Small World: A Friendship Network Map

By Pearl
PO Box 74
Brighton
BN1 4ZQ
UK

I really love maps, and this is an incredibly interesting one (that is an awesome fold out, in a format I’ve been meaning to use for years, but am too lazy to actually do).

To use a kind of lame analogy, it’s sort of like real world Facebook, showing all of Pearl’s friends, how they’re connected to her, and how they’re connected to each other. Some of the connections are really awesome, with my favourites probably being “[are] friends […] because they’re both scientists” and “is famous, he played Bungle the Bear in Rainbow (a TV Programme)”. But there’s also charm in “used to be in a band with”, “met at a party years ago”, and “lives in same street as”.

Part of me wishes that this was some fancy interactive flash thing or something so that I could click on people’s names and get more information, but that is because I am a huge technology nerd, and really there’s no reason for it, and the whole thing is really cute (though I will more than likely never read what all the connections say as they can be a bit hard to read).

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Halifax Comix Jam #11/12

It's the end of the month, and so it is once again time for me to "review" an old issue of the Halifax Comix Jam comic in order to promote the comic jam happening tonight at Roberts Street!

Honestly, I think jam comics like this are probably more valuable to the people that made them than to random outsiders. This is because these comics rarely make any sense at all.

(If you're not aware of what a jam comic is, they're comics where one person draws a panel, and then someone else draws the next panel, and so on. They usually don't have any real narrative flow, and the art styles can change drastically between panels.)

Still, I think they're neat because the jam sessions themselves encourage people to draw and be creative, which is something I think more peohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifple should be doing.

But yeah, go to the Comics Jam at Roberts Street Tuesday, April 24th (tonight!), 7-10pm. It will be fun! I promise. There will be cookies.

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Help Salford Zine Library set up its new home

I got this email the other day, and figured I'd reprint it here. You can contact them at salfordzinelibrary@googlemail.com.

You can help Salford Zine Library set up its new home by sponsoring
the project here:

http://www.sponsume.com/project/salford-zine-library

Since the exhibition came to a close at Salford Museum and Art Gallery the library has been homeless. I have been desperately seeking a new place for it to reside. Looking for a pleasant and safe environment where people can comfortably read and peruse the archive at their own leisure. After much toing and froing looking for the right space I have been offered a permanent room at the Nexus Art Café in the heart of Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

In its new home the archive will be accessible seven days a week from mid May but as you can see the space needs work. With your help and the skills of master craftsman Andy Yates – a man who says he can drill through anything - we can transform the space into the ideal new home we have long since dreamed of.

Our aim is to raise one thousand pounds by the end of April 2012. The money raised will go towards the building of shelves, comfy seats to sit down and read, lighting and giving the walls a nice lick of paint.

When the space is clean and safe we can deliver workshops as part of our educational programme and you can read you favourite zines in calm creative comfort.

You can donate in these amounts:

For £5! You get an invite to the opening launch night.

For £10! You also receive a freshly burnt DVD of the Salford Zine Library film ‘Self-Publishers of the World Take Over.’

For £20! Add to it a guided tour of the 3 x 5 metres room with head librarian Craig John Barr.

And for £50 and upwards! You get all of the previously mentioned plus you can pick an original piece of artwork listed from my website portfolio.

Please be generous and give today!

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Busking issue 1

By Celeste
www.etsy.com/shop/ofcourseyoucan
notfitforsociety.tumblr.com

I think busking is pretty neat, and to some extent I envy people who have the skills and personality to successfully perform in front of other people (and make a living from it! I don't think I'd make much money busking by offering to edit things)

Celeste has been playing accordion for several years, and makes her living from it. Of course "her living" is far different from what most people would consider: she eats from dumpsters, doesn't own any new clothing, and doesn't really buy anything. Of course she's perfectly happy doing this, as not having a regular 9-5 job means that she can spend her days doing what she loves: playing accordion, volunteering, making art, and other fun things. She actually pities people who have deadening office jobs, and as someone who has one of those jobs I kind of envy her life.

This zine is filled with stories and anecdotes from Celeste's times busking across Canada. Some are told in comics, while others use text. She also has an FAQ of questions people ask her while she's busking like "Are you on drugs?" and "Are you actually rich?". The whole zine is told in an upbeat and appealing way that makes me wish that I was friends with Celeste and got to hang out with her.

