iZine 2.0

iZine 2.0

via Blackguard on 7/12/10

[64 pages, digest, $5.00 (includes cassette!) >>> David Puckeridge, PO Box 872, Katoomba NSW 2780, AUSTRALIA ]
Before I begin the review, how about a brief history lesson? Ahem...
April 1996 was a momentous month! You see, not only was it the month Sick Puppy Comix #1 came out, but so did David Puckeridge's Gristle Fern #1. Naturally, in the small Sydney minicomix scene it wasn't long before we discovered one another's bold new self-publishing ventures. So Mr Puckeridge and I have a history - we've been comix pals since that time, half a million years ago.
iZine 2.0 follows in a similar vein to David's last zine Bang Drop It! More fun with photocopiers, scissors, glue, old magazines, new magazines, newspapers, pens, staplers, and many other technologically primitive yet wonderful objects. And in this spirit, it comes with a soundtrack on cassette! The soundtrack features David's experiments with an old tape recorder with a Record button that you could push part way in to manipulate the speed of the tape, with fascinating and hilarious results. [These effects became impossible with the later 'one touch' recording button tape decks/recorders.]
Here's a sampling of what's to be found in the zine: David's drawings of objects (eg. fan, banana, railway station, zeppelin) and people (eg. random commuter, 7 News newsreader, nun); xerox machine experiments; magazine cigarette ads, a tribute page to Shannon Noll (or it could be a 'found object' - a page from a Shannon Noll stalker's diary); and a bunch of David's replica drawings of magazine and newspaper covers. These are really cool (he also makes large scale paintings of these).
The one thing missing from his zine though is comix. The only comix he seems to be doing these days are the ones I trick him into drawing for Blackguard.

[Send your comix or zine for review! >>> Stratu/Blackguard, PO Box 93, Paddington NSW 2021, AUSTRALIA]