Queer!Content #5: Sadvertising – An Attempt At Healing
Wolfram-J VK
@queercontent

Sadvertising is a full colour A5 perzine about growing up in foster care, mental illness, and finding healing. Wolfram writes this in a memoir style, and it also includes poetry and photography.

Buckle up, zine friends. I have a lot to say about this one.

Sadvertising contains a lot of strong emotions right from the start. I pretty quickly got the impression that Wolfram was someone who feels very strongly about putting this out there but there’s also a sense of vulnerability that comes in doing so.

A content warning (foster care, mental illness, sexual violence) is very normal to see in a zine introduction, but this is the first I’ve read that almost dictates the terms of reading it. Wolfram clearly feels a desire to share these experiences – even if it means “pointing at those shitty people” – but doesn’t want to answer questions or have their writing called things like ‘brave’ or ‘heavy’.

While I did feel a little bit wary with the mention of pointing out ‘shitty people’, the whole tone of the introduction was different to most in a way that made me curious about what was to come.

After a poem and the introduction to the zine, Wolfram starts out writing about their early life and watching a parent deal with mental illness. Something that ultimately lead to Wolfram and their brother being put into the foster care system. From there, we learn about a life of growing up in foster care – both good and bad – and as Wolfram slowly discovers their sexuality.

There are so many things in this zine that brought up feelings of sympathy and empathy – not just because of my own background but also the thought of how just a mature conversation or two could have gone so far in so many situations.

The first half ends with a full colour mini-comic that you can easily take out of the zine and enjoy on its own. I do love a surprise ‘zine in a zine’ and found it an interesting addition that Wolfram calls ‘a breather’ before the second half.

The second half covers more of Wolfram’s late teens and adulthood. They write about making friendships online, outgrowing those friendships, and what it was like only ever being at a distance with those friends (in most cases).

The timeline jumps around a little bit more as Wolfram goes on to write about mental illness fears, not relating to other adults who have parents they can rely on, and disconnections from others’ experiences.

There is a section in amongst this called ‘Femme in Question’ that steps away from the otherwise more traditional memoir style this zine felt like through the rest of it. In an anonymous ‘dear you’ style rant, Wolfram doesn’t hold back about their feelings whatsoever. I must admit I was thrown out of the ‘reading zone’ I had been in otherwise by this section. However, I fully admit that I was only thrown because I’d identified with the book memoir style, and it did work well in reminding me that I was reading a zine.

Toward the end, there is also a piece that discusses ungendering discussions of sexual violence and how not doing so can and does cause problems for male victims in queer spaces. I can see this being an extremely sensitive subject and don’t think it’s right for me to express an opinion within the conversation, but it did lead me to wonder if Wolfram will make a zine solely on that topic alone.

Sadvertising ends on a hopeful note of self-word and, dare I say, self-respect. I have a better understanding of the introduction and their desire for their story to be taken as it is rather than made into something other than one life and one life perspective.

I think if you like memoirs and are okay with the content warnings, then this is a zine to check out.

Submerging
Edited by Brian Cogan, Brett Essler, Mike Faloon, & Brendan Kiernan
submergingwriters@gmail.com

SUBMERGING

Submerging is a full colour half-fold literature zine that also features photographs.

“Euphoria is a trail of exclamations points that you follow off a cliff.”

Despite what I imagine was a typo pluralisation of ‘exclamations’, there is something darkly amusing about that quote.

Submerging is a zine that contains four stories that I am assuming are all nonfiction. They read as non-fiction, but there’s no indication or introduction in the zine that makes that clear. (Though the website does mention that the zine includes personal essays.)

We start off with an interesting diary-style piece that starts with anti-anxiety medication, wanders into the realm of analysing politics in the United States, and ends on a sad note in the Philippines. The pieces that follow cover a heart attack, a slightly stranger (in structure) piece about memory and health heartbreak (no spoilers here, zine friends), and a piece about aging.