I recommend this zine, and am excited to learn that she's almost finished her second issue. Check out her tumblr for some of the comics that will be in issue 2!

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Panel: "Sweet" 16

Published by Ferret Press
600 Markview Road
Columbus, Ohio
43214, USA
www.ferretpress.com

I reviewed one of these anthology comics last year, and while I found the stories of varying quality, there were a couple that I enjoyed.

While that issue was about superstition and bad luck, this one is about a substantially different subject: romance and relationships. This is an area that I am less interested in. Or rather, the ways in which it is presented here didn't appeal to me.

Several of the pieces were about marriage and children, concepts I generally find boring and dull, while another shows a relationship that seems to be based mostly on material wealth (it's supposed to be comedic, but instead succeeds in making me sad). I also took issue with one of the comics that said that the alternatives to "monogamy over a 70-year lifespan" are "really awful". This person might want to look into monogamish relationships.

The best story in here was by KT Swartz and Brent Bowman (who illustrated the comic I liked in the other issue I reviewed). It's more about the titular sweet sixteen (a concept that both mystifies and terrifies me) than relationships, and is kind of Hunger Games-y. I don't think it really works as a complete story by itself, and functions more as a Future Shock type story, but I found it more interesting than the other content in here.

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Chicken With Penis

chickenwithpenis@yahoo.com
PO Box 20204
Seattle, WA
98192
USA

[The images at the bottom of this review is NSFW, just letting you know.]

I've reviewed a couple of issues of this series before, and I really didn't like them. So when faced with the idea of reading more issues I hummed and I hawed about reading them as they sat in my review pile.

Eventually I decided I'm not going to review them, or even read them. I'm sure they're much the same as earlier issues.




(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Mar 25, 2012 11:30 AM Zine News Round Up: 25.03.12
from Spill The Zines! by (Cath)

image by Strawbleu, 'Loosely Bound Zine Extravaganza'

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


---


1. Zine Releases
- ‘Your Pretty Face Is Going Straight To Hell’ #16 is out now! Buy a copy through Tukru’s distro, Vampire Sushi, or at her blog.
- ‘Necronomicon’, a fanzine focused on retro horror films, has just released its 22nd issue! Buy your copy at etsy.
- Louise Viner has released 'Tempest in a Tea Cup' #5 this month! Buy a copy of her feminist perzine at etsy.
- ‘Pandora Press’ #3, a feminist compzine published by the Swansea Feminist Network, is out now! Buy your copy at any upcoming SFN event, or at Marching Stars distro.
- 'Shape & Situate: Posters Of Inspirational European Women' Issue #3 is out now! For a list of places where issues can be found/ordered, visit http://remember-who-u-are.blogspot.com.
Also available via etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/COTL?ref=si_shop- A brand new ‘Enchanted Times’, an A5 newspaper format zine of re-told fairy tales, is out now! For more info about the zine and how to order, visit http://enchantedtimes.wordpress.com/.
- ‘The Frightening Church’ was released this week – it’s a zine full of “dreams, hallucinations and thoughts expressed through drawings, words, photography and collage”. To order the zine contact Robby Shackleton at: hissingframesATgmail.com.
‘Larry’ #5 is out now! An A5 illustrated perzine, each one is individually numbered and tied. Get in touch with the author via We Make Zines to buy or trade a copy.




2. Upcoming Events
- Ladyfest East London: Sunday 1st April in Hoxton Square. A day of zines, music, workshops, and cake! The organisers are looking for people to get involved – email ladyfesteastlondon@gmail.com for more info.
- Victoria Baths Fanzine Convention: Saturday 19th May at Victoria Baths, Manchester. There are plenty of spaces for stallholders left – more info can be found here.
- Are you running a zine event in the UK, or do you know of one that we haven’t mentioned yet? Let us know so we can share the news with our readers!


3. Submission Calls
- Pandora Press is looking for submissions for its 4th issue! The theme is “pink”. For more info and writing prompts, check out this page: http://swanseafeministnetwork.wordpress.com/pandora-press/- A compzine about arrest experiences are calling for people to submit their stories of being arrested by the police. Submission deadline is March 31st. Please send all submissions and questions to arreststoriesprojectATriseup.net.
- A new UK film zine called Human Batteries is looking for submissions for its first issue. More info can be found on their comprehensive flyer.


