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

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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Zine Showcase #17

Zine Showcase #17





ZEENE
Website // Shop
ZEENE #1 Cups // £1.50 + shipping


Zeene has issued five zines so far, each one having a topic that asks more questions than it answers. Cups is the first zine released and devotes all 20 pages to.. cups. Stories, crosswords, drawings, photographs and an interview. Rather peculiarly entertaining - cups are important after all.






Janell
Shop // Blog
The Bicycle Zine // $1.50 + shipping


Fuelling my increasing (and uncontrollable) desire to purchase a bicycle, The Bicycle Zine has done nothing but encourage this dream. Created from a lack of sleep and a penchant for beautiful bikes this A6 sized, 18 page, full colour cover zine was produced. Illustrations on every page in that sketchy style I love so dearly, along with two adorable bicycle stickers make this zine utterly marvellous.






Liam

Tumblr // Shop
Lost Boy #2 // £2.50 + shipping


The second instalment of Lost Boy, with 60 pages of black and white content, does not fail to impress. Inside its pages you can find a heavy mix of gig reviews, interviews, skateboarding, awesome photography, and a new film reviewer (Matt Musk) who joins the Lost Boy team. As with the previous issue, this collaborative has a slick look with tons of attitude and interesting content.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Cornhole Laff Parade

Cornhole Laff Parade


28 pages, digest size, $4.00, by Dexter Cockburn >>> thecomixcompany.ecrater.com + dexter-cockburn.livejournal.com
A collection of Dexter's wonderfully unique and smutty strips, mostly from Buttrag Mag (check out my review of Buttrag Mag #8 here if ya like) but also from Yuck! Comics, Spunk Comics, Pork Belly, plus a couple of previously unpublished strips. This was cool to receive since I only have that one issue of Buttrag Mag, so I hadn't seen most of these.
Dexter's stuff is more than smutty porno comix. There's some clever wordplay going on in 'Shits 'N' Giggles', then it's The Rump Ranger to the rescue of Miss Prissy, Tombstone Gulch's new school teacher. She's stuck fast in the town well, butt in the air. Does he get her out? Well, he gets something out. Haw!
Buttmeister Fuller loves to fuck ass and here he attempts a comic book first - he's gonna fuck his own ass! You gotta see this.
Next, The Adventure Club go visiting the elderly; Buttmeister Fuller returns to fuck a beautiful black ass that turns out to be a kid's Mickey Mouse ears. Then the Rump Ranger returns, this time on a wild west mission to deliver a message to Big Chief Third Leg, but on the way he comes across Poke-A-Hot-Ass, drunk and with her butt in the air. "She's been into the firewater!" Can Rump Ranger resist temptation to continue and deliver his important missive? It seems unlikely...
Man, there's much more, you better believe it. Dexter's stuff is so great. Strongly recommended for our more discerning pervert comix readers.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

"Presents: Three Months of Mail Art for Hyperallergic HQ"


$5.00

The handmade second edition publication to accompany the "Presents: Three Months of Mail Art for Hyperallergic HQ" exhibition. The first edition featured covers and insert by co-curator Hrag Vartanian and the inside pages were created by co-curator Kate Wadkins. For the second edition, the co-curators have swapped rolls and Wadkins will be designing the covers and insert, while Vartanian creates the inside pages.

Over 119 artists took part in the show, which continues until June 29, 2011 at Hyperallergic HQ (181 N11th Street, Suite 302, Williamsburg, Brooklyn).
A complete checklist of artists inside.

