Break the Chain, Volume 2

 A5, 44 black and white pages

£2.90 (+£3.62 p&p)

The second volume of Break the Chain is a battle cry from the Jacksonville punk scene. Sequels are always tricky, and so I was eager to see if zine maker Matt Sessions could pull it off.

The first interview is with Dawn Ray’d, a black metal band from the north of England (my neck of the woods, how exciting!). Reading through this interview, I was a little disappointed with myself; my surprise at the band’s articulation and love of poetry (their band name comes from a poem by Voltairine de Cleyre) spoke volumes about my own preconceptions of heavy metal bands. Much of their interview was an exploration of the power and beauty of words, and yet it ended with a reminder of the anarchy at their core - “Fuck the pigs, smash the Nazis”.

This volume also offered fantastic artwork from Matt Jaffe. His images have been created with thousands of dots, each one carefully placed, each one a crucial part of a bigger picture. Jaffe’s artwork is sharply evocative, but more importantly it teases one’s curiosity – each image bears a strange caption (“alienergy”, “sickened”, “radiate”), none of which make sense straight away.

It’s clear that Sessions has held onto the same punk ethos that birthed the fist volume of Break the Chain, and he’s built on this significantly in the second volume. The pages are crammed full of content, each item fitting well within the theme of angry protest whilst offering their own distinct point of view.

Sadly, some items fall a little short. Ed Dantès’ essay “In Prisons We Trust (part one)” is full of angry commentary, but unfortunately offers very little depth or intelligent examination of the points he is criticising. I was really rooting for Dantès – his argument started off well, gained momentum, but the deathblow never came (perhaps it arrives in part two).

This volume is a gripping read, and I think this has a lot to do with Sessions’ obvious love for the music scene in his area. It’s clear that he doesn’t make Break the Chain for profit or notoriety (you won’t find his name anywhere in these pages), but because he loves the Jacksonville scene.

On the whole, the second volume of Break the Chain is a triumph. It it builds on the themes of protest and angst introduced by its predecessor and the result is a zine which is polished and cohesive – clearly, Sessions is finding his groove.

Volume two of Break the Chain can be bought here 

Review by J.L. Corbett

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

Back home and broke

Back home and broke by Jacob Louis Beaney 

A5 - 44 pages. 

£3


This was one of the zines I picked up at the recent DIY Cultures event in London. It is a funny and honest look at how it feels to be forced to return to living with your parents as an adult. In telling that story Back home and broke also explores the state of the widespread poverty in UK post recession, in the grip of brutal Tory cuts to essential services, and what it means to be university educated and working class in the face of large scale unemployment. 

A lot of this zine resembles parts of my own life, so it was always going to work for me, but I genuinely feel it deserves a wide readership - if only to remind people of this truism:

"I would say class isn't indicative of your quality as a person, twats can be found in all stratospheres of the class system".  

Buy a copy here: etsy.com/uk/listing/271168185/back-home-and-broke

Check out other Hickathrift zines and things on Etsy: etsy.com/uk/shop/HickathriftPress

Review by Nathan Penlington

Joyful Dissent, Spring 2013

Joyful Dissent, Spring 2013
legal-size paper, 8 pages, donation
A zine for folks interested in activism involving political issues. The first article introduces an organization called Public Accountability Initiative, which investigates "power and corruption at the heights of business and government." The following article addresses drone strikes in Afghanistan. Another article is a personal account about working with an organization that provides basic necessities to Mexicans attempting to cross the border into the United States - the purpose being to help prevent migrants from dying in the dessert. Some of the information in this zine may only be pertinent to people living in and around Charlottesville, VA (the city in which this zine is produced). What I like most about this zine is the look of it. It's a cut 'n paste zine that takes me back to when I was first introduced to the world of zines. Very nostalgic for me at least, and good to know that little publications like this are still around. Worth a look.
Joyful Dissent
1310 Florence Road
Charlottesville VA 22902
USA

Ai Ferri Corti - At Daggers Drawn

Political zines are an interesting beast.