4. Distro News
- Black Sunday is in the process of setting up a new UK-based distro that specialises in dark zines, e.g. horror, death, macabre, rock n roll. If you’re interested in submitting your zine for consideration, email katiedirgeATgmail.com with details of your zine.
- Vampire Sushi is open, with a new design and lots of new stock! www.vampiresushi.co.uk


5. AOB
- Did you get a chance to pop down to Bradford’s zine extravaganza yesterday? If not, here are some great photos from the day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/strawbleu/sets/72157629294265658/

Zine Review: Ray X - X Rayer
from One Minute Zine Reviews by DJ Frederic
Thank the chariot of the gods that someone is publishing a newsletter/ zine like Ray-X X-Rayer. It comes out on a regular basis & goes for theesoteric jugular with crisp writing and intriguing articles. #87 includes a discussion on prophet of doom Nancy Leider of zetatalk.com, everything you need to know about Peggy Bowles & her rosary workout (move over Jane Fonda) andmore. #89 (I’m missing #88 for some reason) delves into the hyperlogic razorsof Alex Jones and David Chase Taylor. I suggest sending Ray X a few dollars & reading for yourself. Boxholder, PO Box 2 Plattsburg NY 12901-0002.

Zines by Casey Bradley
from One Minute Zine Reviews by DJ Frederick


Easy Sticker Makin’ Guide
How to Make Your Very Own Zine
by Casey Bradley
In this media saturated world, it’s reassuring to find thesetwo excellent mini-comic “how to” zines Casey created for kids in herbookbinding & drawing classes at art camp. Kids love to draw, write &create and these zines share simple to follow steps to help kids connect withpaper and pen. The stickers look like they’re fun to draw and make as well. I’mgoing to share these zines with the grandkids & see what they come up with!

You will find Casey’s zines here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/soiledrainbow?ref=seller_info

The Robot's Cat

By Jen DesRoche
monasterylane.tumblr.com

I recently helped my partner print her first minicomic. It's a really sweet and funny series of stories featuring a robot and its cat, told entirely without words.

While I am slightly biased, I think it's pretty awesome and that you should check it out! You can see some of the artwork for the comic, plus lots of her other drawings and comics, on her tumblr. She'd really appreciate it!

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Bring on the Dancing Horses

By Shaun
PO Box 1282
Fullerton, CA
92836, USA

Bring on the Dancing Horses is another zine by the author of There is a Danger, which I reviewed last month. It covers much of the same material as that zine (bicycle trips, exploring, abandoned buildings), but is much longer, and perhaps because of this is able to have more of a narrative in places.

Specifically there's a lot written about a giant squat Shaun stayed in while in New York City, the people he met while he lived there, the adventures they had, and how they were eventually evicted. As a person who enjoys abandoned buildings, urban exploration, dumpster diving, and adventures, this stuff really appealed to me, and Shaun's accounts of hiding in dark rooms filled with junk while the police walked by, or sleeping in a cleaned out elevator control room successfully managed to paint pictures in my mind.

I read Shaun's zine at a very specific time when it may have had more of an impact on me than even a week ago. I have a full-time job I find to be (while somewhat worthwhile) incredibly boring. My plan was to work until August, visit some friends and family, and then start a new chapter of my life in another city in September. I have recently discovered that this new chapter will not be what I had planned, but will instead be something currently entirely mysterious to me. While some find this liberating, I've spent the last seven years of my life feeling fairly rudderless, and had hoped to have a goal slightly longer than "pay this month's rent". While I can work my boring job if I have something to look forward to, I now wonder why I should even bother with my job, and whether I should, like Shaun, give up on the capitalist society we exist in, and become more outside it than I already am, rejecting societal norms, and existing as a scavenger. This was only cemented by the sudden onset of spring, and days with 20 degree weather (to all the Americans that read this remember that I live in Canada, so this is actually warm).

PostScript: Included with Shaun's zines I received a letter that described what his zines were about. One small piece really stood out to me. It was about how part of this zine was about "a girl (always a girl...)", and really, that's kind of true. For a certain type of person, there is always a girl. One that you find, one that you leave behind, one that you remember.

Excerpt (I don't usually do these, but thought I should for this zine):

I woke up early and set off into the building, flashlight in hand and a feeling of vertigo from the sheer size of the labyrinthian halls, the multiple wings and adjoined church left eerily empty and bathed in dust and stained-glass light, and so much detritus from its past lives as a community center. On the third floor was the main room, lined by open windows whose glass had been removed, now letting light, noise and breeze flow lushly throughout the room. Most other windows in the building were boarded up, allowing in only a small sliver of light through the triangular wedges cut from the bottom of each plywood sheet. This made nearly every room dark, menacingly silent, and possessed of so many odd and curious details of which one could mine a litany of scenarios and theoretical explanations for.

