that much better when you’re having fun, and there are even two fruit that I’d never heard of before – rambutan and Buddha’s hand. Each fruit has a few facts about it. Sometimes what type of fruit it is, what it’s also known as, and/or what it smells like. Very helpful, as one of the fruit is said to taste similar to pineapple, and I really don’t like pineapples.

Weird Fruits is exactly what it says on the cover, and I enjoyed it. I like learning new things, and the bite-sized portions (there was no pun intended when I started typing that, but I see it now) of facts is perfect for me.

I’m not exactly sure where, if anywhere, you can grab this zine right now. But if you like fruit and being adventurous, grab it if you see it.

I Have Something to Say #3
Shei
12 Pages
https://www.instagram.com/sheinicorn/
https://linktr.ee/_godsavethequeer__

I Have Something to Say #3 is a full-colour, A6 sized perzine about growing as an adult, observing yourself, and coming to accept the state of the world and yourself.

I think this is the first time I have read a perzine and simultaneously identified with many things while also thinking, “Yes, I remember thinking and feeling those things when I was their age.” Interesting.

I Have Something to Say #3 opens with Shei’s introduction to Shei – a ‘get to know the author’ that covers everything and doesn’t assume that you have read the previous two zines. From there, Shei writes about collective trauma during the pandemic through the eyes of an anxious introvert in a stream of consciousness style. When it’s not forced ‘write as much as you can in three minutes’, I often find this style of writing quite nice as the reader is almost discovering these thoughts as the writer writes them.

They also write about various topics in the realm of the themes mentioned at the beginning. Recognising cycles in their life as well as their complicated relationship to topics like family and country all come around to learning acceptance.

Shei packs a lot of writing into this zine. It makes for a nice, longer reading session. However Shei’s writing is smaller than usual in this zine and I recommend good lighting for ease of reading.

I love a good perzine, and Shei even writes, “After all, there are never enough wonderful humans sharing their insights, experiences, dreams, and adventures…” If you like an introspective perzine, then this is one to check out.

Witches of Cinema Vol 1 & Vol 2
APac
12/12 pages
https://www.instagram.com/apacdrawings/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/apacdrawings/

Witches of Cinema Vol 1 & Vol 2 are black and white collections of witches in cinema with art and text along with commentary about witches in cinema.

Witches of Cinema Vol 1 & Vol 2 open with quotes about witches being portrayed in media before launching into a series of character drawings of witch characters in popular movies.

Each character drawing is accompanied by a brief description with their name, the movie and year of the movie featured in, and things like powers, objects, and goals. APac’s art style is detailed and realistic with each witch easily recognisable and accompanied by special objects and familiars.

Along with the art and descriptions, there are various quotes about witches and how they are presented. I found all of these to be incredibly interesting as they comment a lot about witches being presented as ‘anti-mother’ and lacking fertility. There’s almost a line of thought in terms of what came first – the infertile woman or the female witch. Much more is touched on in these brief quotes as well.

I also find it interesting that Apac separates the two volumes in order of time – the first being 1922 to 1990 and the second being 1990 to 2020. While time is as good a way of categorising as any in many ways, I think it serves to help further demonstrate the portrayal of witches and how that has been evolving.

Each zine comes with two inserts – Female Filmmakers and Extensive List of Movies. I always get nervous about parts of zines that aren’t in some way attached to the zines. However, with the movie checklists, I do like that I can stick them in my bullet journal.

These zines are a fun idea. They combine art and text, introduce the reader to characters they may haven’t seen in a long time and/or characters they would be interested in seeing. I’m so excited to watch some old favourites as well as check out some new-to-me charters and movies as well.

Definitely pick both of these up.

What Quarantine Taught Me
Shei
8 page mini
https://www.instagram.com/sheinicorn/
https://linktr.ee/_godsavethequeer__

What Quarantine Taught Me is a full-colour, one-page folded mini-zine about things Shei (as an introverted, childfree, home employed person) learned during quarantine.

Shei opens this zine by writing a bit about their personal situation during quarantine and how it shapes their experience. They also touch on the idea how they hate the idea that everything happens for a reason (something that had me nodding along because I think a lot of people feel the same). From there, we launch into what Shei has learned.

I identified a lot with this because I’m also introverted, childfree, and home emplyed. That said, I think what Shei learned is good for people of other situations as well. What Shei has learned are things that I think everyone could value.

This is a lovely to look at little zine with helpful reminders even outside of a quarantine/pandemic situation.

Adventures in Gender
Shei
8 pages
https://www.instagram.com/sheinicorn/
https://linktr.ee/_godsavethequeer__

Adventures in Gender is a full-colour A5 zine about a unicorn exploring the magical world of gender identity.

I don’t think it matters how old you are; sometimes you like to approach a new subject gently and kindly. With flowers. Definitely flowers.

Adventures in Gender opens with our lovely unicorn deciding it wanted to know about this thing called gender. From there it encounters some difficulty, but there are also many lovely characters who represent different ways of being like Amber the genderfluid merperson.

Shei’s zines are always fun to look at, and this one especially so. There is so much colour, and Shei uses primarily sketches which are so flowy and fun (even when depicting the onion of cisnormativity).

I can see this as a fun and comfortable way for people to start approaching these topics. Especially for younger people. Even better? There is a page of resources in the back.

If you’d like to introduce yourself to the subject in a very first steps, fun, colourful way, then this zine is for you.

A Book of Rainbows #2
Shei
12 pages
https://www.instagram.com/sheinicorn/
https://linktr.ee/_godsavethequeer__

A Book of Rainbows #2 is an A5, full-colour perzine about witchcraft, magic, and Shei’s personal journey with witchcraft.

I reviewed A Book of Rainbows #1 here (https://seagreenzines.com/zine-review-a-book-of-rainbows-1/) and loved the combination of a perzine with an ‘introduction to witchcraft’ flavour.

Shei launches right into this second zine of the series on the inside front cover. In the introduction, they write about playing with the concept of a Book of Shadows (a witch’s grimoire) and giving it a queer spin with a Book of Rainbows. They also remind the reader that this isn’t a guidebook but rather a telling of a personal journey with witchcraft – which is how they feel people should approach the topic.

From there, Shei touches on the differences between witchcraft, paganism, and wicca. They write about witchcraft and their mental health. A Spell for Chilly Times reminded me a lot of mindfulness techniques I’ve learned, and I love how these things feel connected.

I appreciated the ‘Winter Allies’ piece about comforts during winter and the mention of seasonal affective disorder not only because I deal with SAD but also because we’re going into winter here in Australia. Talk about great timing (not that I need another reason for a comforting warm cup of tea haha).

I also have to mention ‘Witch Block’ in which Shei writes about reminding themself of no needing to do things a certain way to be a witch. This reminds me a lot of the ‘no gatekeepers approach to the zine world in which we need to find our own paths, our own forms of expression, and there isn’t one specific way of making them.

A Book of Rainbows #2 is a great next zine in the Book of Rainbows series. This expands so nicely on how Shei feels about witchcraft as well as how they incorporate it into their world while also keeping the element of introducing the reader to things they may want to look into further on their own.

If you’re at all curious about or interested in the topics, pick this one up along with the first one.