zine, [zeen] noun. 1. abbr. of fanzine; 2. any amateurly-published periodical. Oxford Reference

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Friday, December 26, 2008

SALT N PEPPA

Monday, November 24, 2008

SALT N PEPPA

I'm working on my photo zine, about 10 a4 pages, front and back, folded into a nice lil zine. checking prices tommorow down printers. leave me your email address if you want one, i figure im going to get people to send me an envelope with a stamp in it and i will send it back with the zine.


 

Monday, December 15, 2008

Catnap #2












Catnap #2
12 Pages, chapbook
Free in North America

Ryan and Ryan’s girl put together this friendly and engaging, albeit brief, zine. One vegan pizza recipe, one story with illustrations, bits of misc art, several verses of poetry, boobs, pregnant Hispanic, etc. Free in the US & Canada, $2 elsewhere.

Catnap
260 Molino Ave #A
Long Beach CA 90803
catnapzine@gmail.com
myspace.com/catnapzine


Sunday, December 14, 2008

Mushishi Volume 3



 
 

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via Comics Village Reviews by Justin Colussy-Estes on 11/26/08

Subtle, filled with magic, Mushishi continues to engage and amaze, upping the ante with each volume.

 
 

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Essex County Vol 1 Tales From The Farm



 
 

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via Comics Village Reviews by Conor Carton on 11/25/08

Too low key for its own good, still worth a read.

 
 

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Puri Puri Volume 6



 
 

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via Comics Village Reviews by Charles Tan on 11/25/08

Fan service galore and continuing hijinx of a priest-in-training surrounded by the most bountiful of women.

 
 

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(title unknown)



 
 

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via SIZE MATTERS: The Mini-Comics Blog by Shawn Hoke on 11/25/08

So…Buttons by Jonathan Baylis So…Buttons is seven stories over twenty-four pages. Jonathan Baylis enlists artists T.J. Kirsch, Mr. Alan, and David Beyer Jr. to illustrate his slice of life vignettes.

Jonathan's work in these stories has an easy conversational rhythm. The first piece, "So…My Dad Got Drafted," works well and feels intimate, but suffers from an impersonal font that even includes Jonathan's words as slanted italics. Mr. Alan's exaggerated and chunky line is appealing though.

David Beyer Jr. pencils a few stories, including the two lengthiest, "So… Racist" and "So… Only Nixon Could've Gone to China.' David's art stands out by its use of grey shaded tones to craft the backgrounds of each panel. He does a fantastic job showing Jonathan as a child and highlighting his Jewishness in contrast to those around him.
T.J. Kirsch works in color in So… Buttons. Each of his three sections is in a glossy color similar to the cover. His work is probably the most immediately appealing, especially in "So… I'm Dating a Comic." Here his angular and attractive art dances against a changing color palette. Jonathan's stories feel comfortable and immediate. There's nothing here that will amaze or challenge the reader, but you'll feel like you know him and his characters. You recognize yourself and your friends in these tales, which makes it easy to recommend So… Buttons.

This 24-page mini is wrapped under a thick, glossy, color cover that reminds you of an old crime comic. T.J. Kirsch's art ably lends it that seedy, desperate look.

Visit Jonathan's website for more information about his work. His ordering page gives you several options for getting your hands on the three dollar So… Buttons.

 
 

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Miguinti, Lupi



 
 

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via Optical Sloth by admin on 11/24/08

Website

Ngaitana!

Female genital mutilation!  That's the nature of the random review grab pile I have on my desk, folks.  Granted, I would have liked to have come back to reviewing after an exhausting election season and had something lighthearted and cheery, but the power of the random grab compels me.  This was originally attempted as a 24 hour comic and Lupi says that it ended up being more like 48 hours.  That's fine, it probably looks a lot better this way.  This is historical fiction, taking place in Kenya in 1956 after the Brits attempt to ban female genital mutilation.  Crazy, I know, but this story is mostly about the young women of the time having a hard time accepting that fact and eventually doing the mutilating themselves.  Who's right and who's wrong here isn't discussed, as this does an excellent job of staying a fairly straightforward piece of historical fiction.  One note for the especially squeamish: that cover talks about graphic images but it's really only a graphic image, that of a razor being held up to a vagina.  I still don't know exactly what gets cut during the mutilation process (although I can infer from the image in here) and, frankly, I'm good without that particular piece of information lodged in my brain.  This whole comic is up at Lupi's website at the moment, along with other comics that (I'm only guessing here) have nothing to do with genital mutilation.  All told it's a fascinating story and I appreciate the ambiguity, especially with something that damned near every thinking human being has long ago disregarded as an absurd and horrific practice.  No price, but let's say $2.