On the lower floors were the large performance theater and basketball court. Chairs were scattered about the floor, a painted set remained standing on the stage, and a tall laddered-platform on wheels sat in the middle of the room. It was hard to know if these all were left in carless [sic] abandonment or if they were the remains of some squatter-party, as Bowery Manor at once appeared both the elegiac remnants of a once-bustling community space forced out by the city of New York and a boundless playground for those who stumbled upon the shell, determined to breathe life back into it. Unfortunately, the building being closed off meant that it was illegal to be anywhere on the property, and anyone coming or going or inside Bowery Manor had to be ware of any police of HPD presence around the building. Thus, besides the metal door installed by the kids and secured with chains and padlocks, the first floor also had a large metal beam wedged between the stairs and the rollgate, the only accessible entrance to anyone who did not want to squeeze through the sledgehammered hole beneath the tarp or climb through a second story window.

Debris lined the floor nearly everywhere you looked - phone books, paper, clothes, boxes full of completely useless objects, nearly any imaginable functionless item could probably be found somewhere on the floors or shelves or in the drawers or in any of the other nooks and crevices in the building. In some rooms, you were not stepping on any floor at all but on the slippery and unstable mountains of old magazines, computer equipment, kitchen tools, CD cases. The swimming pool in the basement was filled to an even six inches below the brim, not with water but with junk.

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Sorry vs Sausage

By Bernard Boulevard and Gordon Gordon
PO Box 20204 Seattle, WA
98102, USA

This incredibly short (one sheet of folded paper) is pretty odd. It combines random pictures with text about the words in the title. There is no actual vs, unless you read about both and decide one is better than the other based upon some arbitrary rules.

The "sorry" section seems like a tirade against Canadians. "You say SORRY way too much. [...] you tell me you're SORRY?! That is so lame, you meek prick. You should be in my face yelling "In Your FACE!!"". Um, yeah.

The sausage section is kind of amusing ("The Best Sausages are Fat and Juicy [...] And Slam Your Throat With Pleasure!"), and mentions vegetarian sausages, so I guess it wins.

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Three Zine

By Squid
www.squidishere.com
squid.bigcartel.com

One of the first thing you notice about this zine is the way it's printed. I have no idea how Squid did this, but the blacks on this zine are incredibly black and shiny. There are a couple of pages that are mostly black, and they just feel thick with ink. It's really neat.

As to the content, Three features drawings (of monsters!), comics, and recipes, but the majority of the zine is made up of "interviews with cool females".

Squid talks with one of the organizers of the Women's Autonomous Nuisance Cafe (WANC), and female members of the musical groups Lilies on Mars, Seaming To (okay, a person rather then a group), and Creatures of Kontrast.

I enjoyed reading all the interviews, as they range across a fairly wide variety of questions and talk about some cool stuff and actually made me go and listen to the bands online. The WANC interview discusses lady DJs, squatting, and other neat stuff, while all of them feel more like conversations than some of the interviews you read.

There are also reviews of concerts by a couple of the bands. The first of which seems to degenerate into a fever dream ("AAAAAAAAAAAAGH! Giant cockroaches with TV's for brains and temporary bus stop signs for noses!") before returning to talk about the music. Though considering that one of the band members say that they like "confusion, paranoia, and craziness" I think this is probably appropriate.

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Skillshot 16, 17, & 18

www.skill-shot.com

I recently (ie. about an hour ago) finished reading Yeti Researcher, a fake scholarly journal devoted to the study of crypto-hominids. Its humour lies in its combination of reality with fiction, and how you're never quite sure how seriously to take any of it. I really dug it, and it reminded me of a piece I once wrote in a zine for the (fictional) Canadian Journal of Kaiju Film Studies about the Very Hungry Caterpillar vs Godzilla film.

I bring this up, because if I didn't know any better I might think that Skill Shot was an equally fictitious zine, chronically events that never happened, and people that didn't exist.

Except that they do exist, despite the fact that I don't think I've ever met anyone who's (admitted to being) into pinball, and before I read this zine I didn't even know there was a pinball scene.

