A Visitor In Myself #2
Nichole
www.collectingwords.etsy.com

This is one of those zines where there are so many things I want to talk about that I feel like I have to control myself lest I leave no surprises for potential readers. Haha.

A Visitor In Myself #2 is a zine written by the same Nichole who writes the Pieces series (reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). She is a perzine writer who lets me enjoy one of the best things about zines: realising you are not alone. Her writing style is introspective and thoughtful while still inviting you along to think about her life along with her. If you were sitting having a cuppa with her, you would feel more than welcome to add your thoughts to hers.

She talks about things like connecting to people on her own terms, alcohol, and expressing her needs. There is also a time gap part way through that gives her the chance to reflect a little on the things she wrote before, which adds an interesting dynamic. The different subjects are like snippets but still manage to be complete.

She also talks a little bit about dissociation (“Dissociation is a mental process where a person disconnects from their thoughts, feelings, memories or sense of identity.” – Better Health Victoria), and I couldn’t help but wonder if that is the story behind the title. I do love it when there are layers of meaning in things.

There is a very beautiful moment in this zine when, amongst the doubt and confusion, she writes about a moment of such clarity and strength that I wanted to say, “There! Look! Look what you did!” I identify so much with a lot of her anxieties that reading about a moment of saying, “Please don’t contact me anymore” to someone who was important (that I haven’t even read about) made me feel like celebrating that moment for her. I don’t even know if she realises…

On the experience side beyond the content (because I almost always have to mention it)…

I like her cut and paste style. She always includes things like patterned borders and images here and there, but it never feels like too much or takes away from the text. Text that is typed on a typewriter – a little addition that I love (and am a smidge jealous of). Her zines are also machine sewn, which looks good and is great at keeping the zines together.

All up, I sense another zine series that I’ll have to get my hands on.

Friday Night in West Ealing #76
K?
fridaynightinwestealing@gmail.com

This is one of those zines that I know I’ve had for a while, but I can’t really recall where or when I picked it up. Though I do strongly suspect Sticky Institute.

Friday Night in West Ealing #76 is a strong representation for how a zine can work in true simplicity. The entire zine is a double-sided piece of A4 paper that’s folded, type on the inside and handwritten on the front/back. It’s purely words – written or typed – with no illustrations but for a few hand-drawn hearts on the inside. The experience of it is somewhat like a newspaper – opening it up to read one bit and then unfolding the rest to get the whole story.

The “only words” approach in the zine world doesn’t seem like it should be that different, but it is enough for me to write this sentence saying it is.

Sometimes I wonder about my luck with things – especially zine things – because other people might not be interested in slice of life type of reading that concerns moving from an old wallet into a new wallet with all the things that get lost and forgotten in old wallets. But for me? I love finding out what people have in their purses, wallets, bags, etc.

What I love even more though? Fluid story writing. Writing that carries you along gently without you even being aware that you’re going somewhere. Writing that starts with a 22 pound umbrella and ends with putting the past away in favour of letting a new collection of wallet artifacts creep into your wallet over the years. There is something beautiful and wonderful about the small moments of a life, and I think that’s why this zine is on #76 and is still going.

The yellow of the paper is actually a lot more pleasant than what is displayed in the photo above. I love my camera, but combinations of sucktastic lighting and my limited knowledge of whether it’s best to up the brightness or exposure (or something else?!) make for some poor visual translations.

There’s certainly a mystery to this zine with only an email address on the back. It’s usually a bug bear of mine to have to go hunting for more details, but… I think it kind of works for this zine.

Don’t point back to this post when I grumble about it on other zines, though, okay?

Beer and Longing
Meg O’Shea
Pleaseusethisbag.tumblr.com

This is another lovely zine from Festival of the Photocopier. (I’ve mixed up my zines so much that I am actually happy when I remember where I got something.) This is another one of those zines that I bought because the front looked awesome. Nearly bought for only that reason, I mean. I did have a look inside to find that the quality of the outside was carried into the inside – but I’ll get to all that in a moment.

Beer and Longing is a comic about homesickness. Simply put, anyway. More than that, it’s about being a dual citizen, growing up in dramatically different places, being pulled in different directions and not being sure if either one is the right one for you.

Of course, a little of that might be my bias speaking, having grown up in one country in one hemisphere and then moving to the other side of the world.

The story is as simple or as complex as you want it to be, and the art reflects that in a way. Meg has an art style I enjoy that is detailed but not to the point of taking away or distracting from what is happening in the story. I was pleasantly surprised at the writing in this. There is a lyrical quality to it that leaves me hoping that Meg writes more stories.

The materials used and the way this zine was put together is gorgeous. I don’t see a lot of zines where the creators choose to sew the binding like I do. But Meg took this to a whole new level. No simple saddle stitch for Meg! Meg went with a Japanese four-hole binding that I have only ever seen in person a few times – and I’ve never seen it done on a zine. The beautiful thing is that it’s so appropriate to the zine itself. The Japanese stitching, the circle print on the cover which is reminiscent of the Japanese flag, the tiny Japanese type within that circle… Of course, all relating to the setting of the comic.

I absolutely adore it when creators carry themes like that in such subtle ways.

And I can’t go past mentioning that the cover and interior paper is quite nice, too.

This is a lovely zine, through and through. The whole thing just makes me want to be careful with it and treat it well so I can enjoy it for years to come.