 
 

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Small Press Review: WAC Comics



 
 

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via M.A.D. Rants by symphonyoftheuniverse@gmail.com (MAD) on 11/24/08


I'm currently reading The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company. I guess that is an unusual way to start a small press review but it will make more sense when you read on.

The small press comics I have here are by WAC Comics, which is a comics group that operates out of Miamisburg, OH. WAC Comics consists of Justin Wasson, Mike Adams, Ray Curtis & Bruce Hughes.

So here we have issue #1 & #2 of Tim Reisen and the Chronologists. Tim Reisen and his family have a few unusual problems to face, that come from being time travelers, like trying to outrun dinosaurs. The art is top notch, crisp black and white images that reproduce well with great attention to detail and backgrounds that you don't always get in these style of books.

If you like a good adventure story, an Indiana Jones with time travel - you will be sure to get a kick out of these. They are really well done!

Maybe it's a bit of a spoiler, but the Evil-Lyn/Evil Queen from Snow White like villianess slays Steve Jobs in the story. When I read this, it didn't mean a thing to me.

Because I did not know who Steve Jobs was.

I actually asked Justin if Steve was "one of those people on the televisions". Luckily, he couldn't reach through the instant messanger to slap me.

Steve Jobs the co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc.
With all the time I've spent hunched over bathed in the glowing light of well loved computers, from the old Apple IIe to the Power Macs I should have thought maybe once or twice about where they came from.

Nope. Didn't think of it. So that will be one of the many useless facts I will now never forget.

Steve Jobs may be well known for Apple, but it was Pixar, not Apple, made Steve Jobs a billionaire. Which is something I only recently learned from the book that I'm reading. But that thought rung a bell in the old noggin' telling me to scan in these WAC Comics and put them up.


 
 

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Interview: Charles Burns Pt. 3 [of 3]



 
 

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via The Daily Cross Hatch by bheater on 11/24/08


charlesburnsfearsofdark

Common themes, of course, can be recognized across the backcatalog of any established artist. In some ways, however, such signposts feel all the more prominent in Charles Burns' work. The artist has maintained a powerful sense of stylistic consistency across his output—both in terms of his approach to aesthetics and storytelling—that lesser artist find difficult to maintain over the course of a single story.

In this third and final part of our interview with Burns, we discuss the influences—both conscious and otherwise—on his singular artistic vision and how they influenced both his most famous book, Black Hole, and his more recent venture into the world of film, Peur(s) du Noir—a dark and haunting work that fits in perfectly alongside his better-known work.

[Part One][Part Two]

Black Hole had a lot of single panel images that worked on their own.

Yeah.

Do you work from the images?

You know, it goes both ways. Primarily I'd say that my storytelling comes from writing, but sometimes there's this really strong, iconic image, and the ideas are based around that. If you think about Black Hole, if you don't have the woods, the story has a very different feeling to it. This environment, the way that it's drawn, is very important to the storytelling.

But you're not experiencing any Jim Woodring-like visions?

I try to pay attention to my subconscious mind and my dreams, but I've never really suffered from hallucinations.

I know your father was a scientist—was that part of the genesis of the story that inspired the short film?

Someone asked me that before, and I didn't have an answer. I thought about it before, and now I do have one. You were talking about the bed that has insects in it. When I was a kid, we moved around a lot, and at some point, I had this bed. It wasn't like a regular bed—it was more like a couch.

Like a futon?

Yeah, maybe something like that, and the material inside when you sat down made kind of crackling sound. I had a strong imagination, and on evenings when I was trying to fall asleep, I would hear this crackling sound. I'm not moving, but I'm hearing this crackling sound, so of course I'm thinking there's something in there, like insects.

Is there something specific to that story that lends itself well to doing an animated film, versus a comic?

