12.18.06 Wherewithal, Statelines and Time Zones, Mean Zine Submarine.

WHEREWITHAL (cash money to Emerson Dameron, 1323 N. Artesian Apt 1F, Chicago, IL 60622)
WHEREWITHAL presents like a toss off set of printouts handed to you by some English Department hall monitor, but reports like a bitter bottle rocket ricocheting off a window pane.
        The blank spaces yawn, wide molar displays, punctuated by errant clipart or nicely sketched illustration, but all that can be quickly overlooked because as soon as the observation and stories unfurl across the reader's horizon, WHEREWITHAL is transformed into a short masterwork. A sort of sloppy literary crime scene – a jewelry shop's long polished chrome and glass cases smashed out into a sea of violence, the sharp edges of broken glass reflecting brilliance, the smudge of a perfect finger print clearly communicates a suspect's identity.
        Emerson Dameron, the primary culprit behind this literary heist, has a rich, impressive talent, namely the ability to tell of the most mundane night of boredom drinking in failing dive bars with articulate interest. An ability to enmesh words in place and place in words, with the clear result of enjoyable purpose. A rare find, a zine that relies upon its writing and where the writing pulls it off. (R.JXP)

TIME ZONES & STATE LINES (http://www.fallofautumn.com/)
What is the difference between cleverness and gimmickery? Cleverness is a necessary invention while gimmickery is the invention of a necessity. The difference between brier rabbit's tar baby and anything sold on QVC.
        TIME ZONES & STATE LINES, a split zine between Alan Lastufka and Alex Wrekk, employs two rarely successful trick of split zines. The first is the excessively common flip-zine-over-in-the-middle layout schema where each zinester works toward the upside down end of the other zinester's side. This is a sort of lazy collaborative technique that requires no interaction between the two sides. Each zine is independent of the other, aside from the fact that they are printed on opposite sides of the page.
        This collaboration obstacle is further complicated by eight competing narratives cut into quarter page sections, each story linked by typography and graphic consistency. Each story is also thematically bound by the name of the season which serves as the backdrop metaphor of the piece.
        These two layout devices, so dislocating in and of themselves, forge an integration of voice through cutnpaste dissonance. This zine is important because it exemplifies the full power and potential of the medium.
        The writing is an odd mixture of straight story-telling, journal fragments, and the personal labyrinth of missing context confessions. Alan's writing, more conventionally narrative, sink into the graphic design of his page with such a natural ease, a sure sign of his pate natural zinester sensibility. Alex's side has the warm familiarity of running into an old friend in the frozen food asile of a grocery store. Everything is distanced by time, erased by a sideways, wiley smile.
        TIME ZONES & STATE LINES restored my excitement and faith in the cleverness of zines and the inventive reality of their humble creators. (R.JXP)

MEAN ZINE SUBMARINE ($1 Herbie c/o YOPS pobox 106 Danville, OH 42014)
Herbie Meyer you may have met at one of the various zinefests over the years. Or maybe you read stories about him in his dad's marvelous zine – 28 PAGES LOVINGLY BOUND IN TWINE.
        Herbie, who is now five years old, has made his very first zine. With some help from his dad, though, not a lot of help, I bet. There are some really cool drawings of airplanes and castles and some of barns. I like the grape eating juggler the best. Also I love OWLY, too! Herbie has a letter from Andy Runton and his very own Owly drawing with his name - Herbie - on it. I am totally jealous of that.
        Herbie, I really liked your zine a whole lot and hope that you make more. Maybe someday you will do a comic book that Love Bunni Press could publish. How cool would that be?! Pretty cool, indeed! (R.JXP)

11.16.06 Barrelhouse, Brains, Venus, What I Did on My Summer Vacation book.

BARRELHOUSE (two dollar bills or trades to pobox 1421 Oshkosh, WI 54903)
        R. Lee is, quite frankly, the best writer you are likely to read. Barrelhouse is less a comic book and more a beautifully illustrated picture book for adults. Each issue is a self-contained tale, possibly autobiographical confessions, centered around a mounting pile of shit and failure. With stunning illustrations by Dug Belan, Lee’s stories rip through the glorified facades of self-destruction to expose the grotesque, dark carnival that one’s life can become through bad associations with worse ideas. R.Lee manages to tap into that bruised vein of hope, a hope unalterably torn asunder by the stupid brutality of normal everyday banality. For his narrative voice is one of stripped observation, acutely incensed to descriptive tone, event, and location. R. Lee’s writing is controlled, subtle, and powerful. R. Lee is a rare find in the underground, for he is a true “author” with all the rights and privileges afforded to the position. (R.JXP)