There are a lot of them, just go to your local anarchist bookfair and you’ll see loads, but if you go to a zine fair there are considerably fewer (maybe none at all!). I’m not saying that zinesters that go to zine fairs don’t have politics, or that their zines do not involve and discuss politics, just that, in my experience, there are considerably fewer overtly political zines at these events.

Why is this? Do the people producing and distributing these zines think that they will not find an audience at these events? Perhaps; There is frequently a dismissive opinion used in regards to people with radical politics. But I would think that going to these events and talking about your politics with different types of people would be more beneficial to your movement than going to political events and preaching to the converted.

But I digress.

I think one of the reasons political zines are less commonly seen at zine events is that they are hard reads. You might pick up a zine just because it has a cool cover, but you’re unlikely to delve into page after page of small type written in a fairly dry (if well translated) style.

If you’re reading this zine you probably already have many sympathies with the creators. This is not to paint all political zines with the same brush (I mean, people have to learn about politics somewhere), but that this particular zine is written in an academic manner and uses many terms and references that would be lost on someone unfamiliar with the ideas of anarchism. Or rather, if you’re able to understand a zine like this you probably agree with most of what it says (or are busy writing a term paper on the fallacies of anarchic political thought).

This isn’t to say that there aren’t any good ideas in here (I especially liked “The most useful thing one can do with arms is to rend them useless as quickly as possible.”), and some of what was discussed made me think (how can you convince someone of alternatives to capitalism when they have no reference point for a world without money), just that it seems to use a utopian style of overthrowing the current society and doesn’t really have any real, concrete ideas (which admittedly is noted in the translator’s introduction).

Of course, if this had a perfect guide to convincing the general population of your ideals and overthrowing the current social structure then, well, it'd have already happened and we'd be living in a radically different world.

If you’re heavily involved and interested in reading about different forms and theories of anarchism, I’d say this is worth reading. But if you’re new to the idea in general I’d advise you find something more introductory to read first.

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

The G20 Saga or How I Learned to Love the Club

By JS

The G20 protests in Toronto in 2010 were pretty horrible. The police abused their power (surprise, surprise) to assault, arrest, inconvenience, and infringe upon the rights of protesters and random people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It led to the largest mass arrests in Canadian history.

This zine doesn't really go into much detail about the events, the protests, the terrible conditions detainees were kept in, or anything else. It assumes you know what the G20 is, what the protests were about, and a number of other things.

But I found it worth reading because it gave me an idea that I'd never thought of before. It claims that the police abandoned police cars at strategic places because they knew they'd get vandalized/burnt. This had a three-fold effect. It concentrated the protesters efforts on something that didn't do anything, it captured the media's attention (and influenced how they reported the events), and then when the media did cover these things in a negative way it turns the viewer away from the causes the protesters supported.

Yeah, it's a conspiracy theory, but it sounds entirely plausible to me.

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Out of the City and Into the Trees Issue #2: The Battle of Dalkeith Country Park

scaletreesdistro.subrella.net

I think the environment is awesome! I think that (sub)urban sprawl is terrible! I think that there are many things our society does that could be done better and without hurting the earth and the people that live there. We could focus less on cars and more on bicycles and alternative forms of transportation, focus on using what we have instead of buying new things, and focus more on people instead of profit.

I think that these things are important and that we have to fight for these things if and when it comes to that. And so I have some amount of respect for people that go and lock themselves into trees and and other places to prevent nature being destroyed.

However I am frequently left very confused by some of the people who are incredibly moved by the beauty and importance of nature, are involved in movements like this, and express dislike of modern society and a desire to go back to something more "primitive".

(Now please note, this isn't all necessarily aimed at this zine and its creators specifically, some of these complaints are more general.)

So how is flying a large group of protesters/activists to Iceland good for the environment? Perhaps if you spent the time, effort, and money trying to educate people wherever you are and creating a community that cares about where they live you will have more effect than going to another country and chanting.

And how can you justify owning cars and iPads and things like that when you express your rejection of modern society and technology? I love society and civilization and technology and would be incredibly sad if I had to live a hunter gatherer/farming existence due to the lack of opportunities to learn and the lack of art to see. And yet I don't have a car, I don't have an iPad, and somehow manage to get by fine on a technology I've found or been given. I guess I choose a "consume less" lifestyle, but find certain eco-primitivists to be pretty hypocritical. (Of course other people probably find me hypocritical too.)

