Quick-And-Dirty Zine Reviews

Allow me to try something new for a moment. I've got this stack of zines sitting next to my computer just waiting to be reviewed, but I keep putting it off. I've had awful concentration for the last little while. Been spending all of my days outdoors, and when I come home at night, I just don't feel like sitting in front of my computer. I told myself (and you) that I would only review zines as long as it was fun. And right now, I think it would be fun to give quick-and-dirty reviews of all of these zines because they are most certainly worth checking out, but I just can't scrape together too many words right now. Here goes...

Ship Of Fools #4 kafkaesqueATriseup.net
Badass punk rock comics by Emilja Frances - I've reviewed several issues before. The artwork in this one is detailed, with a little more depth than previous issues, as Emilja had recently discovered ink-washing. Mostly about touring with Shallow Breath. When I think of Emilja, I think of Hermann Hesse and stick-and-poke tattoos.

The Next Body lewispantsATgmail.com
This is a brilliant, well-written, crushing and beautiful zine about living in a body that is neither male nor female. Thick and wordy, the kind you'll read again and again. Get it through Stranger Danger.

Rip It Out: Awesomely Bad Fan Art racheldinkATyahoo.com
This was sent to me for distro consideration, and I'm not entirely sure why, as it clearly does not fit in at all with the description of the kinda zines I stock, but at least the envelope was decorated with Hello Kitty stickers. It's a sixteen-page collection of yeah, awesomely bad drawings. Mostly of dudes in 80s hair metal bands. It's probably funny if you're into that kinda thing.

Roots Of Hope #2 and #3 rockstarwithwordsATyahoo.com
I've been procrastinating on reviewing these ones for ages because they are just so good that I'm not sure I can do them justice. Korinna Irwin, who has written a whole bunch of great zines in the past, uses these two issues to write about her travels through Latin America. Rock star with words indeed; you are going to spend days devouring these stories. I think it's cool because Korinna talks not only of her own travels and happenings, but about the people she encountered along the way, and touches on things like racism and cultural appropriation and drug-trafficking. Just really engrossing and good.


All of those zines that you see behind me still need to be organized.