Corbyn

Corbyn
by Henry Miller 

10.5 x 7.5cm, 52 pages, b&w with colour cover

£5

Corbyn is a sweet, tragic, hopeful thing. 

Told through the eyes of a 12 year old who notices, that despite the food banks and brutal inequality of contemporary Britain, his dad has discovered something to believe in. Something that would help create a more equal and just society, a society for the many not for the few. That something, of course, is Jeremy Corbyn.  

The art is perfectly suited to the mood - grey and brooding, like a relentless drizzle, or the actualisation of despair. Corbyn will have your heart in your throat, but it is also genuinely laugh out loud funny. That's a hard thing to pull off, but Henry Miller (no, not that Henry Miller) has achieved it in a way that makes it seem easy. 

Recent weeks in British politics have been dominated by the actual Corbyn's growing majority following, bolstered by a economically strong manifesto that seeks to tackle the ability of those with the most money to avoid paying a fair share of tax. He's even had the whole of Glastonbury festival singing his name.

This tiny comic however was written back in 2015 when it didn't seem possible for a politician with morals to actually have a chance of becoming prime minister. Henry Miller writes:  

On the 12th September 2015 Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the Labour Party with a landslide majority. Game on. 

It is still very much game on indeed.



Check out the first 14 pages of the zine: millertown.co.uk/corbyn

And then buy a copy of Corbyn here: millertown.co.uk/product/corbyn-2



Review by Nathan Penlington

Teenage Serial Killer

Teenage Serial Killer - an horrible story
C x Rudler

A4, 52 B&W pages, colour cover. (Please note photos show review copy only, not finished print)

€6 - French & English versions

Teenage Serial Killer is a satirical comic that follows Albert, at the start of school holidays, as he embarks on a killing spree. His dreams of infamy are short lived though, as the constant one-upmanship of arch rival Jordy - the Prepubescent Serial Killer - quickly take their effect on Albert's life. 

What follows is a downwards spiral of Islamic radicalisation via the internet, and interment in a terrorist bootcamp. I won't reveal what follows, I'll let you experience it yourself.

Teenage Serial Killer is reminiscent in style and tone to the genuinely infamous British comic Viz, minus the relentless swearing, and to the anarchic Oink! It succeeds in pushing extreme absurdity but played straight, as if the scenarios were a logical and inevitable outcome. The result of that is pretty graphic at times. It's not going to be for everyone. If you think certain subjects - religion, politics, terrorism - should not be satirised you should avoid this comic. For everyone else, Teenage Serial Killer will make you feel uncomfortable and queasy in parts, but if satire fails to achieve that it isn't doing its job. 

This arrived for review during the weeks the UK suffered two horrific terrorist attacks, and an equally horrific terrorist retaliation. We live in frightening times, but can't let that stop us from laughing.

Both French and English versions of Teenage Serial Killer are available to buy here: harshdiscountcomics.bigcartel.com



Review by Nathan Penlington

Notebookdrawings - Vol 2

Notebookdrawings - Vol 2
by Mette Norrie

2017 

A5, 38 pages, colour print.

50DKK (Danish Krone) or approx £5.80

Buy Vol 1 & Vol 2 for 85DKK (approx £10)

Following on from Notebookdrawings Vol 1 is a brand new volume of text and illustration from Danish artist Mette Norrie. For those new to her work it follows a minimalist format - each page is notebook style lined paper, over which have been drawn illustrations in pen and pencil, and captioned at the top in English. 

Some are witty play-on-words, others play-on-images - The Reviewer's Diary, Diary of a Social Media Manager - the illustrations are also sprinkled with literary references - T.S. Eliot's Calendar, Tender Buttons. 

But the pages that really strike a chord are those of a more melancholy, tender, quieter tone with titles like Failed Ideas, Forgotten Magicians, Lonely Gloves Club.  

Cumulatively Notebookdrawings form a kind of visual poetry that takes you outside the world as you see it. And like poetry they benefit from the time and space needed to experience in a physical form. 


The illustrations have been selected from Mette's blog - nbdrawings.tumblr.com. So, take a look, and then support her work by buying a copy of the zine. 

