Loserdom #20

loserdomzine@gmail.com
www.loserdomzine.com

As with most punk zines this issue of Loserdom is filled with reviews of 7 inch records and other zines, interviews with bands, and scene reports.

However! It is important to note that even if you have no interest in those things at all, this zine is still worth checking out for a number of articles and interviews on some pretty neat and interesting things.

The first of these is an illustrated piece about a food co-op and a discussion that they had concerning vegetables from Israel. To boycott or not to boycott was the question that concerned them, and while both sides of the argument are represented here the author makes no secret of what side of the argument they fall on. The author talks to a number of other food co-op members and asks them about the idea of a boycott and why they thought it, at least initially, failed. It's interesting to look at things like this and I wonder if people are becoming less political than they have been in the past. You read about things like boycotts of South Africa in the 1980s and political songs getting airplay and I find it puzzling; have people just became apathetic or has our society changed in some other way? Hmmm...I feel like I need to discuss this with someone in person.

The second piece is an interview with one of the people that works at La Fanzinotheque, which seems to be a pretty rad library/art gallery/social centre type place in Poitiers, France. It's pretty inspiring that a place like this has been around for over twenty years! My only problem with this (and a couple of the other interviews in here) was that it seemed to reprint everything that the other person said/wrote, and I think parts of it could have been edited a bit.

There are also pieces on digital storytelling, winter cycling/swimming (horrifying!), a comic about how punks really can't seem to stop drinking, and an interview with a guy from Poland who runs a distro/label in Ireland that is pretty interesting, even if you're not into the scene, as it discusses some of the economics behind that sort of thing (ie. don't start a punk label if you want to get rich).

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

The Juniper #14

The Juniper #14
12 pages, digest
$ .50

The usual from our friend and co-reviewer Dan. He starts out with an upbeat piece about cooperation being a human trait that has helped us along our evolution and allowing us to become increasingly more compassionate toward our fellows. He just wished we'd speed things up a bit. Letters to the editor, guerilla gardening, how to build a rocket stove, buckwheat stuffing, hummus, bicycle revolt, and the future of The Juniper as per the impending end of grad school.

Dan Murphy
PO Box 363
Edwardsville IL 62925
juniperjournal@hotmail.com
www.juniperbug.blogspot.com

Yuck! #4

from Blackguard

40 pages, digest size, Adults Only, www.milkshadow.wordpress.com + www.milkshadowbooks.com
Wow #4 already? Or is time just going faster than I think it is? Regardless, what we have here is a new issue of Mr Slime's comix anthology (although this issue seems to have been compiled by his brother, Dr Dirt - "the disturbed one"). No kiddies allowed on this ride, it's strictly Adults Only (get the munchkinheads a copy of Zombre instead) since you'll find depictions of both male and female genitalia within (the former belonging to a rabbit, and goddamn if it isn't completely out of proportion to the rest of his anatomy).
Some highlights for me this issue: Tom Motley's Jackpot Fantasy (really awesome comix art); Anton Emdin's feminist-riling "Degrees of Separation'; Ben Smith and Jase Harper's '10 Things I Wanna Do Before I Die' (although I believe the girlfriend's little sister in the first panel was 'overdressed'); Craig Collins and Iain Laurie's 'Tourette's Banshee'; and Lark's excellent 'Why Can't I Grow A Fucking Hitler Moustache' (a perfectly valid question in this day and age of the annual 'Movember').
I was gonna note that this issue is a total 'sausage party' (something Sick Puppy was accused of back in the day, not unjustifiably of course) but there is one female contributor here: Scarlette Baccini. Where the hell are all the perverted comix chicks anyway? I know they're out there. You know, you don't have to use your real name. That's why they invented pseudonyms. For comix perverts.
But I digress (I always wanted to write that, and promise never to again).
To sum up: Yuck! is pretty damn cool. If you like comix, you should get it. Although, if you can only afford one Aussie comix anthology, I'd have to recommend Blackguard. But if you got a job and can spring for two, definitely get a copy of Yuck! as well.

What it is & What it Was

By Douglas Noble
www.strip-for-me.com

This is a story about a woman (a widow) and a young girl. It spans many years, and has an air of melancholy and sadness about it, as do many stories concerning death, longing, and loss.