The guideline was that it had to be in black and white, and that is was about fears of the dark. It's a horror story and there was a certain length to it—between 15 and 20 minutes. This seemed like it fit. It was also just a matter that I wanted to go back to this story.

The fear of the dark is an incredibly central theme to the story.

Yeah, of course, and in every horror story, really. It was interesting too, working on it, that there were a lot of visual links between the stories. We didn't know exactly what the entire story would be, but it was interesting to see all of the similarities.

Beyond the darkness, what other themes hold the pieces together?

There's the whole fear of the physical body, which I always come back to [laughs]. There are just funny little things, like the specimen in jars.

That has to be one of the most terrifying concepts for a horror story—this idea of losing control of yourself. That played a huge role in Black Hole. It also plays a big role in the animated piece.

Yeah, absolutely. The guy wakes up and he's tied up and has a little cut on his hand.

Yeah, and Black Hole, which has the people slowly turning into monsters.

Oh yeah, right, right. With Black Hole, there are so many things I like about that idea of transformation where someone can wear their clothes and hide their affliction, whereas, if someone has it manifest itself on their face, they can't possible hide it.

And in those terms, Black Hole has its roots in very real diseases.

Sure, sure.

Did those play a role in the writing of the story?

Well, there are some things that are much more—you've got the idea of the girl that slips out of her skin. At that age, you've got the idea of wanting to transform yourself and becoming a new person. I like that idea. The extra idea—there's Burroughs again. The whole idea of the talking asshole.

From Naked Lunch.

Those sort of things played a role.

Would you work on another one of these projects, if the opportunity presented itself?

I'd be interested in working on other projects, but again, this piece was so unusual, in terms of the freedom we were allowed. And also, a major motivation was working with the other artists I admired.

–Brian Heater

      

 
 

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Short Fast + Loud #5



 
 

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via punks is hippies - the blog! by Slobodan Burgher on 11/24/08



New: Short Fast + Loud, issue #5.(direct download link) (or click below for issuu online pdf that you can read online)


Previously on PunksIsHippies:

Short Fast & loud 7 (direct download link)(or click issuu below to read Pdf direct online)


Short Fast & loud 11 (direct download link)(or click issuu below to read Pdf direct online)


More issues coming. Stay tuned. Thanks Zach.

 
 

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308



 
 

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A collection of short stories from earlier issues of 308 make up this fantastic piece of literature, which I can say is h ... #10, U.S. / Can. $2 ppd., Int'l $4 ppd., 5 ½" x 4 ½", copied, 28 pgs.

 
 

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Pastel Volume 12



 
 

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via Comics Village Reviews by Dan Polley on 11/24/08

The volume focuses heavily on Mugi and Yuu, but it feels as though nothing really happens.

 
 

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ABSENT-CAUSE



 
 

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On the other hand, there was some god-awful vampire poetry. ... #1, $3, 8½" x 11", copied, 44 pgs.

 
 

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ARTCORE



 
 

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This is one of the best out there, and captures what punk should be about. ... #25, £7.15, 8 ¼" x 11 ¾", 40 pgs.

 
 

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paper trail distro news november 2008



 
 

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via Zine Writers Guild by paper trail distro/ciara xyerra on 11/23/08



time again for paper trail distro news, even though november is on its last legs & december is knocking on the door. blame my intolerance of cold weather & seasonal affective malaise, even though i have voluntarily resided in new england for over seven years. some new zines were added to the distro catalogue last month, including:

* "skinned heart" #2--an e-mail exchange between radical anarcha-feminist nyky & a local flagstaff punk, hashing out the political implications of language & intent
* "skills"--sabrina's skill-sharing zine, which teaches readers how to crochet their own dishrags, start seedlings, reduce stress, make cheese, & more
* "root" #5/"stab" #7--sarah & sonia's new split zine about the roberts street social center, an amazing community space they started in halifax, which has space for a zine archive, silkscreening studio, artist residency, meeting space, & more
* "messy dog"/"messy baby"--a split between sarah & her sister, about preparing fresh healthy food for your baby &/or your dog
* the "invincible summer" 2009 calendar--nicole's new calendar! it's an ode to the queer animal kingdom; each month is decorated with an illustration of an animal that has demonstrated homosexual activity in the wild, a hearty eff-you to haters who insist that homosexuality in "unnatural"

lengthier descriptions, cover scans, et al are on the website: www.papertraildistro.com. quantities of the calendar are especially limited. i bought enough to hopefully see me through calendar-buying season, but once they're gone, i'm not re-ordering. they make a great gift!

if you have a zine-loving friend & want to give them the gift of zines for the holiday season (maybe i recommend new year's gifts? i personally don't celebrate religious holidays, but i love the new year!), you can order zines from me & have them sent to your friend, or you can e-mail me (learningtoleaveapapertrail@hotmail.com) to discuss custom-made gift certificates in whatever amount you want.

