All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues / $3.00 / 60g
Description to come.
All I Want Is Everything #1 / $3.00 / 70g
How much do I love this zine?! This one is written by Caitlin Constantine, who wrote I Was A Teenage Mormon about six years ago, another favourite of mine. So this was a really nice surprise to get in my mailbox, along with a friendly letter. It’s a pretty hefty zine at fifty-six half-size pages, and I’ll warn you that it could be triggering. Caitlin writes about spending part of her teen years and most of her twenties being married to an abusive man. She chronicles some of this abuse, and explains how she managed to finally leave him and forgive herself for staying with him for so long – she speaks out against victim-blaming in an excellent open letter to La Roux, who recently said some pretty harsh things about abused women in an interview, but also feels that there must have been something broken within herself for not having left him immediately when she was able to. Another great piece is titled On The Pointlessness Of Nostalgia, wherein she writes about her own nostalgic feelings for things like 1990s girls culture and her thoughts on recent calls for a riot grrrl revival, and reminds us that we have well-known women today like M.I.A., Janelle Monae, Beth Ditto and Gabourey Sidibe – women that the world of 1993 likely would not have paid much attention to. As well, she includes lists of inspirational things, stuff that she’s recently done for the first time and some words on author Joan Didion and runner Kathrine Switzer. I really could go on about this one forever, but this paragraph is getting long, so you’re just going to have to read the zine yourself.
All I Want Is Everything #2 / $2.50 / 50g
In this issue, Caitlin takes us across the United States with her partner and their love of running. Participating in marathons and exploring New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and more, we are treated to something of a travel journal as well as a portrait of both the breathtaking and grotesque sites of America. Caitlin’s talent for writing and enthusiasm for life are refreshing and inspiring.
All I Want Is Everything #3 / $3.00 / 50g
Caitlin’s grandmother dies, and her niece is born. This text-heavy perzine is a wonderful and well-written reflection on life, death, love, childhood, feminism, matriarchs, miracles and more. She tells the tale of a dramatic and powerful grandmother named Kiki, whose exciting life inevitably ends. We learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the other women in her family – her mother and younger sister, as well as herself. She writes about finally feeling like a Real Life Adult, and the kind of life that she would like to create for herself. Always open and honest, with a self-awareness and skill found in the best of writers. Such a good read.
Bananarchy Now! / $4.00 / 80g
This is a half-legal zine with yellow covers that contains nearly thirty vegetarian and vegan recipes; everything from sauces and snacks and breads to entrées and desserts. Not only do all of the recipes sound absolutely mouth-watering, but they’re accompanied by all sorts of silly images – like Andy Warhol’s banana (from The Velvet Underground & Nico) with the banana soup, or the speech bubble reading, “It’s never too early to get sconed!” But it’s not just a cookzine, it contains all sorts of stories about food and community and picnics and love. A must-have in every kitchen.
Bring On The Dancing Horses / $1.00 /60g
This is the kind of perzine that ought to be savoured over several sittings, then read and re-read. Named for one of the best songs that came out during the year I was born, and containing sixty-something half-size pages of beautifully-written non-fiction about long-distance bike trips and a month-long stay at New York City’s Bowery Manor squat, Bring On The Dancing Horses is a zine about travel, love and anarchy. Might sound cliché, I know, but Shaun possesses excellent storytelling skills and manages to describe his life and politics in a way that is intelligent, thoughtful and endearing. In writing about relationships, he says, “I’ve heard friends say they’ve never felt love like that first love. I don’t know how to respond. I only know that mine become more intense with each successive burst,” a feeling that I can completely relate to. I’ll be honest, I let myself get lost in this zine for a week or so, and it’s one of numerous recent events that has really made me re-think the kind of life that I’m living. Highly recommended.
Cheaptoys #5 / #1.00 / 30g
This is the fifth issue of Gizmo’s punk zine and it’s mostly about touring through Italy with his band. Most of it is written in French, with a few pages in English. Also included is an ode to the letterpress and a piece on Whip It and his thoughts on big Hollywood movies that try to cash in on the DIY scene, basically saying that while the idea doesn’t necessarily sit well with him, he hopes that the film could introduce new people to scenes like rollerderby and riot grrrl and also provide positive representations of women. Totally cut and paste, with rubber-stamped covers.