The last time I reviewed one of Noble's comics I ended up viewing it as more of a series of visual poems or narrative experiments. This one is more of a straight forward comic, but it stil uses some techniques that I found interesting.

Narrative captions are not as popular in comics as they once were, but they are still used, and here Noble uses them in a particularly literary manner, combining elements of prose with those of comics. Showing when he can, telling when he can't.

Sure, you could have one of the characters saying (or thinking) some of these narrative captions as dialogue, but it would give a considerably different feel to the whole comic. The characters would be aware of everything that they were doing, and their actions would gain a strangeness from this self-awareness, while in real life people act without talking or thinking about something specifically. Here the way information is presented allows us to gain insight into the characters in a way that avoids clumsy exposition.

Of course the page I've scanned in (below) is one of the few without large amounts of text. But even with the small piece included there ("For a second the clocks don't tick.") you can see how Noble has used the omniscient narrator to portray information that would be difficult, if not impossible, to convey to the audience otherwise. Shots of a clock not ticking? The reader doesn't know if time has frozen or what has happened. A personal narrative caption (from either the girl or the old woman) thinking back and remembering that moment wouldn't work so well either and would give the whole story a different feel.

The third person narration makes it seem like a story being told specifically to the reader, which isn't a technique I remember seeing in comics that much. (Of course now I will either stumble across like eight, or you'll all tell me about some.)

Artwise Noble uses a very thick line for much of his art, leading to characters having few facial details and their eyes represented as inky black pools. Noble also uses a lot of close up panels of specific details (a mouth, a hand, an apple) and panels which do the exact opposite by pulling back to such a distance that we're left only with featureless sillouhettes and shadows. These methods may have been used because Noble is trying to get around certain weaknesses in his art, but it succeeds in giving the whole comic a sort of European art-movie feel to it, though part of that might have been the scene featuring two people standing on a bridge in Venice talking about loss.

I really enjoy how Noble seems to be trying to do new things with his comics (even if, as I said in my last review, he doesn't always succeed). It's nice to see an art form growing and evolving as people try new things. The fluidity shows that new techniques are still out there and new masterpieces are still to be made.



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

summer tour

from doris zine blog by noreply@blogger.com (doris zine blog. for website go to dorisdorisdoris.com)

My band Snarlas is going on tour this summer out West! Late June, early July. Does anyone by any chance want to lend us your van or car? We're coming in to the Bay Area Mon 27, and then going South and back up to the Bay July 2. so that's one part.
then up North, to Portland (July 6) and up and back to Portland (July 11).
so, it would be really dreamy if someone in the Bay Area would lend us a van or car for the Southern part (June 27-July2), and if someone in Portland could lend us one for the Northern part(July 6 - July 11).
I know it's probably a long shot, but I just thought I'd ask.
xx
cindy

Zine Showcase #9

from Oh My Clumsy Heart by sophie@ohmyclumsyheart.com (Sophie)

Salome Oberli

Website // Shop
I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night // $3.50 + shipping

An illustrated collection of fourteen strange dreams in a 16 page, hand stitched, black and white zine. The illustrations and typography are pleasantly sketchy and reminiscent of a dream-like state; this combined with having the same title as one of my favourite songs (I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) by The Electric Prunes) results in me adoring this zine.

Tumblr // Shop
Hours: Volume 1 / Issue 1 // £1 + shipping

Hours is a wonderfully unique collaborative zine project encouraging participants to experiment with analogue photography; a photographer is randomly chosen to fill a roll of film within a twenty-four hour period, the resulting photographs are then turned into an Hours publication. Not only is this project fascinating, it is experimental with the concept of zine making. This glossy, full colour, 28 page zine is astonishly cheap; not only should you purchase a copy but perhaps you should consider participating as well?

Jupey

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Ollo Ichi Oh My Farm // $5

Loud, obscure, strangely intriguing, oddly amusing and marvellously presented. 36 neon pages filled with an illustrated story about a farmer. The incredibly distinct illustration work makes Ollo Ichi stand apart from most zines and the esoteric story is so beautifully bizarre you will want to pore over the pages again and again.