In her shop you can find copies of other zines too, alongside individual prints: norrieart.tictail.com/product/notebookdrawings-vol-2


www.MetteNorrie.com




Review by Nathan Penlington

Hiroshima Yeah! #146 [April 2017]

  

Mark Ritchie, donbirnam [at] hotmail [dot] com - for a sample issue just send a nice friendly email! [Yes I know in this age of vicious Twittering it seems 'nice friendliness' has gone down the fuckin' toilet, but I know that you, my dear readers, are not like those awful garbage people!]; Trades? Yes! Again, simply send a nice, friendly email and propose your trade! Size: 11.75" x 8.25" Page count: 6 [including one blank page for your Notes].

Another month, another issue of the wonderful Hiroshima Yeah! This issue's cover star is a dog with something in its mouth. I can't tell what it is and I'm not sure I want to know.

Also on the front page are the usual collection of poems. Here's my favourite:

WHY THE HUMAN RACE IS DOOMED

When the young, rich,

thick sports star cunts

and the young, rich,

thick pop star cunts

are all covered in

dusgusting tattoos,

it's no wonder

that the young, poor,

thick infamous cunts

want to cover themselves

in disgusting tattoos also.

And that's why

the human race is doomed.

Page two features Gary Simmons's regular column, '13.2 BILLION YEARS OF HELL', This instalment subtitled: "Further self-pitying existential crises, short-tempered sexual dysfunction, social isolation and the environmental catastrophe of domesticated chicken in the early Anthropogenic epoch. Ya CUNTS" It could be the title of a Gerard Ashworth comic. [Except for that last bit.] Anyway, this time Gary includes an anecdote about a fellow prisoner [from back when he was 'inside'] - "a little old man." "None of the other lags would fuckin' TALK to him, something about dead children in the back of a car..."

Pages three and four contain my favourite part of HY! - Mark's reviews of CDs, gigs, DVDs, and books. The one CD he reviewed this issue that I have made note of to track down is 'Josephine' by Magnolia Electric Co [Secretly Canadian, 2009]. As Mark describes it: a "...stunning array of consoling hymns and heartbreakers which seem to whisper the secret truths of the universe in your ear before disappearing in puffs of smoke."

Page five contains two poems by Jason [Media Junky] Rodgers, and Mark's micro-fiction.

I think I've said this before, but if I had one zine subscription for the rest of my life on that desert island, it would be Hiroshima Yeah!

non-binary zine

non-binary zine - a beginner's guide to understanding non-binary folk
by only two comics / Lee-Anne

A5, 12 pages.

£3

This zine is an informative and friendly guide that explains the terms, concepts, and issues around non-binary gender. Crucially, the zine presents those concepts to people who might find them potentially confusing, in an easy to understand way. It covers the gender spectrum; the meaning of the term trans; gender expectations; pronouns; and the dos and do-nots of supporting non-binary people.

Lee-Anne says:

After coming out, I found I was explaining the very basics of what it means being non-binary over and over again. So I created this resource which I use as a tool to inform friends, family and acquaintances so I can save time and energy. I've found it so useful that I realised others might need a similar tool.

Particularly helpful is the My 'need to knows' page - designed to either inform friends and family of terms to use and who knows what, or to help a non-binary friend better inform you.


The zine is available from the Only Two Comics Etsy shop: etsy.com/shop/onlytwocomics

And they will also be at the Weirdo Zine Fest in London on 15th July.

For more comics visit only-two.tumblr.com



Review by Nathan Penlington

RIP Rodney Leighton [19?? - 2017]

[Thanks to Dann Lennard for passing along the sad news.]

Rod was one of zinedom's most likeable and readable characters. His appearance in any zine's letter column could ensure that zine would be a keeper. Even though I had personally lost touch with him, his letters in recent issues of Ken Bausert's quarterly 'The Ken Chronicles' were the highlight of those zines. He sure will be missed by many. His writings are collected online here for the benefit of humankind >>>

The Mail Carrier Brought It

Bits of My Boring Life

& more

by

Rodney Leighton

SUBDUDE Issue #1

SUBDUDE Issue #1
By Mick

24 Pages.
Bound: Staples
Size: Mini
$3.00 (postage included)

SUBDUDE Issue #1 is a zine published by an author who goes by Mick.

Bound in simple cardstock and printer paper, SUBDUDE - not accidentally misspelled - offers a publishing from "a piece of community that [he] really didn't know what to do with." And let me say, this piece manages to encompass a whole lot more than just a piece.

The prolific and intelligent ideas expressed in SUBDUDE Issue #1 are some that seem to fill your head with knowledge and ideas and "what ifs".

Major topics discussed in this zine include anything from religion ro social media and face-to-face conversation - ways to connect and plug into the real world.

