Sample reviews from Zine World

Key to decoding the reviews

In brackets after the reviews, you’ll find three things:

First is the price, postpaid within the U.S. Prices for foreign delivery are shown, when known, after the American price. "$?" means no price was listed; send what you think it might be worth.
"Trade" means the publisher might be open to swapping his/her creation for something you’ve created.

Then comes the number of pages, and page size:

We also list the time spent reading. Half an hour would be ":30," an hour would be "1:00," etc. We don’t promise we’ve read every word of every zine, but we certainly spend longer with a good zine than a lousy one, so consider the clock a further clue about quality. Caveat emptor, baby!

General disclaimer

A review is one person’s opinion, nothing more and nothing less. No review is objective, and no review provides an absolute final judgment of a zine’s literary merit, or an author’s writing talent. If your zine got less than an ecstatic, stand on the roof and shout it out rave review, you may rest assured that we always assign a different critic to the next issue of every zine, so it’s never the same review over and over again.

Warning: The reviews on this website are reprinted from back issues of Zine World. Addresses may no longer be current and the issues described may no longer be available. You may want to query with a postcard before sending cash. For more recent zine reviews, see our current issue.

Zine Reviews

28 Pages Lovingly Bound With Twine #13: Husband, father and practicing Buddhist Christoph Meyer has the rare, rare ability to write esoteric family in-jokes in a manner that’s broadly comical and not at all smug. This issue names a new car, recounts Christoph’s wedding, tries to explain things to the three-year-old, pokes good-natured fun at Cleveland’s Finest, and more. Comes packaged with The Scrap Paper Review (a/k/a 28 Wee Pages Heartlessly Bound With Staples), which is small but maintains the laughs-per-minute. Always a pleasure. Christoph Meyer, PO Box 106, Danville OH 43014 [$4, $9 for 3 issues, $15 for 6 issues, or trade 28S :30] -Emerson

Anarchist King of Alphabet City #2: This rebellious artzine protests "linear expression and Newtonian ideas about geometry," with some success. Adventurous readers will be asked to follow spiraling, handwritten text; decipher ominous, interpretive passages; and ponder the significance of drawings obscured by overlapping imagery, murky backgrounds, and limited artistic ability. Intentionally and unintentionally, conventional thinking quickly dissolves inside this arrangement of random, meaning-rich symbols. It’s like listening to an ecstatic, drug-induced monologue: "The revolution will be etherized!" Andrew Penland, 149 Newfound St., Canton NC 28716, drfrankn1@aol.com, www.creativegoals.com/andrewoctopus [$2, no trades 40S :25] -Susan B.

Betty Paginated #28: I’m insulted that they think anyone would want to read this, but apparently it has quite a following, judging by the number of readers voting in the theme of this issue: Bad Girls Survey. With its "I’d do her" mentality and reduction of women to body parts, this zine is terrible before you even get to the long section on professional wrestling. There’s the aforementioned survey (with pictures, mostly celebrities and porn stars), obituaries, an ode to Russ Meyer, a look at Australia’s witch artist Rosaleen Norton, a piece on comic artist Keith Chatto and a reprint from his 1940’s comic "Bunny Allen," and more. About the only emotion in here that wasn’t creepy was the obituary for their dog, Bongo. Sad. Helen and Dann, PO Box A1412, Sydney South NSW 1235, Australia, danhelen@idx.com.au, www.bettypaginated.blogspot.com [$5 Australian or US, £5 60M :30] -mishap

Clutch #12: It’s a dang book! Seriously, it’s 1/3" thick and perfect-bound, with an attractive cover. Welcome to the life of Clutch, who lives in Portland and manages the zine library at the IPRC. Each page is a day in his life, illustrated with simple line art in four panels. Published this summer, this issue tracks Oct. 2002 – Feb. 2003. There is nothing spectacularly grandiose about Clutch’s life – no big adventures, no epic events – but it is by no means mundane. Forthright and honest, with no pretense, Clutch is better and more entertaining than most perzines. Get it. PO Box 14209, Portland OR 97212, zinelibrarian@yahoo.com [$3 lotsXS (not numbered) 1:00] -Jerianne