Featuring

(writers)
Cristina Cacioppo, Matt Carman, Alan 'Albo' Gamboa, Elliott Kalan, Joseph Kirkland,
Sarah Marshall, Laura Martin, Dan McCoy, Ben Shapiro, Alex Smith, Scott White and Kseniya Yarosh

(artists)
Leah Hayes, Jeremy Jusay, Anja Verdugo

Website // Shop
I Love Bad Movies: Volume One // $5 + shipping

I Love Bad Movies is a collaborative project: Volume One is a 40 page, black and white zine with twenty-one essays discussing bad movie favourites from "flop classics" to hilarious quotes. The zine best describes itself the appeal of bad movies; mediocrity is the biggest sin of all. Whilst big budget films may have the money, it is often difficult to hit the mark of success; more often than not films fall into the abysmal category of "okay but nothing special". A bad film, however, has the courage to disregard the rules of film-making by abandoning itself to the whims of its maker. Terrible acting, excessive clichés, poorly written dialogue and hilarious tag lines results in a film becoming so utterly terrible it goes from bad to good. I Love Bad Movies is responsible for reigniting my passion for obscurely awful films and possibly destroying any credibility I have when it comes to serious film viewing.

Andy Scott

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Trouble

Short, sweet and what a fantastic title! This tiny zine is a mere 8 pages of illustrated people.

Snakepit 2009

from Randy Spaghetti by noreply@blogger.com (Randy Spaghetti)

Snakepit 2009
POB 4944 Austin, TX 78765
bensnakepit@gmail.com
www.birdcagebottombooks.com
This is one year in the life of Ben Snakepit, 365 3-panel comics about life as seen through his eyes. He works in a video store, plays in two punk rock bands, has a nice girlfriend, a cute dog, he drinks a lot, smokes weed, plays a lot of video games, watches a lot of movies, and goes to a lot of parties. That’s all this is about, over and over again for an entire year. That might sound boring to read, but for some reason, it isn’t. There’s a lot of humility, humor, and insight into 21st century living in here that kept me entertained and thinking throughout. It’s kind of like following someone’s daily twitter, but with funny drawings of steaming turds and drunken punk rockers.

extended deadline for hoax #5: feminism & community!

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.)

Brighton Zine Fest

So a few weeks ago I went to Brighton for the Brighton Zine Fest. It was lots of fun (if somewhat smaller than last year's) and it was cool to see lots of people I know, talk about comics and zines, explore another town, discover the magic of My Little Pony cartoons, and lots of other fun stuff (the programme had a zine scavenger hunt! How fun!).

Of course I failed to take any photos whatsoever, and I've been procrastinating doing this post cause I wanted to finish the site redesign (look at it! What do you think? What should I add/change?), and because I wanted to get my flight booked back to Canada so I could tell you all when I am moving (March 20th!)

I'll be at the London Comic and Small Press Expo on the 12th. I think this'll be the last event of this sort I'll be going to in the UK, so if you want to say hi to me (or get one of my zines for some reason) you should let me know if you'll be there. I think we'll be going out for drinks somewhere nearby afterwards. Hurray!

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

Signals #3

Signals #3 (A Radio Zine)
digest, cardstock cover, 44 pages
$3 US/$4 Canada & Mexico/$5 World
(contact about trades)
I honestly felt giddy as I started reading this zine and realized (just as the subtitle suggests) that this entire zine is all about radio broadcasting. The emphasis is on DIY, pirate, amateur, and shortwave radio. Or in other words: taking back the airwaves (the people have the power and stuff). Even though I listen to very little radio these days, I have long been fascinated by the radio. Over the years I have become disillusioned, as radio continues to be taken over by commercial tripe. But this zine gives me hope and reminds me that there are still people out there who care about what radio was, is, and can (should) be. This issue includes enlightening descriptions of types of radio stations, the origins of Food Not Bombs Liberation Radio, an introduction to amateur radio, an interview with a podcaster, and a "Shortwave Report." Also of interest is a Slow Media Manifesto (featuring 14 brief points concerning Slow Media) and an excellent comparison between old railroad graffiti and pirate radio. That's not all though; this zine is literally packed with great stuff. So, whether you're a radio geek, a radio hopeful, radio-disillusioned, or radio-interested (regardless how fleeting), this zine is totally worth sending a few bucks for. Long live pirate radio!
contact Frederick Moe at singinggrove@conknet.com or fmoe@Colby-sawyer.edu
http://www.signalszine.blogspot.com/