BRAINS
        Brains basically combines two great genres that have always stood side by side in an unholy trash culture alliance - punk rock and zombies! These two have stood together since before The Damned went all horrorgoth on us. Skulls and decaying corpses were the high art, the defining symbols, in the employ of almost all punk bands until the advent of straight-edge (or when Pushead started designing Metallica albums, who can say for sure). But this zine picks up where the grand tradition of The Misfits, 45 Grave, and Return of the Living Dead all slouched off. Both issues, so far, straddle the kitsch abyss of bad punk and bad horror with a Russian gymnast’s unnatural agility. Infusing the stories with an intimate knowledge of punk’s history and the undead’s mythologies, the myriad genres and absurd subtitles of each are exploited for maximum effect. Utilizing humor to defuse any potential awfulness, these stories are clever and inventive and genuinely enjoyable to read. Underground splatter horror and punk fiction have notoriously been humiliating experiences, but Jesse & Ryan great writers, who’s obvious talent has been focused on an inspired project. The fun they had in making these zines is translated to the reader guaranteeing a great time for all. (R.JXP)

VENUS zine $6.50 + tax at your local bookstore.

        Ever get that feeling where you wish that you could read mindless drivel like Cosmo without feeling guilty about the internalized misogyny? Well, have I got a magazine for you!

        Venus is a nice looking magazine; it’s glossy and has plenty of visuals. While a bit heavy on the advertisements, it also includes many original illustrations and photographs. This particular issue had features on a female fashion designer, several different female fronted bands, a female author, and an article on the “pro-ana” movement.

        Despite the visuals, some semi-decent writing, and an interesting topic or two this magazine is decidedly bland. It’s like they removed the misogyny, a staple of most women’s magazines, but forgot to put content in to replace it. Instead of something that’s questioning and thought-provoking, we get diet Jane. When the magazine attempts to be taken seriously, as with the pro-ana piece, it just doesn’t work. It comes off as poorly researched (since when does taking a look at a couple of livejournal communities constitute research?), surface-skimming, wringing of hands fluff. It doesn’t help that a few pages after reading about the “horrors” of pro-ana we see half-page pictures of unnaturally skinny models trotting down the runway in ohsoterriblyhip Anna Sui outfits.

        Venus needs to decide whether it is a critique of pop culture, or part of it. The maturity of the magazine can best be represented by this quote by Jenny Hoyston of Erase Errata, one of this issue’s featured bands: “I absolutely love my country. I’m not the kind of person that’s like, ‘I’m moving to Canada.’ That’s totally not my style.”

        If you like your reading trendy, with great pictures and not much substance, Venus is for you. (Miranda Wreck)

WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION
(20$ to christoph meyer pob 106 danville, oh 43014)

        The first paperback book produced by Ye Olde Printe Shoppe. Y.O.P.S. promises to become one of the best DIY presses in the history of DIY presses mainly because of the dedication of its founder - Christoph Meyer. You might recognize him as the antiquarian force behind 28 Pages Lovingly Bound with Twine. If you have not actually met him at a zinefest. sitting at his table carefully knotting twine, then surely you have read his warm and affectionate zines. His zine has long been a favorite and I proudly call him a friend, so imagine my surprise and joy when I discovered this magnificent paperback book in my pile of mail. This charming tale of the meyer’s family excusion from Cleveland to Portland to attend the 2005 zine symposium is so affably written that one whips through the 162 pages without noticing the time. But this will be no surprise to fans of Christoph’s honed storytelling ability. Nor will the reader familiar with 28 Pages... be surprised to discover handmade gems of punched paper, photographs, and hand stamped graphics littering and punctuating the book. What I Did on My Summer Vacation is completely handmade – collated, cut, and bound entirely by Christoph – and the resulting book is unlike any other book you are likely to have seen outside a museum. It is an amazing artefact, an impressive testament, to the DIY aesthetic and should be added to every collection. (R.JXP)