This zine has some interesting stuff, but at the same time I find the writer's viewpoint to be somewhat naive. If you're really into this sort of stuff and are interested in reading more about it, I'll recommend that you check out the highly enjoyable Holidarity, a minicomic about environmental protest camps in the UK.

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Possum Garage Press

Possum Garage Press #11 & #12

mini-zine, $3 each/$6 for 3 issue subscription

Various writers and artists fill the pages of this small zine. The content often focuses on socio-political issues, but it’s done in a very approachable and non-threatening way. It’s usually a short read, but consistently replete with thought-provoking and engaging material…along with simple and fun drawings of possums, etc.

In P.G.P #11 there is a story about teaching young girls the empowering art of poetry. Then there is a list of seven wishes (or cupid’s arrows) which describe certain changes the editor would like to see happen in America. The wishes encompass topics such as social security, bipartisanship, health care, term limits, American jobs, and illegal immigration.

P.G.P. #12 is largely one story about a trip to see a Chris Hedges lecture told from the perspective of a talking possum that is traveling along with the attendee. The possum probes the attendee in order to learn why she became interested in seeing the lecture. The possum then makes some observations about her experience at the lecture, and later gets some follow up responses from the attendee after the lecture. In my opinion, this is a very important piece of writing and highly recommended for anyone concerned about America and its future. Very creatively written, and very worth reading.

Subscribe to this one.

P.G.P. c/o Lanyon Studio

8 Winston Avenue

Wilmington DE 19804

USA

Paridolia

Paridolia
28 Full Color Pages, digest
$3 US, $4 Can/Mex, $5 World
Select Trades, Inquire First

Of Martial Traditions & The Art of Rebellion

By Seaweed

Sometimes I find writing this blog really strange. I mean, the concept of zines is so vague that I really can review anything I want as long as its printed on paper. (Or even if it's not!) Since I review everything that I've received this leads to me reviewing comics where Godzilla and other monsters review movies one day, and an anarchist treatise on the importance of learning martial skills the next.

The whole idea of using physical force to achieve your ideals is something I struggle with. I feel that the things happening in the Middle East are pretty important and exciting, but there are many different things you have to consider before you start a revolution in your own country. This zine actually takes a pretty pragmatic take on the whole thing, and there are two quotes I thought were important enough to write down.

The first is "all rebels who want to overthrow the present social order[...]need to ask themselves what success means for them" and the second is "[...]it makes absolutely no sense for a minority of revolutionaries in North America to contemplate attemtemping an outright military contest against the police and army. The states [sic] combat power is simply overwhelming.".

These two pieces of information answer some of the questions I had about the idea behind this zine. The author may want societal collapse and a new system in place, but they know that there is no way for that to happen now (and if the economy hasn't collapsed after everything that happened in the last few years I don't know if it ever will), and so they advise people to take the long view. That is you must stay in one place, gain local support, create communities, and eventually you may be able to create real change in the way that people live. It's kind of depressing, but it also makes a lot of sense.

However, there are lots of other ideas in here, and at times the author seems to be arguing themselves in circles. I mean, how do you create "an anti-authoritarian culture that values martial skills" yet doesn't have warrior aristocracies? The only way to prevent a warrior aristocracy seems to be to train everyone in the community in weapon skills, which leads to the fact that you are taking away the ability for people to _not_ do something if they don't want to.

One thing the author references are tactical works, such as The Art of War, and how it is important to know about these even if you don't plan on using them. Seaweed explains that this is because those you are confronting on issues will be aware of them (think about how many business people read those books).

There are definitely a lot of interesting ideas in here, and there are also a lot of things that I don't really agree with. I'm not really down with using physical violence to achieve my goals, but at which point does violence become justified? The zine asks these questions, though doesn't give me a satisfactory answer.

The zine is well written (unlike this review!) in a somewhat academic style, and if you are capable of dealing with that and are interested in the idea of rebellion and revolutionary change it's probably worth reading this and discussing it with others.

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