Zine Reviews: July '12
Rum Lad #5
Steve Larder, Lincolnshire – www.stevelarder.co.uk
Rum
Lad has to be one of my favourite comic zines – every issue features
interesting handwritten stories, surrounded by Steve’s charming and rich
illustrations. This issue features a visual diary detailing the
“organised chaos” of his band’s tour around America – travelling for
over 10 hours at a time in their tour van, playing at pubs and house
parties, sofa surfing, and exploring the American towns they visited.
The illustrations of the band members, the venues, the interesting
personalities they meet along the way, and the American scenery, are all
so full of character that they really draw you in to Steve’s story. I
liked the choice of topic too; it was fascinating to see the details of
what goes on during a cross-country tour. Rum Lad never disappoints –
get your paws on this issue now!
Buy Her Candy #2
Bettie, Carlisle – http://manufacturinghearts.blogspot.com
Another
cracking zine by Bettie, which opens with a list of things she has been
up to since the last issue, including planning a riot grrrl night, and
watching Star Trek TNG. We read about Bettie’s concerns surrounding
privacy in her zines, a little guide to her favourite parts of Chorlton,
her feelings as she approaches the end of her nursing degree, and her
future plans for when she qualifies as a nurse. The layouts are as
pretty as ever, with handwritten and typewritten sections, and lots of
cool pictures and patterns pasted in. However, my favourite thing has
to be the cover – a cartoon of Cinderella and Snow White sharing a
passionate kiss, printed on lilac paper! Gorgeous.
Sad Songs About Failed Relationships
Kirsten, London – www.website-schmebsite.blogspot.com
This
zine is very difficult to describe. From the title and gorgeous cover,
I expected some sort of dissection of classic break-up songs alongside a
story about a break-up. Instead, Kirsten briefly outlines the
dissolution of a relationship with sparse words, cartoons of typical
relationship anxieties (e.g. how many kisses to include in a text), and
symbolic drawings. On the last page, Kirsten provides a link to the
“soundtrack” of the zine, which features some great songs about failed
relationships, including Leonard Cohen’s ‘Take This Longing’, The
Dresden Dolls’ ‘Delilah’, and Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’. This
was a nice touch, though I would’ve loved to read a discussion as to why
those particular songs were chosen! I like the fact that it’s not your
typical break-up zine, and it’s been put together carefully and
creatively. Having said that, I love me some dense, wordy zines, and
the lack of text just didn’t sustain my interest. A very interesting
concept though, definitely worth a flick. Buy your copy for a mere 45p
(I love cheap zines!) – this zine has a limited print run, so grab hold
of one asap!
Nancy #1
Alex Creep, London – www.creepclub.co.uk/nancy
An
intelligent queer zine written by effeminate queer Alex, which
discusses in detail the concept of a nancy boy (a femme gay man), the
way mainstream gay culture marginalizes effeminate queers and the
pressure gay men face to “act straight”. Tied in with this larger
discussion Alex brings in ideas about the concept of “camp”, the
idolization of strong women like Lady Gaga by gay men as examples of
“strong femininity”, the oversexualization of gay culture, and
effeminate boys in anime and goth culture. We also read Alex’s own
story of coming to terms with his effeminacy, and a list of his
favourite femme gays of TV and film, including Kurt of Glee and
Lafayette Reynolds of True Blood. The layout is functional – mostly
black text on white background, with hand drawings of a few of the
aforementioned queers scattered throughout. Having never really
considered the idea of “sissyphobia”, this zine was an illuminating
read. Alex did a good job of discussing a murky issue with clarity and
good humour, peppered with stories of his own experiences. Highly
recommended!
Bloomurder #1
Laura, Bristol - bloomurderATgmail.com
This
little perzine features the kind of topics you’d expect from a first
issue - bicycles, gigs (Adelaide Fringe Festival 2011), travelling
stories, thoughts about femininity, and nostalgia. In the middle
there’s a very interesting little piece on Laura’s love of
violent/horrific art (including Medusa by Caravaggio),
which was my favourite part of the zine. Bloomurder has a nice upbeat
tone, laid out with cut and paste imagery and charming scratchy
handwriting.
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