These zines cover events that have happened, news and gossip about what machines might be coming next and which are broken, techniques, question and answer sessions with pinball players ("Do you listen to music while playing Pinball?"), high score challenges, the locations of every pinball machine in Seattle, the Seattle Pinball Museum, and more.

Honestly, it still seems kind of like some elaborate scam, but since there's a website, and more than 18 issues I have to accept that it's a real subculture that I've just never encountered.

In one way Skill Shot really succeeds: every time I finish reading an issue I want to start playing pinball. Apparently there's a Halifax Pinball League, maybe I'll check it out next month.



(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Gadgie 24

By Marv
PO Box 93
Boston
Lincolnshire
PE21 7YB
England

Gadgie is another of those big, thick (over 30 pages) punk zines that covers music, zines, complaints, and whatever else is running through the creator's mind.

Gadgie's been coming out for ages, and its creator Marv is now in his late 30s, married, and even has a child. Old punks don't die, they just (pro)create the next generation.

In this issue Marv talks about the punk scene in Boston, England (both current and its origins), going to Loch Ness for a holiday with his partner and kid, misheard lyrics, a pretty epic account of every injury he's ever acquired while playing soccer/football, and loads of other stuff.

I like how Marv seems really enthusiastic about everything, and how being injured bothers him because it means he can't go and dance at punk shows. However, his nonstop style of writing was kind of exhausting, as you don't really have any idea when the longer pieces are going to end or what's going to happen next.

Marv has a really distinct style of writing, a sort of stream of consciousness "I did this, then I did this, then this happened" type of thing. If it appeals to you you'll probably be happy to read anything he writes, but if it doesn't then I'm not sure there's any topic he could get you to read about. I think I fall somewhere in the middle.

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Enter The Barefoot Lone Pilgrim: Origins

By David Blandy and Inko

I've reviewed a couple of Blandy's comics on this site in the past. If you read those reviews you might understand why I have a hard time thinking what to say about this comic that mixes James Brown lyrics with Shaolin monk cliches.

This is, I think, the comic by Blandy that I've enjoyed the least. Whereas the others had more concrete topics, this one is much more vague in what it's about. The cover blares "Discover the true origins of the barefoot lone pilgrim!", and is made up in several ways to look like an old fashioned superhero comic. Yet inside we only get a single person sitting inside, reading, drawing, and thinking about philosophy. Actually, I guess that is the origin of Blandy's alter ego.

Blandy's books are usually very attractive packages and, apart from a lettering font I didn't really care for, this continues that trend. The story is well suited by Inko's art, and I enjoy the style in which he draws people. A person just sitting in a chair could be boring to look at, but Inko uses a number of different angles and varying degrees of close-ups to create some really nice looking panels. While there aren't that many background, the fact that he draws multiple panels that just consist of feet puts him miles ahead of many superhero artists for whom creating comics is actually a job.

I really like the idea of combining philosophy with the trappings of superhero comics (and video games). These are media that generally don't focus on philosophical thought, and I definitely feel that Blandy could create a really cool comic based around this idea. While I don't think that this is it, at least it made me think about some things.

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Trixie Biker bootleg

By Matthew Craig
thematthewcraig.com

I've reviewed a couple of Trixie Biker comics in the past, and I kind of wish I'd read this one first, as it's a brief origin story for the character. Now I know the vague, and not really important origin for this magically-powered, motorcycle-riding superhero.

The art's not the best, but at least part of that is down to the not great reproduction. Plus it's like five years old, I'm pretty sure Craig's art has improved since then.

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Beauty Patrol

By Cody Roder

I recently read something online somewhere (on the Comics Reporter maybe?) that talked about graduates from the Center for Cartoon Studies. The person (whoever they were) wrote about how the center was turning out comics graduates who may know something about putting together a comic, but are still just making minicomics and webcomics with the hope that something will catch on and they'll have a career.

This comic really reminded me of that idea, because while this comic may have a pretty cool cover, the interior is generally confusing and not particularly coherent. At least part of this is because the comic contained within is at least partially a "daily diary comic" (or at least that's what it says on the final page), but I never would have guessed that.

Instead we have characters who wander around doing not much, and spend a lot of time thinking about and discussing various philoso-physics concepts. There is definitely a place in comics for discussions about entropy, particles, time and space, and similar things, but I don't think its place is in comics that use nine panel grids where the art barely changes between panels, and the dialogue is disjointed and sentences are strung out across pages.

