Dog-Ear - Issue 9

Dog-Ear - Issue 9

6cm x 21cm (A4 folded into 5 panels)

Free where stocked / £1.50 if bought online

Dog-Ear is a great example of a publication in which content, form, and distribution, all coalesce into a unique, perfect zine. 

The zine is formatted from a single A4 sheet concertina folded into a bookmark. The size means each page is perfect for poems, short short-stories, and provides an elongated blank canvas for original illustrations. 

The contents of issue 9 include witty pieces from Neil Laurenson, Olivia Spidel, Nathan Fidler, Rebecca Field, and Mansour Chow; an excellent visual interpretation of Day of the Triffids by Vicki Johnson; and an experimental crossword by Charlie Methven in which the answers are each a different single letter of the alphabet (its a concept George Perec - member of the Oulipo and crossword composer - would definitely approve).

Dog-Ear is primarily distributed free at selected independent bookshops at locations around the world, but it is also available to buy either as a year subscription (£7 for 4 issues), or individually at £1.50 an issue. 

Dog-Ear is also open for submission - check their website for details: dog-ear.co/submit

Review by Nathan Penlington

Rising #66

Rising #66 (Summer 2016)

Edited by Tim Wells

A5, 24 pages. 

Free

Rising consistently puts its money where its mouth is (Yes, I know, it's a free zine. Free to you, means someone else, somewhere, is paying for your pleasure): a poetry zine with an emphasis on quality writing - poetry that doesn't submit to the usual elitist claims to the art form.

Once again the mix is part ranting old guard, part performance circuit, and part new voices - the thing that unites them being the attitude that comes from having a need to write, not just the desire to be a writer. 

This issue includes top work from Salena Godden, Porky the Poet (comedian Phill Jupitus' alter ego), Emily Harrison, Phoebe Stuckes, Fiona Curran, The Bro's Grim, Sophie Parkin, Melissa Lee-Houghton, Paul Birtill, Hannah Lowe, and Tim Turnbull. 

What are you waiting for tweet Tim here to haggle for a copy. Can I suggest bribes, favours, or a beer or two, are likely to be successful. Please tell him Nathan sent you.

Click here to visit Tim's Stand up & spit project which is dedicated to chronicling the history and influence of Ranting poetry. 

Review by Nathan Penlington

Clipper Guts Issue Five

By Joe9t
myspace.com/clippergutszine

This zine was sent to me by Zinemonger Distro, a distro that distributes free zines. Awesome! Go check out the site to find out how you can get some!

The idea that there is only one type of person who can makes zines is a strange one. I'm aware that they definitely seem to attract a certain type, but in reality that type is just people who like to produce things on print.

So when I came across this quote:

"I don't own any Black Flag records. I didn't know who Ghost Mice were until a couple of months ago. I'm not a vegan. I have an office job. I watch crappy daytime television if I can. I have no idea where my nearest radical boookshop is. I listen to Kraftwerk and Buddy Holly LPs. I am probably the least qualified out of all the people I know to be writing a fanzine on anything[...]"

It makes me sad. Anyone can make a zine! And they can be about anything! I mean, look at my newest zine, it is about crisps/chips! Everyone eats food! Everyone has at least one story to tell, or something they really care about, or a million tiny things that they think about. Try making a zine. You don't have to show it to anyone else (I have multiple finished and unfinished zines nobody has ever seen), but maybe you'll really like doing it.

Funnily I think the content of this zine is actually fairly standard zine fare. It's about music, complaining about the mainstream, and insulting people who like things different from you (rather like the internet really...). This isn't to say that it's bad. I enjoyed the casual style it was written in, and the brevity of all the writing (I don't think any piece is more than a single paragraph) means that it's easy to read.

This is the last of the free zines I've gotten from the Zinemonger Distro, and apparently the guy who runs it is ending it soon, so I encourage all of you (especially if you live in the UK) to go to the site and see if there's anything that interests you.

(This review was originally published on 365 Zines a Year.)

Evil Ed and Nasty Ted: The Geeky Bunch

www.eviledandnastyted.com

This zine was sent to me by Zinemonger Distro, a distro that distributes free zines. Awesome! Go check out the site to find out how you can get some!

The first of the two short comics in here is a little strange, it starts off as a Frankenstein parody, but then becomes a monster-bear character berating Nasty Ted (in scientist mode) for attempting to create a female who will cook, clean, and do other stereotypeical "female" tasks. This would be good, except that the female monster-bear also has the worst type of stereotypical shrewish girlfriend personality. Gah! Sexism plus sexism does not equal no sexism. Yeah, I know it's a joke, but...

Lettering-wise this comic is a mess. Everything uses these ugly rectangular boxes, some of which have multiple borders for no apparent reason. The font choices used for the text inside these boxes aren't that great either, and the text sometimes touches the edge of the boxes. Aaaahhhh. Awful!

Artwise the comic is a lot better. The art style seems to have been influenced by '90s style supeheroes, or perhaps just parodies of '90s style superheroes. The characters are incredibly stylized and exagerated with Ed not having any actual eyes, and a huge grimace/smile in pretty much every panel. Other characters include bikini girls with horrifying body shapes, and a police officer of some sort in body armour holding a ridiculous gun. It's practically a Rob Liefeld comic! Despite this, I do generally like the style of this comic as the above features are clearly used for comedic value. I think the character designs of Ed and Ted are pretty good, though I think Ed's creepy smile could be dialed back a bit.



(This review was originally published on 365 Zines a Year.)