Ce zine punk écrit par Gizmo est la cinquième édition. Il écrit principalement au sujet d’une tournée de son groupe de musique à travers l’Italie. Le zine est surtout écrit en français, mais il comprend également quelques pages écrites en anglais. Il contient un hommage à l’impression à la main (letterpress) et un article sur le film Whip it, tout en réfléchissant sur le concept des films hollywoodiens qui tentent de récupérer la philosophie DIY. Il croit que le film pourrait attirer un nouveau public vers la scène DIY, le rollerderby, riot grrrl tout en donnant une image positive de la femme en générale, mais il ne cache pas son désarrois de voir Hollywood reprendre les idées de la scène. Entièrement couper aux ciseaux et coller à la main, couverture fait à l’étampe.
Cheaptoys #5.5 / $1.00 / 20g
Description to come.
Culture Slut #25 / $2.00 / 20g
This is the latest issue of Culture Slut. I write about heartbreak, Patti Smith, quitting drinking, participating in research studies for cash, an obsession with knuckle tattoos, and life in Montréal. Cut-and-paste, quarter-size, 30 pages. Please read it in a safe space; I had a rough year.
Dig Deep #1 / $1.00 / 20g
So, there is this genre of zines that really only exists in my head, and I call it “go get ‘em zines” – basically, they’re kinda zines that are written well, that present a generally positive attitude and that make one feel ready to take on the world. Think Nothing Rhymes, Riot Wife, Fuck Shyness and Adventure Time. Well, now we can add Dig Deep to the list. Heather is a librarian in Chicago (something you can read more about in Into The Grid), and she strikes me as someone who’s able to find happiness in the small moments in life. Which is what it’s all about, really. She writes about exploring the libraries in every town that she visits, a resolution to do Significant Things in the months leading up to her 30th birthday, impromptu dance parties, and the place that she calls home. Plus funny work tales and a series of ten-word zine reviews.
Dig Deep #2 / $1.00 / 20g TEMPORARILY SOLD OUT
The first issue of Dig Deep was one of the most sweet and thoughtful and interesting zines I read all of last year and this second issue does not disappoint. It’s slightly smaller than quarter-size (my math skills, or lack thereof, get the best of me in these kindsa descriptions) and Heather writes about things like an impromptu trip with a friend to England and France (making me relive my own wonderful memories of those countries), and includes a piece on her oldest t-shirt. Perhaps the most moving and thought-provoking is a piece on street harassment, documenting not only the ways that men have catcalled and even followed her home, but also the way this made her feel and how she changed her habits because of it (which, obviously, we shouldn’t have to do). This is countered with an empowering piece on a monthly women-only dance night that happens in Chicago and her experience with attending for the first time. “No boys, no booze, no judgement.” This is an all-around excellent perzine and I’m sure many people can get something out of it, be that a lesson, a book recommendation or a reminder of memories past.
Dig Deep #3 / Your Secretary #10 / $2.00 / 40g
Description to come.
Don’t Be A Dick / $1.00 / 40g TEMPORARILY SOLD OUT
Solid advice right there in the title. This zine is about sex, porn, consent, “being a man” and living in a rape culture. Paul writes thoughtfully about his own experiences with sex – specifically, the realization that he had coerced a girlfriend into sexual activity in the past – and what he’s doing now to acknowledge such behaviours and unlearn them. Also included are statistics, resources and suggestions for further reading. Highly recommended, especially for cis-dudes. Half-size, thirty pages, black and white.
Doris #25 / $2.50/ 50g TEMPORARILY SOLD OUT
It’s no secret that I love this zine. I’ve got a Doris tattoo for goodness’ sake. I’ve read this issue a couple of times, and I just sat down and re-read it tonight and I think it means even more to me now than it did the last time. The letter Q is the theme (because Cindy was doing an alphabet series), so that means Questions and Quitting. The last seven pages are dedicated to Cindy’s tale of how she quit drinking. Let’s just say that some of those paragraphs are relateable. (You can read more about it in her comp zine Filling The Void: Interviews About Quitting Drinking & Using, also available through Fight Boredom Distro). The bulk of the zine features questions asked by friends and readers, like What do you want to do most? and What are your favourite comfort foods? So she writes about setting up a five-year plan to achieve her goals, filtering out negativity, allowing herself to dream, memories of her mother, and admits to having a thing for Hello Kitty bandages (me, I’ve got one on my hand right now ‘coz I’m no good at climbing fences). This is my favourite part:
“Friendship should not be a way to pass the time, a way to kill time, a distraction. Friendship should be a beginning place for the revolution.