I think ultimately I just don't understand why this comic was printed. Not why it was made, because making any sort of art can help you get to grips with your thoughts and you have to work on your art to get better. But I just don't really know who the audience for a comic like this is.



(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Monkey Squad One #8

Monkey Squad One #8 digest, 24 pages, $2.50
The zombie apocalypse continues in the 8th issue of Monkey Squad One. The city of St. Louis has become overrun by zombies, and a team of three youngsters, known as Monkey Squad One, has been commissioned to take them out. A zombie killing spree ensues, and amid the carnage the sound of an acoustic guitar is heard. Enter washed-up, crybaby crooner, Cletus Whiteheart, hypnotizing zombies with his diminished chords. This is part two of the zombie apocalypse (check out MSO #7 to find out how it all started), and considering what happens in the last few pages of this issue, it’s clear that the affair is far from over. I have enjoyed reading several issues of this comic. It’s highly entertaining and very well done. It has a great mix of humor, adventure, action, and wit. Totally worth a look.
monkeysquadmailbox@gmail.com
www.monkeysquadone.blogspot.com
Etsy: Monkey Shop One
Twitter: MonkeySquadOne

Lost in the Jungle

By Jason Niebauer
www.jasonniebauer.com

I reviewed one of Niebauer’s zines a while ago, and was a bit disappointed. This one however is basically review proof. It’s just some drawings of abstract shapes in a 1/8th size zine. I really don’t have anything to say about it at all.

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

"dotdotdash" Callout

I recently received this call out for zines. It might be more appropriate for people in Australia, but it still sounds pretty neat!

Hey there,

I'm from dotdotdash (http://dotdotdash.org/), a literary art journal from Perth, WA, and we're doing a zine collaboration project called Fingerprint which I wondering if you could pass along to your mailing list or callout list at all? Or if you yourself would like to contribute that would be swell!

Basically for this edition of dotdotdash, instead of a magazine, subscribers will receive a package of 20 or so zines. Each package will have a different combination of zines, and will be unique, like a fingerprint. But for this we need thousands of zines and that's where we need you! Feel free to start on a zine project for us straight away (but let us know if you are, so we can include you in the count and not freak out about how few submissions we have!). Submissions are due May the 7th but let us know if you have one coming and we might give you a bit of leeway.

If you have any leftover copies of your old zines that you'd like to send along, we'd love to have those too, just don't forget to mark them with a fingerprint in some way so that they can be a part of the project :)

I've attached a flyer if you wanna pass along the project info to anyone, also this page from the dotdotdash website (http://dotdotdash.org/?page_id=1549) explains Fingerprint a bit further.

Warm wishes, and thanks for being an awesome zine-maker (and/or distro) anyway :)

Shamini J
Co-Editor
dotdotdash

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

I See the World in Hipstervision #2

By Elliot Baggott
surrealistetiquette.blogspot.com

Last year I reviewed a comic that Baggott had created, and I thought it was pretty good.

Unfortunately, the best part of this art zine is the cover. While the name creates all sorts of ideas of what could be contained within, what we actually get are sketches of people and buildings, plus some drawings of people's heads.

While there are times when I enjoy looking at sketchbook material, it's generally for artists who I am a huge fan of and not for people still developing their style. Some of the drawings in here are nice enough, there's not really enough content for me to recommend this zine.

It's still a good title though, I hope Baggott manages to use it to its full extent some time.

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Roberts Street Social Centre Fundraising!

(Photo by Krista Leger, and taken from this article.)

I volunteer at a place called the Roberts Street Social Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It's a pretty awesome place, with a zine library (where I volunteer as a librarian), a screen printing studio, a rad summer residency program for zinesters and artists, and a space where we run games nights and comics jams, hold movie showings, and do lots of other fun stuff. It's an awesome space and I spend a lot of time there doing stuff.

On May 1st we're being evicted from our current space, and we're hoping to collect some money for our new (yet to be determined) location! We've created an indiegogo fundraiser page where you can donate money to us in return for some prizes. It may say that we've exceeded our goal, but we're actually trying to get more money than that (as $500 wouldn't even pay a month's rent in our current location) and apparently can't change the amount.

If you're interested in donating, please do! If you'd rather donate in another manner you can send us an email and we'll work out the details. If you don't have any money, I encourage you to spread the word, and tell other people who would be interested in donating about the fundraiser.

Thanks for reading this, and thanks for reading this blog in general.

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)