Inlcuding:
Abe's Penny, Gail Anderson, Patrick Anderson-McQuoid, Larry Angelo, Lynn Aquaheart, Bo Bartlett, Amy Bassin, Samantha Beverly, Kyle Blauw, Jonathan Bohm, bread crumb, Peter Brock, Jamie Burmeister, Dave Byrd, Nick Canterucci, Celso, Tiberiu Chelcea, Nathalie Chikhi, Laura Cohen, Vincent Como, Fred Cray, Carla Cryptic, Curly, Daniel DeCulla, Dewi, Han Dogan, Brian DuPont, Jeff Evans, William Evertson, Luc Fierens, Tiffany Ford, Valerie Fuchs, V.L. Fuller, Mira Gerard, Shana Goetsch, Jessica Gowling, Jonny Gray, Jeff Haas, J.D. Hastings, Jennifer Pei Huang, Laura Isaac, JRD, Adamandia Kapsalis, Dimitri Karakostas, Bernard Klevickas, Diedra Krieger, KURV, Dave LaMorte, Luis Vasquez LaRoche, Liz Layton, Rejin Leys, liketelevisionsnow, Cristina Maldonado, Russell Manning, Steve Martinez, Gregory Maxim, T. Mayo, Tim McCool, Timm Mettler, Marina Miletic, Alicia Milne, R.E. Mingst, Leah Needham, Theo Nelson, New Mediator, Michael Orr, Clemente Padin, Stephen Perkins, Brenda Petays, Brian Piana, Cole Pierce, Peri Lee Pipkin, James Prez, Allison Putnam, Sheree Rensel, Allan Revich, Kate Rhoades, Mary Rork-Watson, Maritza Ruiz-Kim, Frocc. Santiago, James Schickler, Julia Schwartz, Andrew Scott, LaVona Sherarts, Joe Singleton, Louise Sloane, sneezestar, M. Stolte, Harry Swartz-Turfle, Austin Thomas, Seon Thompson, Lynda Jo Thornbrugh, Ann Tracy, Amy-EllenTrefsger, Ben Valentine, Guido Vermeulen, Don Voisine, Joshua Weibley, William Wilson, Michele Witchipoo, Ben Wolf, Audra Wolowiec, Wreck & Salvage, Tamara Wyndham, Joseph Young, Rainer Zamojre and some anonymous artists.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Rumours About Shelly Duvall

Rumours About Shelly Duvall


12 pages, digest size, $? by J & M, no contact info but available thru E.T. Zine Distro
This is one strange zine all right. First of all, they spell her name wrong but halfway through change it to the correct spelling. All kinds of deranged rumours about Shelley Duvall, like she never ashes her cigarettes, but immediately after that the authors insist they have met her and she ashes her cigarettes an appropriate amount. There's alleged accounts of her cruelty - she took a family member of her husband, stripped her naked, covered her in honey and left her for a day and night in the garden for insects to bite her to death. The rumours come thick and fast: Shelley's favourite food is cotton candy, and she once shot her landlord over a dispute about heating troubles. There's two blank pages with the heading encouraging the reader to write some of their own rumours about Shelley Duvall then pass the zine onto a friend (if even one person followed through with this I would be amazed.). Personally, I don't know anything about Shelley Duvall. My guess is she is related to Robert Duvall (.. minutes later >>> no she isn't - I just Googled that question. Although her father is called Robert, he's not an actor.) The zine is produced with an old manual typewriter and much of the text is all over the place. The authors went to a lot of effort moving the paper around in the typewriter to make the text roll and slide around the page. It seems to be an attempt to portray themselves as deranged or even eccentric, or some kind of new breed of stalkers, but alas it seems that the authors are quite sane, just trying to make something very strange and intriguing. It doesn't hit me as a legitimately 'eccentric' creation.
There is one funny part in this though:

RUMOUR
: Shelley Duvall speaks in binary while cooking breakfast.

A WRITTEN ACCOUNT OF SHELLEY DUVALL MAKING BREAKFAST:
100110111001001000110100011010111101100100011011011000
101101110100110001001110100111001011010111000011001100
1001001110101101 1001101001011010011010010010110100010010010 10

The zine ends with two pages of record reviews by Shelley Duvall (aka J&M). In a review of a John & Yoko album she confesses to being an "art fag" and winds it up with her admission that she still thinks Lennon sucked and was glad he got blasted. She also reviews a V/A compilation of paranormal sound recordings from Germany, and a couple of other obscure releases.
So, who is J & M and why did they pick Shelley Duvall?
One other noteworthy thing about this zine is it's bound with sewing thread, so J &M obviously have access to a sewing machine. It's a pretty cool way to bind a zine. But the zine fails and is not a keeper. If you want it just say so in the comments and it's yours.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Friday, June 24, 2011

