Zine Review: Obsolete #6
Obsolete #6
PO Box 72
Victor IA 52347
Newspaper / 22 pages / $5
Four
decades ago (pardon me if this is starting off like a history lesson)
there were literally thousands of “underground” newspapers and zines
being published in Amerika.
Time, energy, funding, the
political environment, and the internet have all taken their toll on
alternative papers and zines. In the digital age, sadly, Obsolete is an
aptly named anomaly.
But it doesn’t have to be
this way! Support paper! Obsolete is beautiful in its design and
implementation. It is not slick, it is printed on newsprint, in black
& white, accentuating substance over style. Childhood and its
discontents seems to be the underlying theme of issue number six. Terry
Lee Dill recounts growing up as a “Blue Baby”. Amy Bugbee ponders why
it’s okay for children to be exposed to endless hours of violence on tv
and in video games, yet its not okay in our culture to discuss healthy
sexuality with them. There are also articles dealing with children
growing up with disabilities. Other essays question the link between
psychiatry and authoritarianism, and the pathologization of our culture.
Obsolete also gives us great art and
photography, an old-timey serialized graphic story, and powerful poetry
like “Why People Live in Desolate Places” by Greta Anderson. It’s 2012
and a joy to find that thought-provoking zines like Obsolete are alive
and kicking.
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