Doris #23: One zine that deserves your attention. This cut and paste perzine is honest, intimate and raw. Many parts of it feel like a personal letter written to the reader. Cindy conveys her struggles, whether they be psychological (as a survivor of abuse) or physical (trying to camp in the freezing rain), in a fresh and unselfconscious way. She seems to say: "It is what it is and I’m dealing with it. There are thoughts on love, the beauty of old, old ladies and some info on menstrual extraction. Sweet, quirky little drawings are sprinkled throughout. Recommended. Cindy, PO Box 1734, Asheville NC, 28802 [$1.50 32S 1:30] -Anu

The East Village Inky #30: In many ways, I felt reading this zine that it was mechanically funny. Where you know something is supposed to be funny, but in turn it makes it that much more dull than it’s supposed to be. But after the first couple pages, if you let down your guard, you’ll start to enjoy it. She writes a lot about her children and is very sincere in this completely hand-written zine. Honesty is the best form of comedy, and Ayun takes everyday things like fatherhood and celebrities and turns it into zine gold. Ayun, PO Box 22754, Brooklyn NY 11202, ayun@ayunhalliday.com, www.ayunhalliday.com [$3 38XS :13] -Jessaruh

Emergency #5: "The Ocean and the Hills." Ammi Emergency chronicles humdrum urban bohemian adventures in transcendent prose, the sort of writing that could only exist in a zine. There’s a sense of the self-publisher’s sacrament that’s absent on most blogs, but most editors would disfigure this selfish, demanding, self-loathing, self-aggrandizing, overdone, raw, stirring, adventurous, great stuff beyond recognition. This is why I keep doing this. Ammi Emergency, PO Box 259, New Orleans LA 70117, ammi@softskull.com [$2 54S 1:01] -Emerson

Getting to the Bottom of This #1: Ever get stuck talking to someone who hates just about everything and feels the urgent need to tell you about it? If you have, you pretty much know what to expect from this humorless, ego-driven rant. The writer is a self-important bore who blathers on about the many things he loathes about America. Of course, we’re not as smart as he is, so we won’t understand, anyway. Snatches of bad poetry ("conveyer belt to oblivion" "tears of rage and despair") included. Wee! Whizzbanger Productions, PO Box 5591, Portland OR 97228 [$3 31M :10] -Dan

Living Free #134 (September 2006): If the previous 133 issues of Living Free are anything like this one, then I’ve really been missing out. For an 8-page zine, LF is packed with interesting and useful information that anyone with a modicum of anti-authoritarianism and independent thought will appreciate. This issue contains information on maintaining financial security with bullion, how people’s actions are monitored through the use of RFID chips, the rise of medical identity theft, a book on uninhabited ocean islands, advanced propulsion systems, and a place in California called "slab city." You should know that some of the info that appears herein is reprinted from other sources; however, when the info is this interesting, who cares. Jim Stumm, PO Box 29-ZW, Hiller Branch, Buffalo NY 14223 [$2, $12 for 6 issues, trades considered 8M :45] -J. Smith

The Mystery & Adventure Series Review #38: Gorgeously typeset and printed using solar power–and absolutely no computers–this celebration of "obsolete popular culture" fills me with that certain thrill of a really good find in an unexpected place. Focusing especially on series books (think Hardy Boys, just to start) and the wonders of typography, Woodworth and his cohorts share memories, discoveries, and histories. Photographs of actual NYC locations mentioned in the Ken Holt and Tom Quest series, along with a detailed map of the sites, pull in even uninformed folks like me. An exhaustive article on author Marshal South includes his first published story and an insanely complete bibliography. For an article on the Wynn & Lonny Racing Series, David M. Baumann contacted the authors and quotes them liberally, amidst colorful descriptions of their current lives. I could go on and on about the rare wonders of this superb publication, but I’ve got a word limit. Fred Woodworth, PO Box 3012, Tucson AZ 85702 [donations accepted, no checks 52M 1:17] -Jaina

Rattletrap #1: Autobio comic. There seems to be a lot of these kinds of comics lately — regular folks documenting their regular lives. Some find them boring, but, personally, I find the voyeuristic peek into people’s daily lives fascinating. This comic doesn’t delve much beyond the surface story of Jerry’s day-to-day routine, but still we can infer certain things about him: his relationship with his wife, kids, and coworkers, occasional political and religious opinions, etc. At times I question why this is even in the comic format at all due to the fact that it’s driven almost entirely by text that almost entirely fills the panels, to the detriment of the nondescript heads of the speakers. I’d like to see more imagery. Jerry Smith, 3344 Horner Dr., Morristown TN 37814, skybot99@yahoo.com [$2 24S :45] -Kyle