Prioritize friendship. Don’t get sucked into the isolation of just being a couple or wanting just trueloveonepersontoreallyunderstandyou. Don’t force someone to be monogamous, don’t force someone to be non-monogamous. If your loved one is sick or hurting so bad, prioritize them. Know the difference between self-righteous politics and a politic of compassion and love. But prioritize friendships. Talk to your friends about your hopes and dreams and fears and secrets that you usually save for your lover. Let them close to you. Commit yourself to them. Move to maintain friendships, not just to maintain relationships.
Don’t let yourself become bored. If you are bored, there are things that need doing.”
Doris #26 / $2.50 / 40g
Description to come.
Doris #27 / $2.50 / 40g TEMPORARILY SOLD OUT
I devoured this zine the morning after having received it in the mail. This is the UVWXYZ issue, completing Cindy’s alphabet series. Entirely handwritten / typewritten as usual, with her adorable drawings throughout. She writes about growing up and learning not to be scared (after doing things like riding the bus to the end of the line and sitting through the wrong classes just because she was too shy / embarrassed to ask for proper directions and admit that she’d made a mistake), moving to Portland and discovering Food Not Bombs, touring with her band, buying a house in Ohio and learning how to make new friends. She’s also included a comic about writing and learning to get over her own fear of failure or of not being a “good enough” writer. She includes the tricks that famous writers have used in the past for inspiration, and shares her own thoughts on creating. “I write in my journal because it helps me to learn to be present and to process what I see and feel and think. I write Doris because I believe that in order to change the world fundamentally, we have to challenge ourselves and each other to be brave and alive. And we have to take our experiences and find the lessons in them and pass on these lessons in a way that doesn’t alienate.” If you’ve never read this series before, well… why not?
Doris #28 / $2.00 / 36g
Cindy Crabb did a reading from this zine in Chicago during the zine fest and I’m pretty sure half the room was on the verge of tears by the end of it. She read about the suicide of a friend of hers; a trans person and survivor of abuse, someone with whom she’d discussed the pros and cons of killing ones abusers (wouldn’t mind being a fly on the wall for that conversation). But that’s not all. She writes a lot about living on a farm with her dogs, sheep and miniature horses and the way that living off the land is a lifestyle that you have to slowly work toward. Some people make the mistake of getting chickens right away, she says, and then they can never spend a night in town because someone’s got to feed them. So she writes about sharing resources with the neighbours and her dreams for the future. The last half of the zine is about discovering anarchism as a teenager, confronting racism and quitting drinking. It’s a really good read, heavy on the text, with her signature drawings throughout. Readers will be pleased to know that a second anthology is set for release in the summer of 2011.
The Doris Encyclopedia / $22.00 Canada & US / $27.00 Int’l (postage incl.) TEMPORARILY SOLD OUT
This book contains issues #19 – #27 of Doris, as well as interviews, columns and newly-published content. Over three-hundred pages of sweet perzine writing on love, anarchy, abuse and healing, radical sobriety, friendship, feminism and more.
Dykes & Their Hair / $1.00 / 12g TEMPORARILY SOLD OUT
The bulk of this zine features simple illustrations of popular dyke haircuts, meant to make us “…laugh or smirk. Or get angry.” Teresa writes about these haircuts that often become signifiers for a person’s sexuality. Trouble being that most of these haircuts only work with straight hair, effectively invisible-ising people of colour within the queer community – something that is definitely worthy of examination.
East Village Inky #45 / $3.00 / 23g
Description to come.
