Xerography Debt #27

Xerography Debt #27

via Blackguard on 7/21/10

[68 pages, digest, $3.00, edited by Davida Gypsy Breier >>> Microcosm Publishing, 222 S Rogers St, Bloomington IN 47404, USA +++ davida (at) leekinginc.com +++ www.leekinginc.com +++ send your comix and zines for review to Davida Gypsy Breier, PO Box 11064, Baltimore MD 21212, USA ]
This came in the mail today so I bumped it to the top of my 'to review' pile. The arrival of a new issue of Xerography Debt (and likewise Zine World) in my mailbox equals a Great Mail Day Squared Times Infinity.
First of all, the cover by Hai Anxieti is so fucking cool. That's me, that monkey! (It's probably you, too, if you're reading this.) Whenever I'm on the bus reading XD or some other awesome great zine or comix, the bus is usually mostly full of robotic sheep fiddling with their latest gadget, or just sitting there with the white wires plugged into their heads. Sometimes one of them will see that I'm reading something they can't imagine what it is, and I see some flicker of yearning flash in their eyes. Only one time did somebody actually come up and ask me what it was I was reading. (Although I'm ashamed to admit I'm the same way with other busriders who are reading a book. I wish I had the courage to go up and ask them what the book is.)
Well, that's off the track somewhat, so let's get back to XD27.
There's a terrific article called 'Where Are They Now?' which interviews a bunch of ex-ziners to find out why they quit publishing and what they're up to now. One of them is heartbreaking - on the night two sisters were supposed to be putting together their latest issue, one of them died in a car crash.
Next up are columns by distinguished ziners like Jeff Somers (The Inner Swine) and Gianni Simone (Call And Response, Kairan,).
From there on it's pages and pages of wonderful comix and zine reviews. The way these are set up is pretty cool. Each reviewer has their own section with a small photo/picture, a short and snappy introduction, followed by reviews of whatever zines have jazzed them during the previous six months. Reviewers this time around are Anne Thalheimer, D. Blake Werts, Clint Johns, Eric Lyden, Fred Argoff, Gavin J. Grant, Joe Biel, Julie Dorn, Kris Mininger, Matt Fagan, Maynard Welstand and Stephanie Jarman. (Mega thanks to Clint Johns and Matt Fagan for their awesome cool reviews of Blackguard #2! You guys! *Blub!*)
Review zines like Xerography Debt are an important resource in this internet age. Here in Australia we have Sticky (in Melbourne) the zine store and distro, and they have a monthly e-newsletter which is cool and all, but they really need to start up a paper reviewzine like XD or Zine World. (Ya reading this, Sticky?)