zine, [zeen] noun. 1. abbr. of fanzine; 2. any amateurly-published periodical. Oxford Reference

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Showing posts with label Zine Collection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zine Collection. Show all posts

Friday, February 18, 2011

Video Zine Review #1

Welcome to Video Zine Review #1

This first episode features reviews of Publick Occurances #12, Beyond the Porch #1 and Burn Brandon #14.

It also has an introduction about what zines are, and important information about the Jacksonville Public Library. That’s probably stuff you already know since you are visiting the Zine Collection blog, but just in case! This premiere is a bit longer than future episodes will be for that reason. Following episodes will be 100% zine, 100% of the time. Enjoy!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Heart Star

 
 

via The Zine Collection by Matthew Moyer on 11/18/09

Heart Star: Ghosts of Gohio Book 1
by Christoph Meyer

Heart Star is a gorgeously sad one-off zine from Christoph Meyer, who you should also know from Twenty-Eight Pages Lovingly Bound With Twine. It epitomizes what's good about mini-comics of this nature; the diminutive size inversely proportional to the quality of personal storytelling and individual art within – something that would never get a chance under a larger comics imprint.  Heart Star tells a simple story of a girl who committed suicide and her ghost's quest to find peace for her restless, burning heart, and tells it in the style of a children's fable or poem. The art reminds me of my attempts to draw ghosts in the first grade; all bedsheets, sad, sad, eyes, and skull faces drawn in thick pen-and-ink lines. This style lends it an air of Charlie Brown-esque whimsy and melancholy (Charles Schulz keyed into this same primal visual language) and is all the better for it.

 The only occasional splashes of color are for a blood-red heart or red tongues of flame from a funeral pyre. Despite the deliberately rudimentary art, the layouts are creative and little touches like a hole-punched heart very literally communicates a feeling of loss. The story is rich and imaginative, the tone is meditative and elegiac, and the ending will definitely get you misty-eyed. Right before you flip back to the beginning to start all over again.

 
 

Monday, October 19, 2009

Comic Zines

 
 
 
 

via The Zine Collection by Andrew Coulon on 10/17/09

I prefer to read words accompanied by pictures and so I naturally gravitate you ain't no dancer v.3toward the comic zines in the Zine Collection.  Of all the comic zines I have read, I recommend that you check out You Ain't No Dancer Vol. 3.  This solid anthology has bunches of comics from 30 creators.   As in past volumes of YAND, there's more than a few creepy comics, funny comics and weird comics to wet your appetite and (fortunately) there are no super-hero comics.  Well, there may be one super-villain comic, but I'll let you figure out which one that is.  Overall, the artwork and writing are great but a few stand out.  Jason Turner's romantic "The Day of the Builders" is one of the best in this anthology.  You can also see his work in the True Love series right here in our own Zine Collection.  Another bright spot is "War of the Acorns" by Lars Brown.  I love the image of the woman with the acorn in her teeth.  That image alone makes this book worth checking out.

Also check out issues of Phase 7 and Papercutter for more comic zine goodness.


 
 
 
 

Friday, October 9, 2009

Maximum Rock AND Roll!

via The Zine Collection by Josh Jubinsky on 10/9/09
So the zine collection is officially open, you checked it out. You thought Burn Collector was neat, and liked that cute zine with drawings about coffee. You think "and that's that" – right? No way!

mrrIn the past two days we added over 20 more issues of Maximum Rock N Roll, and the new issue of Give Me Back!  Let me tell you about them a little bit.

Maximum Rock N Roll is a monthly not-for-profit fanzine based in San Francisco, USA. Each issue features interviews, columns, and reviews from international contributors. As far as punk music, the publication has wide ranging coverage and is a stable of ideological influence within the punk community for over two decades.

With over 20 issues on our shelves, I'm not going over each one. Some highlights though, indeed. They are really loaded with great stuff to say the least.  Lots of great reviews of records, zines, books, movies.  They have a news section that typically focuses on leftist topics and activism news.  Most of them have scene reports such as; #284 Syracuse, NY and San Diego, California, #314 Toronto, #315 London, #292 Poland, #289 Timisoara, Romania and Copenhagen, Denmark, #225 Belarus and the Philippines.  Some have special topics – such as #310 is mostly about health, as well as a listing of the year end top tens.  Issue #308 is mostly about punks and film.

On the whole, Felix Havoc has an excellent column. Our shared background of record label and music distribution may be one reason I like it so much, especially since he discuses that often – how it changes through styles, economics and whatnot.

As far as some awesome band interviews go… No Hope for the Kids and Dropdead get interviewed well in #254.  Dropdead is fast thrash punk has been around since 1991. The lyrics typically have a hardline vegan and animal rights stance.  I've been a longtime fan, but when my band played with them at Richmond, Virginia's Best Friends Day Festival it really sealed the deal!  Issue #225 has a good interview with Martin from Los Crudos about his label Lengua Armada.

Issue #284 has a really nice piece on the twenty year history of 254 Gilman Street Project.  It's a community space and show space owned and operated by punks.  Issue #314 has a thorough history of Italian squats.

The new issue of Give Me Back is full to the brim with goodies!  First of all, Florida is represented TWICE on the cover – an interview with Gainesville's band Dead Friends and an interview with local Jacksonville artist Sean Mahan. It also features great columns and some interviews with Pygmy Lush, Kimya Dawson and Next Victim. And over 20 pages of record, zine and book reviews!

Something for everyone is these zines! Don't be intimidated or feel weird about how you may not know the bands. If you like punk music / community / culture – this is your free ticket to more if it! 

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