Rock-N-Roll Purgatory #14: For about an hour there, I was into rockabilly. I opened this mess of newsprint expecting nothing, and found interviews with smart, funny, crotchety musicians; interviews that actually made me want to hear their music. I liked the editors, too, with their rambling rants and blunt humor. To my complete surprise, I found a piece on the cryptic country band Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, one of my favorites. "This could be my scene," I said to myself. Then, I strolled down to my local rockabilly bar and saw, as my friend Aaron calls them, "girls who spend three hours getting dolled up to impress dudes who spend five hours getting dolled up," peppered with ex-Nazis. The freshly minted Rockabilly Emerson disappeared in a puff of disillusionment, and only Zine Geek Emerson remained. Ben Lybarger, PO Box 771153, Lakewood OH 44107, rocknrollpurgatory@yahoo.com, www.rocknrollpurgatory.com [$2 48M :58] -Emerson

The Secret Files of Captain Sissy #5: Radical politics from a purely personal perspective. Long, dense stories about union organizing as an intern amidst steelworkers, road tripping for a month with a bookmobile, and landing in the hospital with a concussion following a skateboarding stunt gone awry. Mr. Cornell is an alright writer and not a particularly good editor, but, more importantly, he’s a damn good storyteller. Microcosm Publishing, 222 S. Rogers St., Bloomington IN 47403, www.microcosmpublishing.com, or Andy Cornell, 1090 Greene Ave. #2, Brooklyn NY 11221, arc280@nyu.edu [$? 76S 1:30] -Karlos

The Shipping Dock: Once again a hollow existence is redeemed by a talented zinester. Writing in short, pointed sentences, Nick perfectly captures the bleakness of factory work (and the life it supports) in his excellent perzine. Most notably, Nick’s unusual talent for recreating conversations allows the people in his life to speak for themselves, imbuing these folks with real humanity (and tangible pathos). Offered as a print companion to his blog, but Nick doesn’t want the URL listed. Nick Chretien, PO Box 75086, 8165 Main St., Vancouver BC V5X 4V7 Canada, main46th@yahoo.ca [free, or trade, ftp 28S :30] -Susan B.

Unbelievably Bad #4: Being punk as fuck doesn’t mean you have to look like shit in the process. Von Helle believes in dishing up the underbelly of punk, hardcore and more in a deceptively classy package (color covers, quality printing, funny and intelligent writing). This ish’s highlights include part four of an interview with gore flick legend Herschell Gordon Lewis, plus chats with Slayer, Nashville Pussy, The Mummies and a piece on Rondo Hatton. This really is unbelievably good. Von Helle, 10 Unwin Street, Bexley NSW, 2207, Australia, unbelievablybad@optusnet.com.au [AUD$5 or e-mail for details if from overseas 84M :60] -Dann Lennard

Uncle Sam’s Portrait (2003-2005): I am easily put off by pointless political poetry. The subject matter of this preaches to the masses, as well as employs a form that fails to appeal outside a too-small crowd–so what is the point? Even music–which is sought out rather than ran from–when used as a political vehicle, tends to fail, so why employ such an ignored art form? [:20] -Randall Fleming SECOND OPINION: This is a positively genius political comic. Besides the phenomenal job done on the artwork, the poetry is going for the jugular of a "Gasoholic," war-hungry, unfeeling America and Government. There are many progressive leanings, the likes of which is useful for informed as well as uninformed people. The diversity of subject manner keeps me reading, the flow of the poetry has me hooked. The layout, design, and content has made it the best politically-driven zine I’ve read all year. Iniquity Press, PO Box 54, Manasquan NJ 08736, www.sharkartstudios.com [$5 all addresses 22S :10] -Jessaruh

Yedo! #2: Unfocused, group-think odds-n-ends zine appears to cater to the vegans among us with three San Diego restaurant reviews, but also includes poetry, a comic, anti-consumerist ranting, a personal story about the follies of miscommunication, and first-timer cut-n-paste. The whole thing is inconsistent and reads like a bunch of friends thought it would be cool to make a zine together, but didn’t really talk about what to put in it before actually laying it out. Yedo Collective, 2566 Ardmore Dr, San Pablo CA 94806, yedozine@gmail.com, www.yedozine.cjb.net [$1, trade, ftp 24S :10] -Andrew