I finished the first story a little confused and feeling like perhaps there was something in it that I just wasn’t understanding fully. However, I settled right in with the pieces that followed. The heart attack fascinated me (as strange as that is to type. The structurally stranger piece was still intriguing, and the piece on aging? It felt a little sad because of the inevitability of everything (and because of the age I’m at), but it ended on an unexpectedly cheery note that left me feeling good.

While writing exploring health – both mental and physical – may not sound appealing to you on the surface (it’s definitely an interesting topic to me, so win there), the personal element to these pieces draw you in.

Submerging is a nice zine to look at and touch. It’s made with smooth, glossy paper, and everything looks very clean and crisp. The typography choices are nice, and little things like the drop cap at the beginning of pieces adds to the overall package. I like the inclusion of photos as well. They break up the text, but there aren’t so many that it would confuse this being primarily a literature zine. (I can’t decide whether the cover photo or ‘En Route’ is my favourite picture.)

The writing voices in this zine worked well together, and I can see myself going back to read some of the stories again. If you’re looking for a literature zine with a taste of photography to check out – or maybe even submit to – then this is a zine to have a look at.

ADL -> MEL
George Rex Comics
http://www.georgerexcomics.com

“Once a year a pilgrimage is made by zinesters across Australia to Melbourne…”

ADL -> MEL is an A5 comic in pink about travelling from Adelaide to Melbourne for Festival of the Photocopier in Melbourne. If the title sounds familiar, that’s because I reviewed a zine by the same name by Rebecca Sheedy: (https://seagreenzines.com/2017/03/15/zine-review-adl-mel/) Let’s just say I was even more excited about finding this zine because not only is it another comic diary perspective about FotP and things surrounding it – Rebecca and George are mentioned in each other’s comics!

George takes us through the whole FotP experience – from the flight to Melbourne on the Thursday before to fun in the city before the flight home on the Tuesday after. While the reason for the trip may be Festival of the Photocopier, this zine documents all sorts of things that happened around the event as well – including a quiet night in after heaps of zine activities.

The aesthetic of this zine is so fun in that George designed three zines for a zine launch in Adelaide, and each zine was assigned a Neapolitan ice cream flavour. The reason why this zine is all pink because this one is strawberry! Being the completionist that I am, now I want to grab the other ‘flavours’. I also like the added touch that my zine is #27/100 of the second printing.

George’s art style is fun and on the more cartoon side of drawing. There are so many little things that made me smile – small details like the Daiso haul (Daiso is an odds and ends shop – most are $2.80), and George mentioning the panic that starts only after you set up your table at a zine event.

This is the sort of zine I would read before a zine fest to get a feel for zine events. It’s not a guide, but it’s sweet, and I really love the whole vibe. Definitely check it out.

Oh Brother! Some Stories About Growing Up With a Brother With Autism
George Rex Comics
http://www.georgerexcomics.com
@girlrexdoor

Oh Brother! is an A5 full colour zine collection of comics about growing up with a brother with autism – and it includes drafts and background material for the upcoming book.

I hardly know where to get started with this zine. I really love George Rex’s art, and that George would open up about what is very likely a somewhat sensitive part of their life in this way leaves me feeling honoured for a glimpse of a life perspective I would not otherwise get.

Oh Brother! is a beautiful and bittersweet zine. George keeps it real with the struggles – and silly moments – of having a brother with severe autism, but there’s no self-pity to be found. There are good times that are tinged by harsher reality and harsher times that can still have smiles. George is human like everyone else and sometimes wonders about the ‘what ifs’ but also shows there is a time and place for them. That we shouldn’t get mired in ‘what if’.

George’s art style is fun to look at, with little details to enjoy if you take your time with the zine. I really enjoyed seeing a comic in its draft form in the ‘extras’ in the back.

The thing that I found really special about this zine is that it feels as much Rob’s (George’s brother) zine as it does George’s. Yes, George made the zine, of course, but it’s focused on both of them as siblings with a lovely dose of parental moments worked in as well.

Absolutely grab a copy of this zine – let’s help George make these comics and more into a book*!

*This zine is a collection of shorts that will help fund the full book of around 300 pages.