& don't forget about paper trail distro subscriptions! the latest round of subscriptions closes at the end of december, so there's still plenty of time, & you can even wait to apply your holiday gift cash toward it, but a subscription would make a mighty fine gift for a zine lover in your life.

that's all she wrote this month. next month is mere days away, & new zines are coming down the pike, so visit the distro site & watch this space for future updates. thanks!

x-posted everywhere! sorry.

 
 

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Zeen Review: Power Cut



 
 

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POWER CUT by Triple Bottom Line & Andrew Noble

Triple Bottom Line are a trio of poets & Andrew Noble, from what I gather not getting a bio in the back like Triple Bottom Line, is some kind of designer. They've put together a slickly produced poetry zeen called 'Power Cut'. It's printed on the brown kind post consumer waste paper & all the poems have environmental themes; Triple Bottom Line all met in Environmental Studies @ uni. The creative output of Environmental Studies students when I was @ uni wasn't nearly as impressive as 'Power Cut' was. I'm not much of a poetry fan so I'm sometimes surprised when I find poetry I like, which makes sense considering the vast well of ignorance I've collected avoiding bad poetry. I liked Jules Winefield's pieces best, but of course I should mention the rest of the trio too, Cassie Flanagan & Rachel mead could also take a bow, it's all printed in colour & even the hand written poems appear to have been scanned & layed out of publishing software. This could have made for a very clinical looking tome but the excellent choice of paper skips over the incessant whiteness of a poetry publication in favour of light brown w/ lots of other colours too. 'Tis a worthwhile lil' read. triplebottomline3 at gmail dot com

 
 

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BAD APPLES



 
 

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These zines are damn good and more than worth the time it takes to email Phil and drop a few stamps in the mail to get a copy. ... #1 & #2, stamps, 5 ½" 4 ½", copied, 16 pgs. combined.

 
 

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BEAT MOTEL



 
 

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All in all, I think that like any multi-contributor music zine, Beat Motel was very hit or miss. ... #8, $3 US, 8 ½" x 5 ½", copied, 80 pgs.

 
 

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Call for Submissions: a tribute to sound idea records and bob suren



 
 

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via Xerography Debt by noreply@blogger.com (Xerography Debt) on 11/22/08

Bacontowne's next issue is a tribute to sound idea records and bob suren. the record store closed last month after 13 and a half years. it was the best diy record store in florida and people traveled from all over to visit. we are looking for sound idea related columns, stories about bob and the store and also, we would like to hear from touring bands that have played there. we can also use art, photos and old ads related to the store. anything sound idea related. deadline is december 19, 2008. the zine will be in print and formally released on january 21, 2009. this is coincidentally heather bacontowne's 30th birthday!

marck and heather bacontowne
bacontowne records///sinkhole zine
po box 1063
tallevast, fl 34270
myspace/bacontownerecords
bacontowne@yahoo.com

 
 

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Bolji Zivot



 
 

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via punks is hippies - the blog! by 7inchcrust on 11/22/08

Taken from Audio Heaven blog:
This fanzine is completely in Serbian language, and contains a lot of interviews, to name a few ; Hard-Ons, Hellbastard, RKL, Desecration, then some concert reviews (as Lethal Aggression/Youth Of Today , SNFU, NoMeansNo), various columns and city-reports and as usual the last 5-6 pages of demo-vinyl-fanzine reviews. One of the neatest fanzines from the ex-Yu, again and unfortunately for the rest-of-the-world visitors, completely in Serbian language.
Your choice.
PS:the year of release is wrong on front cover.Who cares.

Download it and say thanks to Alex

 
 

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FLINT RIVER FICTION



 
 

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Listen, contributors: writing fiction means that you can write whatever the hell you want! ... #1, $2, 8 ½" x 5 ½", copied, 24 pgs.