East Village Inky #46 / $3.00 / 23g
This series is consistently jam-packed (seriously, margin-to-margin content with very little white space to be seen) with (neatly!) handwritten stories about life as a mom in New York, accompanied by photos and comics. This issue begins with the discovery of a 3.5 lb gnome in her mailbox, which she diligently brings on tour throughout the city – snagging photo-ops at a Ben Stiller film set where the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade had been re-created, the Hollywood Diner, the Brooklyn Comics & Graphics Festival, the table of a very scandalous zinester indeed, and some of the usual tourist hotspots, like the Chrysler Building. Every stop along the way is peppered with funny stories from the past, like nostalgic diatribes on rotary telephones and Dawn Dolls, plus background info on her favourite places in New York (which you can also learn about in her newly-released Zinester’s Guide to New York City). An absolute pleasure to read.
Everybody Moon Jump #11 / $1.00 / 25g
Description to come.
Everybody Moon Jump #12 / $1.00 / 25g
Description to come.
Feeling Words: A Pocket Zine of Emotions / $2.50 / 16g TEMPORARILY SOLD OUT
This is a beautiful little 1/8th size full-colour zine about identifying emotions. Teresa (of Dykes & Their Hair) created this during a zine residency at the Roberts Street Social Centre and writes about beginning to see a counselor and realizing that she had no idea what her needs were, primarily because she had trouble naming and understanding her emotions. So we read a bit about these conversations, and then the bulk of the zine is made up of an alphabetical list of nearly one hundred emotions (bitter, carefree, envious, optimistic, territorial…), all typewritten and laid out against interesting colours and patterns of various paper ephemera, and perhaps some vintage fabrics.
Femme À Barbe #1 / $1.00 / 60g TEMPORARILY SOLD OUT
Put together by J Bee Darling of comic zine Sassyfrass Circus, this compilation is all about bearded ladies; a topic not really touched upon often in the zine community… or any community that I’ve been a part of for that matter. It’s kind of awesome. The first issue features a wind range of submissions, from a short history of hairy women saints to a piece written by an FTM transperson on the importance of body hair to frustrated rants about trying to remove stubborn facial hair. And there’s an article called The One With The Young Person Frustrated By The Complexity Of Maturing – were they trying to make their title sound like an episode of Friends? Possibly. Anyway, this zine is incredibly unique and is sure to become a hit. Half-size, 44 pages, black and white.
Femme À Barbe #2 / $1.00 / 35g TEMPORARILY SOLD OUT
The much-anticipated second issue of J Bee’s Femme À Barbe is finally here! This issue contains contribu- tions of art and writing on the topic of body hair (facial hair to be more specific – the French title translates to Bearded Lady). Sari of perzine You’ve Got A Friend In Pennsylvania and feminist comp zine Hoax, writes about their history with body hair, from being encouraged to shave as a pre-teen and eventually quitting but always having troubles with facial hair – and their mother’s treatment of it. Bastian Fox Phelan writes about the reactions to their first zine on the topic, Ladybeard, and others write about facial hair in relation to transitioning, to racist beauty ideals and to privilege. It’s pretty much my favourite comp zine that’s out there right now.
Femme À Barbe #3 / $1.00 / 35g
Description to come.
Filling The Void: Interviews About Quitting Drinking & Using / $5.00 / 100g
This is one hefty zine – nearly sixty half-legal size pages. It was compiled by Cindy Crabb of Doris and her sister Caty, and contains interviews with eight different people about their experiences quitting drinking (and using drugs, in some cases). I read it over the course of several days (I recently quit drinking as well), and found much hope and inspiration in the words of others. It was really nice to recognize myself in these words and feel less alone. You can watch my video review of this zine here.
Get Fit For The Pit #1 / $2.00 / 25g
Such a good comp zine! This one is all about health and fitness, specifically viewed through a punk and activist lens. In the intro, Nicole says that she’d like to counter the romanticization of sleepless nights and drunken adventures. This first issue includes contributions by Maranda Elizabeth (of Telegram Ma’am), who writes about joining their local roller derby league, Ramsey Beyer (of List), who shares a comic about crossfit (noting that her fitness friends are interested in her ‘punk life’ but her punk friends scoff at her interest in exercise), Ele (of Cats Teeth), who writes about hooping, as well as several pieces on running, rugby, yoga and more. It’s a pretty inspiring read and a creative theme.