Opuntia 70.3

Opuntia 70.3


16 pages, digest size, $3.00 cash for a one-time sample copy, trade for your zine, or letter of comment, from Dale Speirs, Box 6830, Calgary, Alberta, CANADA T2P 2E7
This issue is for the Fantasy Amateur Press Association (Details from Robert Lichtman, 11037 Broadway Terrace, Oakland CA 994611-1948, USA), and Dale explains what an apa is in his intro. "Apa (amateur press association) members send x number of copies of their zine to a central mailer (also known as the official editor). The zines are collated into bundles, and each member gets back one bundle of everyone's zines. There is an annual fee to cover postage. Apas have a minimum level of activity required, such as publishing 8 pages a year. It must be emphasized that apas are not for passive subscribers; you must commit to the minimum activity level or you will be booted out. FAPA has been going for more than 70 years; the oldest apa is the Nationaol A.P.A., founded 1876."
So what you get here is brief comments from Dale about each zine bundled within FAPA #293. Some of these include Fandom Forever #1 (Danish and Canadian SF fandom), Alphabet Soup #68 ("I don't see the point of giving Fred Pohl the Hugo award for best amateur writer. He's not just a pro writer. He's the most senior pro writer in the field."); Ouroborus #25 (The history of cartoonist Al Williamson (from Tarzan comics in the 1940s to Star Wars comics in the 1980s); Visions Of Paradise #157 (a Hugo Awards travesty where "...Best Fan Writer went to professional author Frederik Pohl because he had a blog, and Best Fanzine went to a podcast of natter. I blame the committee, which should have reclassified or disqualified those nominations."); Lofgeornost #101 (Includes a short story about Earl "Pigg" Foss, the drunken lumberjack SF fan. (I wanna copy of that!)).
Next, a bunch of comments about FAPA #294. Here Dale answers a question about OPUNTIA's publishing system: "Why do you divide them instead of just publishing one big issue?" One of the reasons he gives is that a common reason for zines dying is that they grow too big and the editor gives up under the heavy workload.
There's a piece about Calgary's annual SF convention Con-Version and why it has been "very shaky" in recent years. "The main problem seems to be that Trekkies are thin on the ground nowadays, and certainly not enough of them to pay for five minor actors from the same series. Had there been a diversity, with one for the teenage-vampires-in-love crowd, another for steampunkers, and so on for other currently-airing television shows, the turnout might have been better."
Then comes 'Seen In The Literature', bits and pieces from scientific journals, such as: 'The recent formation of Saturn's moonlets from viscous spreading of the main rings.' [Nature #465]; 'A formal test of the theory of universal common ancestry.' [Nature #465]; 'A failure of serendipity: the Square Kilometre Array will struggle to eavesdrop on human-like extraterrestrial intelligence.' [International Journal of Astrobiology #10]; and 'The mathematics in the structures of Stonehenge.' [Archives of the History of the Exact Sciences #65].
A short letter column this time round - only one, from Lloyd Penney. He mentions that Margaret Atwood (in a discussion with Ursula K. LeGuin at an event in Oregon) "...seemed to be comfortable to be labeled a science fiction writer. Perhaps she is tired of Canadian readers not reading her works and may be looking for a more appreciative audience. I think she may regret her talking squids remark."
OK. Look. If you're still reading, either you are already on Dale's mailing list, or you probably should write to him and get on it. I can no longer imagine life without it.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Romp #2