Mick manages to express extremely intelligent ideas in his writing that do make you question some things humanity has come to. The writing and flow go hand in hand in creating a well rounded zine with ideas to make you think (in a good way).

To purchase your copy, you can e-mail Mick at subdudezine (at) g mail (dot) com 

Review by Daniel Peralta
Completed on 6/19/2017; 6:25 P.M. CST

It's All Downhill From Fear by Gerard Ashworth [September 2016]

 

20 pages, $3.00, by Gerard Ashworth [Contact [???] Gerard is hard to contact, being as he is out of the loop, technologically. If you want a copy, contact sstratu [at] gmail [dot] com and I'll make sure he gets your message.]

It took a while to get around to reading this [could be my quote of 2016] - Gerard gave this to me when we shared a table at the Manly Zine Fair back in September. Historically, I go into a new Ashworth production with a sick sense of dread. They can be so dense and inscrutable! Really hard to understand! And to add insult to psychological trauma/injury, he makes fun of the reader constantly for his or her limited intelligence! *Blub!* But this one is easy to read! ...Or maybe I've gotten smarter? No, impossible! In short, I could say not only do I not remember the last time I enjoyed an Ashworth comic so much, but I do not remember the last time I enjoyed an Ashworth comic. ... Amongst the really great autobiographical stuff where he exposes his 'quirks and idiosyncrasies', there are also terrific comic stripped versions of a Godley & Creme song, 'I Pity Inanimate Objects'; and Gerard's 'girlfriend' Sabrina reciting "the greatest Beat poem of them all", 'Tomorrow Is A Drag', from the 1958 movie 'High School Confidential'.

Notebookdrawings - Vol 1

Notebookdrawings - Vol 1
by Mette Norrie

2016 

A5, 26 pages. 

50DKK (Danish Krone) or approx £5.80

Notebookdrawings is a charming zine by Danish artist Mette Norrie. It follows a simple, minimalist, format - each page is notebook style lined paper, over which have been drawn illustrations in pen and pencil captioned at the top in English. 

There is a wistful melancholy to many of the illustrations, but each page breathes freely with visual and verbal humour, together they form an enchanting take on the world. 

The illustrations have been selected from Mette's blog - nbdrawings.tumblr.com. So, take a look, and then support her work by buying a copy of the zine. 

In her shop you can find copies of other zines too, alongside individual prints: norrieart.tictail.com/product/notebookdrawings

www.MetteNorrie.com



Review by Nathan Penlington

Idle Ink #1 - Madness

Idle Ink #1 - Madness

A5, 24 pages. Cardboard cover. 

£2 + p&p

The first issue of Idle Ink is a collection of short stories and illustrations on the subject of madness. Each piece reflects different facets of the theme: insanity, self-deceit, violence, control, and power.

"With enough practice, a person can convince themselves of almost anything"

says J.L. Corbett at the start of She Outruns the Humdrum. A particularly apt analysis of all the characters in these stories. 

The zine features work by J.L. Corbett, Jenny Nolan-Lee, K.R. Tester, L.L. Kipling and Dazz. The authors' influences include Douglas Adams, George Orwell, and Neil Gaiman. But there are also touches of Ray Bradbury, particularly in the stories that walk the border between character driven narrative and sci-fi. Which is no bad thing, I'm a big Bradbury fan.

It's an engaging start to what I hope will become a long series of zines focused on new writing by emerging authors. 


Buy now via Etsy: etsy.com/uk/listing/529891809/madness

Or visit Facebook.com/IdleInkHull


Review by Nathan Penlington

Max Powers is the Atomic-Man! #1 [Fall 2015]

   

8 pages, 8.5" x 5.5", Alan Peters, PO Box 24276, Ventura CA 93001, USA

I wrote to Alan after seeing his great comics in a recent issue of Steve "The Dith Dood" Anderson's Dithering Doodles. I sent one of my diary comics hoping he was up for a trade, and my answer arrived a few months later [we operate on Small Press Time, you understand] in the form of three comics - this one [...Atomic-Man!]; The Future-Nauts [Summer 2014]; and The Incredibly Unstable Tromp [November 2013]

Political Correctoids are not invited to Alan's show, since one of his signature scenes [which I've seen appear three times already in the handful of comics I've seen of his] involves the heroine taking a shower.

One thing disturbs me and that is the dates on these comics - the most recent being from 2015. So unless I don't have the complete picture, the only recent work of his that can be seen is that appearing in Dithering Doodles. Hopefully we will see more new work from him soon!