 
 

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GENEVA13



 
 

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I've been shaving my head on and off for about twelve years now, so I'm not real interested in barbershops or hair salons, but I ... #2, $?, 5 ½" x 8 ½", printed, 72 pgs.

 
 

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BugPowder Weblog : November 22, 2008



 
 

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Style School: Illustration and Instruction 3



 
 

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via Comics Village Reviews by John Thomas on 11/21/08

A unique and high quality instructional journal that shares not only techniques, but amateur and professional perspectives on anime and manga illustration.

 
 

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GREEN LIGHT



 
 

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It deals with trying to "make you think about your everyday water use and about ways to reduce the amount of water you use." ... #3, $2, 5 ½" x 8", printed, 22pgs.

 
 

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MEND MY DRESS



 
 

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This quick one is all about one's tale as a young woman cutting herself. ... #6, $2 or trade, 4" x 7", photocopied, 24 pgs.

 
 

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Rebellion 1920 The First Iraqi Insurgency 1



 
 

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via Comics Village Reviews by Conor Carton on 11/21/08

This comic has great potential, it just has not crystalised enough of it this time round to convince me to keep buying it.

 
 

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MY FAT IRISH ASS



 
 

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funny through staggering volume ... #8, $2, 8½" x 11", copied, 44 pgs.

 
 

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NOSE KNOWS, THE



 
 

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The Nose Knows continues to be a zine I have a hard time reading. ... Vol. 4, Issues 6-10, 8 ½" x 11" folded into quarters

 
 

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PLACEBO JANE



 
 

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This paper stack is made with care (minimal spelling/grammar mistakes = good reviews) and features a great drawing of some emine ... #3, $2 or trade, 5 ½" x 8 ½", photocopied, 36 pgs.

 
 

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(title unknown)



 
 

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via SIZE MATTERS: The Mini-Comics Blog by Shawn Hoke on 11/20/08

Todd's Favorite Adult Actors and Their Favorite Flowers by Matt Kessler and Zach Huelsing More zine than mini, Todd's Favorite Adult Actors and Their Favorite Flowers is a series of eight baseball card-like cards sheathed in plastic and attached to the spine of the book like regular pages.

I'll let "Todd" describe his work: "These are my favorite adult actors and their favorite flowers. I investigated the subject extensively in personal conversations I had with these men on dates and during romantic interludes... These descriptions are factual and highly intimate; the reader is warned. "

Todd selects eight adult film stars. On the front of each card, artist Zach Huelsing draws a bare-chested star from the pecs up. Escaping from each man's mouth is a single word balloon with the name of their favorite flower written in lower case letters. In the background, Zach provides delicate drawings of the star's chosen flower. On the back of each card, writer Matt Kessler records the vital statistics of the men, including DOB, height, weight, hometown, and top or bottom status. Underneath the stats, Matt relates, in flowery prose, Todd's encounters with his film fixations. From Todd's encounter with Tom Chase, after Tom pricks his finger on the thorns of a bougainvillea:

"I took the slit finger to my lips and licked each bead of blood with my tongue, lapping at his finger like an unshorn Alpaca. Each drop was nutty and thick, and tasted like wood-aged port."

From Todd's encounter with Roman Ragazzi and the sabra cactus flower:

"I was dancing in a chic Bhangra club hidden in the deep alluvial plains of Punjab… I was dressed in a beautiful Phulkari shawl. It was red and tailored to accentuate the finer parts of my physique."

Todd's cards are a delight. His stories are exotic and intoxicating, and Zach's colorful inked lines help set the mood for Todd's erotic liaisons. The eight protected cards are safely wrapped in a thick cover with the back cover folding over the cards and securing with a hidden Velcro disc. And since Todd's longing is universal and beautifully captured by Matt's prose, Todd's Favorite Adult Actors and Their Favorite Flowers is the type of art object that you'll want to share with all your friends.

Check out Quimby's or the Eye Rocket Books website beginning December 12th. Todd's Favorite Adult Actors and Their Favorite Flowers is a limited edition of 500 and available for $10.
Below, I've scanned Todd's thoughtful missive to a lonely reviewer ensconced in his drafty office:

 
 

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