Romp #2


40 pages, digest size, $5.00, Aaron Lange >>> aaronlange13[at]hotmail.com or through The Comix Company
Not only does Romp #2 kick off with a cool letters page, the first letter is from R. Crumb! That tells you something. (I'm glad I read this too since I was unaware of Maxon Crumb's book Hardcore Mother which I jumped up and ordered immediately.)
In this issue Jay Jazz gets more than he expected when he declares to Hesh his love of the 'male gaze'.
There's a wonderful 20-page 'strip' called 'Hey, Do You Wanna..." - featuring many, many girls rhyming like so: "[Do you wanna...?] Pork? Park? Have fun in the dark? Ejaculate? Miscegenate? Watch me masturbate? Penetrate? Lubricate? Get drunk and date rape?" It's very clever and the drawings are awesome.
That's followed by a totally bizarre strip, 'Hesh and Friends in: The Party!' Jay Jazz takes his friend Hesh and another friend, Curry Brahmin, to arty Veronika Valkyrie's party. Veronika shows Curry her latest work, a photograph of a Robert Mapplethorpe photograph (a very funny dig at modern art) before taking him as her lover for the night. Curry is surprised when he discovers Veronika has stuffed her vagina full of Hamburger Helper.
Dexter sure is building a formidable roster of comix artists for his The Comix Company, with his own terrific work, and now Kayla Escobedo's Monty Comix and Aaron Lange's Romp.
I'll end with R. Crumb's own praise of Romp - "More! More! Give us more! You are rolling along at full creative force..."
Teens contributions needed: Teen Zine, Huntley Library’s quarterly publication for teenagers, needs writers, photographers, artists and other such people to fill its space.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Dig Deep #1 / Pieces #5 / Suomi by Hannah

Dig Deep #1 / Pieces #5 / Suomi

Has it really been a month since I last updated this? Apparently so. Time has been flying by lately. I have so many things I want to do, and so many things I have to do and whilst some (most?) fall into both categories it can be very frustrating trying to squeeze it all in. Hence the delays in updates to this blog, and my not having released any new zines myself since February (I am 90% sure I will have not one, but two, new zines out next month however!) But well, I'm sure you've heard all these moans from me many a time before, so on with the zines...

Dig Deep #1
By Heather (USA) indicativeATgmail.com

Co-incidentally, Heather hails from Illinois - as does Nichole whose zine Pieces I have also written about today. That state seems to be a hotbed of zine activity and Dig Deep is another great example of it. The overwhelming mood of the zine is positivity; and positivity of the best possible kind. I realise that may sound nonsensical, but sometimes positivity can be presented in a way that feels rather unachievable, idealistic and/or unrealistic, whilst in Dig Deep Heather looks at the good things in her life, and indeed the good things in life in general, and encourages herself "To dig deeper. To be better. To try harder". I found her attitude very inspiring. Within the zine you'll find stories about libraries (working in and visiting them), the concept of home and the Day Zero Project. There's also a list of the best books Heather read in recent months, which as a fellow bibliophile I very much appreciated! Dig Deep is a pretty zine too, with a beautiful flower-illustrated cover and cut and paste layouts with lots of flowing imagery.

Pieces #5
By Nichole (USA) nicholeATillvision.net

I looked forward to reading this zine so much that it suffered the fate of not being read as soon as it deserved as I waited for the perfect time to devour it! Pieces is a perzine that focuses on the art of writing and trying to balance creativity with the demand to have a regular job (something to which I can relate). Nichole also writes openly about relationships and shares stories from her everyday life - all good, introspective and reflective perzine material! In Pieces #5 Nichole tackles some heavy subject matter - notably her sister's serious depression - with characteristic thought and honesty. She also writes unapologetically about exploring BDSM; and debates vegetarianism. Pieces #5 is a nice long read with fairly simple, but never dull, cut and paste layouts incorporating occasional photographs.


Suomi
By Kate (UK) patsydeclineATgmail.com

You may or may not know already that Suomi is Finnish for Finland, and/or that my boyfriend is half-Finnish, and/or that I have visited Finland and loved it there. So, as you can (now) imagine, this zine documenting a woman's trip to Finland with her friends was right up my street. Kate's main aim on the trip was to visit the Moomin theme park(which she did, and enjoyed very much), but along the way she visits an assortment of Finnish cities and takes in as much Finnish culture as possible. Like all good travel zines, there are lots of details both about the country and about Kate's experience there including the noting of little (and large) differences between the UK and Finland, Many of these small things I had sadly forgotten and remembering them made me nostalgic - the strange sizing of bags of crisps for example! (They're all very large, in case you were wondering.) The layout of Suomi isn't that exciting - made on a computer and not (as far as I could tell) cut and pasted - but it includes lots of photographs and is very legible, so I'm not complaining! Kate includes lots of nice perzine-y writing too, discussing her self-confessed over-cautiousness and the difficulties of being a travelling vegan.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Cyberdelic Future #1