Monkey Squad One Annual #1

Monkey Squad One Annual #1
digest, 28 pages, $2.50
If you are like me and you haven't yet read an issue of Monkey Squad One, then this is probably a pretty good place to start. The first page gives a brief overview of everything that has happened so far in the first six issues (issue by issue), and then throughout the rest of the book there are short bios of each of the main characters. Along with that there are several shorts that help get you more familiar with the characters and the background and at the same time help move the story along. The artwork is clean, precise, detailed, and fun; and the lettering is equally clean and readable. The story can be a bit complex due to the time travelling and the talk of multiverses and alternate timelines and such, but it isn't so overwhelming that intrigue and interest get lost in that stuff. I particularly like this comic because it's set in St. Louis, which isn't far from where I'm currently living, and I think it's great that the Arch (with the addition of a giant cannon) was used as the headquarters for one of the main groups in the story. This is a comic with a sense of adventure and the spirit of youth, and it's totally worth checking out.
to order contact Doug Michel at bandmichel@gmail.com

Chloe Noonan Monster Hunter #1

By Marc Ellerby
marcellerby.com

On Ellerby's site he says that Chloe Noonan is "a terrible monster hunter". This is not to say that she is a terrible, horrifying person, nor that she hunts overly scary monsters. But rather that she is kind of shit at being a monster hunter.

Now don't get me wrong, she manages to capture monsters when she has to, but it's not exactly her calling, it's just a job to her. She'll be hanging out with her friends when oh no! A phone call telling her that she has to go _all_ the way across town to capture some stupid monster. Again. And she has to take the bus to get there.

When viewed in this way monster hunting isn't fun or exciting; it's boring, it's annoying, it's frustrating. Chloe doesn't want to do this job, but well, she has to pay the bills sometimes. And when she's called in to do overtime just before her band has a show, what is she supposed to do?

The monster Chloe fights in this issue is kinda lame, and entirely dickish. Perhaps not really what you expect from traditional monsters, but even trolls are going to have to grow and change with the times.

Artwise this comic is really good. Ellerby has drawn comics for Oni, Image, and Boom! so he's fairly established for an indie comics guy. His style is very...I don't want to say "hipster", but his characters are all kind of like that in that they have haircuts and fashion and does Chloe really need those thick rimmed glasses? And she plays synths in a band (we all play synths). Oh no! How awful.

(I'm suddenly reminded of a conversation I had with John Allison of Scary Go Round last year about how terrible fashion in superhero comics was. He told me he'd been to middle America and was terrified to discover that that was how people dressed in real life! Tshirts tucked into jeans! Noooooooo.)

Uhm, so aside over... I _like_ it when characters have nice clothes. I mean, it's not like I dress that well, but I try sometimes I guess? (My misuse of punctuation should be a crime.)

Anyway, this comic is fun. Chloe throws bombs at monsters and still manages to get to the bar in time to play with her band. Hurray!

And if you go to his site you'll see a pretty rad drawing he did of the band Sleigh Bells who I really like. Hurray!



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

Fanzine Ynfytyn Thirteen

By Emma Jane Falconer

If you've ever read any of my zines (hey, maybe I should make a page on this blog for those, thoughts?) then you'll realize that I usually have a pretty good theme going on for each zine I make (ie. an account of a specific trip, reviews of stuff) and that I don't really do the traditional perzine thing with anecdotes, flashbacks, and stuff like that.

This isn't to say that I don't like that type of zine or even that I haven't written that type of zine, just that I haven't made copies and given them to anyone else. I guess I just don't see why anyone would want to know about what's going on in my life generally, or perhaps I'm terrified of opening up to other people and letting them know that I have feelings and am not an emotionless robot.