Cyberdelic Future #1


12 pages, digest size, free >>> cyberdelicfuture[at]gmail.com or etzinedistro.blogspot.com
[Both Sticky and Monty sent me a copy of this, so thanks to you both!]
Along with the cut 'n' pasted pictures of kandi ravers, Care Bears, and My Little Ponys, are a couple of well-written pieces that not only capture the buzz of a big warehouse rave, but urge open-mindedness between [music] scenesters. The intro is cool:
'Ever since that moment in 1981 when DJ Frankie Bones collared two aggressive ravers and told them that they had better start showing some peace, love and unity or he'd break their fucking faces, P.L.U.R. has been one of the defining aspects of the rave scene.'
This is a pretty cool zine, and positive, so it would no doubt be inappropriate to post links to my glowstick salesman stories of 2002. I was pretty fucked up back then though.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Psionic Plastic Joy # 16

Psionic Plastic Joy # 16


Psionic Plastic Joy #16
$2
Jason Rodgers
POB 8512
Albany, NY
12208
Reading this issue of PPJ reminded me of the first time that I read Maximumrocknroll after years of reading glossy metal magazines; I didn’t know what was going on inside, but I was curious and wanted to know more. Psionic Plastic Joy appears to be a sort of conspiracy theory zine that wants nothing to do with the modern techno-industrial world. It’s full of articles, poetry, stories, essays, and tons of eerie collage art that all seem to be pointed in the direction of a post-industrial society. I really liked the article entitled, ‘Denying the Unavoidable’ by primitivist John Zerzan, and the interview with Reality Impaired Recording’s Stan Boman. Reading PPJ was a lot like listening to Coast to Coast AM late at night: I don’t believe all of what I am hearing, but am thoroughly entertained.

Friday, June 17, 2011

JUNK ZINE #5, Rambles to T(L)C 323

JUNK ZINE #5, Rambles to T(L)C 323



James N. Dawson
POB 292
Malden, WA
99149

Junk Zine is a collection of zine reviews, poetry, pen pal adds, and letters from readers. It’s a great resource for connecting with zine people and other outsiders lurking about in the print-format underworld.

Rambles to t(l)c 323, February 2011
the subtitle says it all: ‘Debates, Discussions, Diatribes on Libertarianism, Anarchism, Consensus vs. Alternative Science, Religion, Ethics, Philosophy, the Internet & Papernet, Language, Broadcast TV & More’…..whoa. This is an APA style zine that serves as an on-going discussion on the topics mentioned above. I enjoyed reading the discussions contained within, particularly those surrounding Minarchism, and Libertarianism. I am a big fan of what James is doing within the self-publishing world in general and Rambles to t(l)c 323 is a great example of that.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Zine News Round-Up! from Spill The Zines!

Zine News Round-Up!

12.06.11

Hello everyone! I must apologise for the short length of this news post, as it’s apparently been a rather slow fortnight in the British zine scene. Last week saw Glasgow’s first zine fest, which I hear was a big success, and yesterday Ladyfest Essex was a success, managing to raise a tidy sum of money for the charity Refuge (if you didn’t get a chance to go, you can still donate to Refuge at Ladyfest’s JustGiving page). We’ve got lots more zine fests coming up this summer, as listed below, so hopefully next fortnight we’ll have a little more news to share! Don’t forget to email us anything and everything related to British zine culture at spillthezinesukATgmailDOTcom.