By this long intro you can probably guess that Falconer's zine is about her life. She talks about shows shes gone to recently, how everyone that lives in the UK is a "functional alcoholic", a list of small pleasures in her life, tales of learning ballet and acting in bizarre plays from her childhood, a cake recipe, found art, and more.

It's all well written, and I enjoyed the tales from when Falconer's was younger. The ballet story ends on a pretty great quote ("my mum bought me a cheap supermarket doll, whose legs soon fell off, and who I pretended had been involved in a terrible horseriding accident on a My Little Pony"), while the account of the performance of The Rivals sounds like something I might actually want to see since it sounds so horrible and hilariously inept. That it was probably only 15 minutes long and that I don't actually have to see it are amongst the reasons why I want to though.

Plus there is a picture of a robot. A surefire way to improve any zine!

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

The Sweetest of Dreams

By BC Sterrett

The Perry Bible Fellowship was one of my (and everyone elses) favourite webcomics when it was coming out, and probably the nicest thing I can say about these comics is that some of them reminded me of the style of those comics.

Not all of them reach those heights though, just a few of them. They pretty much all feature a hallucinogenic kalediscope of horror (Santa Claus squid, severed heads, flying green deer), and in his introduction Sterrett says that many of these comics were inspired by dreams he had, so it makes a certain amount of sense. (Or at least it makes sense that the comics are, at times, nonsensical.)

The art is nice, using a cartoony style that both sanitizes the horrible things that are happening, and almost makes them seem even worse. Some of these comics have been inked and coloured by W. Varner, and they look really good. They "pop" in a way that the black and white ones cannot. Check out the colour scheme of the comic below! It looks awesome! I love the design of the clown (especially the panel where he's a giant), the weird monsters, and pretty much all of it. Why does it appeal to me so much? I really cannot say.

One final thing, or two really, that kind of affected my enjoyment of this comic. The first is that there's a portrayal of cannibals that I think is pretty racist. Or rather, it's the portrayal of an ethnic group as cannibals that is the racist bit. The second bit is that Sterrett states in one of his comics that he was a missionary in Taiwan, and as biggoted as it makes me, I kind of can't support anyone who does something like that.

Plus: Dude hates broccoli. How can you hate broccoli? It's delicious!



(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.)

Zine Showcase #8

from Oh My Clumsy Heart by sophie@ohmyclumsyheart.com (Sophie)

Jordan Kay

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Womens/Girls // $10 + shipping

Womens/Girls is a black and white illustration zine printed on coloured paper and contains a free A3 poster. The attention to detail is fantastic; I especially like the double page spreads, which works beautifully on the coloured pages. With a limited edition of only ten I would encourage you to pick up a copy of this wondrous "inspired by women" collaboration.

Sky Nash

Shop // Blog
Broken Earphones // 80p + shipping

Inspired by snatches of conversations heard whilst travelling on the underground and bus routes around London, this zine features the words of strangers. Short and sweet this zine is a wonderful little idea, which I hope Sky Nash develops with her future zines - I would love to see (or rather, hear!) more of this project.

Delphine Bedient

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Moleskinexcavation

Moleskinexcavation is a 36 page mini-zine aiming to present the contents of Delphine Bedient's sketchbook, journal and general note-taking. A receptacle for all the little things one finds most important to remember, this zine is filled with lists and ideas which results in a strange and unintentional self-portrait.

Featuring
Steph Neary, Dan McCloskey, Nate McDonough, Lizzee Solomon
Andy Scott, Tom Dewing and Jes LaVecchia

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Andromeda #8 // $3 + shipping

A unique collaboration zine originating from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Andromeda is a comic anthology aiming to discover talent who share a passion for illustration. Issue 8 has a silk-screened front and back cover, contains 28 pages of illustrations from seven artists; filled with counterculture mishaps, urban legendary pets, post-holiday remembrances and radical drawings. The Andromeda project has a fantastically diverse and light-hearted approach to zine making.

Edu Martínez Piracés

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Home Home Home // $1 + shipping

An 8 page mini-zine with illustrations of pretty homes. There isn't much I can say about this zine except to me it is perfect; clean lines, a minimal approach and beautiful imaginary homes that leave me wondering what kind of person is living inside each and every one of them..