Cath x

---

1. Zine Releases
2. Upcoming Events
3. Submission Calls
4. Distro News
5. AOB (Any Other Business)

---

1. Zine Releases
- Issue 106 of Bi Community News aka BCN is now out with its usual mix of writing about bi life, bisexuality in wider culture and the UK bi scene itself. Order a copy or a subscription at www.bicommunitynews.co.uk.
- I released issue 8 of my feminist perzine, Here. In My Head., this week. More info on how to buy a copy or ask for a trade at my blog.

2. Upcoming Events
- Zine Fest! 2011: 25th June. Held in the Women’s Library in London, which has its own extensive zine collection. Be there or be some sort of square!
- Bradford Zine Fayre: 2nd July. Still in the planning stages. For more info on how to get involved, visit the We Make Zines page.
- Birmingham Zine Festival: 9th July. 12 til 6pm. Lots of workshops and tables (including my own table)! Come down and say hello! RSVP here.
- Camden Zine Fest: 8th October. Very far in advance, but this event is still in the planning stages, so if you want to lend a hand, get in touch with the organiser Will at camdenzinefestATgmailDOTcom.

3. Submission Calls
- Rotherham zine library is looking for donations! For more info, visit http://rotherhamzinelibrary.snaek.org/.

4. Distro news
- Marching Stars has been updated, with lots of new zines in stock, some of which I will be reviewing next week.
-Vampire Sushi has gone on a brief hiatus; you can keep up to date with their activity on their tumblr.


5. A.O.B.
- This video has been floating around the internets recently; 3Trousers has made a film out of part of his early UK punk, featuring loads of cool covers from the early days of UK punk zining.
Worth a gander:
Popout

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Not Guilty #2

Not Guilty #2


52 pages, digest size, $?, edited by Midasone >>> midasone[at]ymail.com + www.notguiltymag.com + also available from http://etzinedistro.blogspot.com/
Not Guilty is a graffitti art/street art photography zine and it's all in full glorious colour. Most of the photographs are of artwork on the sides of trains, but there's also walls, bins, public toilets, gates, and some of the photos include the artists, either wearing balaclavas or with a black strip superimposed over their eyes. This one seems to be UK-based. I also checked out the website where there's loads more terrific photos.
[Thanks Monty for sending me this zine!]

Auckland Zinefest

And here is a list of all the events (so far) happening in July under the Zinefest umbrella:

2 July - 'Hear this Zine' - an exhibition on the relationship between zines and DIY music - Audio Foundation Hub, Poynton Terrace, Newton
9-10 July - 24 Hour Zine Making Challenge - Tangleball, 27 Edinburgh Street, Newton
15 July - 'Incredibly Hot Sex With Hideous People' book launch - split/fountain, Karangahape Road, Newton
16 July - Auckland Zinefest - St Kevins Arcade, Newton
16 July - Auckland Zinefest after party - The Wine Cellar, Newton
17 July - 'Pimp My Stick Figure' comics drawing workshop - Audio Foundation Hub, Poynton Terrace, Newton
23 July - Zine library drive and guided one page zine workshop
- Tangleball, 27 Edinburgh Street, Newton
31 July - Zine library launch - Alphabet City, Eden Terrace

http://akzinefest.blogspot.com/
http://www.twitter.com/akzinefest
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Auckland-Zinefest/208048982549566
http://www.flickr.com/people/akzinefest/

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Media Junky #14

Media Junky #14


Media Junky #14
$1
Jason Rodgers
POB 8512
Albany, NY
12208
Media Junky is a zine-review zine that wants to remain internet free and only reviews zines with a physical address. The reviews are thorough and honest. This issue is packed full of really great zines. Like Psionic Plastic Joy, Jason’s other zine, it’s also full of creepy-yet-thought provoking collage art. Great zine.

My phone hates me

Sunday, June 12, 2011

from Velvet

2 NEW ZINES FROM DYNASTY ZINE

BRIAN ROETTINGER

44 Pages / 20 x 25 cm / Two-color Riso

Edition of 100

€15

JOSEPH AKEL

24 Pages / 20 x 25 cm / Two-color Riso

Edition of 100

€10


WWW.DYNASTYZINE.COM


Popularity: unranked [?]

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