Zines N-Z

 Filmmaker John Waters, is a Baltimore native who uses the city and  its residents as the backdrop for his transgressive comedy films. His  film Pink Flamingos (1972) is tag-lined  as “an exercise in poor taste.” Its offenses include rape, murder,  incest, cannibalism, cop killing, bestiality, necrophilia, and sadism.  And yes, as I mentioned, it’s a comedy.

John Waters is a hero to the punk, unruly, and unclean struggling to  remain relevant. He has a knack for daring you to root for unlikable  characters.

Half-size, B&W, 32 pages.

For many intents and purposes, the Ramones are the first punk band—the  Alpha, the architects. In another sense, the Ramones are the last band  to exist before the Ramones invented (or at least mastered and codified)  punk: They are the final band of the pre-punk era, the end of the line.  The ripped jeans, the leather jackets, the machine-gun delivery, the  Moe Howard-like tonsorial affectations.The fuses are lit. Punk Rock is a  GO. Destruction imminent!

Half-size, B&W, 32 pages.

Standup comedy is difficult to write about because it’s an art form that  can be so many things to so many people. Some view it as an admirable  art and an essential outlet; others see it as vocal noise pollution for  the self-indulgent. It stems from the world’s oldest form of  entertainment (one performer saying insightful things to a captive  audience), yet seems among the least respected. Standup suffers from the  widest gap between insider and outsider perceptions, exacerbated by an  internet noise machine that builds echo chambers and convinces comics  the “general public” or “civilians” think about this shit the same way  we do. It’s perpetually exhausting and at times infuriating.

Half-size, B&W, 36 pages.

Ornery Cuss is a heart-breaker of a zine.  A photo-copied tome that reads like a short novel and tells the story of how a young lady escaped the drug-infested depressions of southern Iowa.  Krystle Ratticus grew up living in poor conditions in small town on the Iowa/Missouri border, dodging adult perverts and dealing with teenage bullies.  That’s where this zine starts, but then it moves on to finding salvation in the overlapping underground worlds zines and punk rock.  She moved to Chicago, found a job, found a boyfriend, and tried to become an adult.  Of course, those things come with their own challenges.

This is the zine you give to hip-lit graduate friends when they try to disrespect our culture.  Ornery Cuss is a series of well-written stories that flow smoothly from theme to theme, while taking you from emotion to emotion.  The raw sadness, the occasional triumphs, and the never-ending struggle of being human.  The beat generation is long gone, and zines like this are as close as you’re ever gonna get to that level of realness.  Comes with a playlist insert so you can have some background music while you read.  Best zine I’ve read this year.

Half-size, 76 pages, B&W

Paruresis is the very real condition in which a person has trouble urinating in certain situations, such as in public spaces,  or while other people are waiting.  I never knew that this was a thing!   Reading this zine taught me a lot about what it's like to live with  this condition.  Not only does it give lots of information about the  condition itself, but it gives a very personal account of what it's like  to live with paruresis.

This perzine is full of personal stories of anguish, embarrassment, and torment.   He even tells about the childhood bullying incident that created his  mental block.  This zine is sad, but excellent.  If you, or anyone you  know, is pee-shy, this is a must.  Actually, it's sort of a must no  matter what.

Quarter-size, B&W, 24 pages.     

This is the "College" issue, all about Mark's time in college.  Having room mates for the first time, trying to date, coming to terms with the fact that this small detail about himself is actually a  huge fucking deal.

Mark tells stories of going to bars and  drinking all night long, having fun with his friends until his bladder is full.  Unable to pee in public he lives a life of constantly finding excuses to leave the room, leave the bar, or leave the party.

This story is heartbreaking, sad,  exciting, and intriguing.  Feel the uncomfortable embarrassment right  along with Mark as he navigates this world.  This is the only zine I've ever read on the topic, so it's worth $3 just for that.

Quarter-size, color cover, 28 pages.   

This issue is the "vacation" issue.  Mark talks about the extensive planning he has to go  through just to travel.  How long will his plane ride be?  How long will  he be on a bus from one city to another?  The lengths he must go to in  order to urinate are simultaneously fascinating and depressing.  This condition dictates so much of his life, and all his activities are planned around his use of the toilet.

Yet, this zine isn't depressing.  If anything it feels empowering.  He has accepted that this is part of his life, and he works through it.  Rather than simply say, "No, I'm not flying anywhere," he has said, "Yes, I can fly there, but  here's how I need to do it."  Part of his empowerment seems to come from  a new girlfriend, the first person he's ever dated who has known about  his condition.  Having her love and support certainly seems to help him.

Quarter-size, color cover, 32 pages, all text. 

We all have challenges when it comes to getting hired at a new job.   Some people are unable to pass a drug test, which sucks, but Mark isn't even sure he can TAKE the drug test!  He doesn't do drugs, he just can't pee in the cup when he knows there is a nurse outside waiting on him.   Good writing to make you feel the nervousness he goes through in these situations.  Also in this issue is a story about Mark discovering that another friend has a similar bathroom secret...  Does he confront her and bond over their similar problems?  Get this new issue and find out.

Quarter-size, color cover, 32 pages.

Part of dating, part of relationships, part of love, is the process of  familiarity.  Getting to know someone so well that little by little  there are no more secrets.  But Mark has a big secret, and it takes  a lot to keep this secret from one girlfriend after another.   He wants to tell them, but is too embarrassed.  While hanging out with  his love interest, or her family, he finds excuses to go outside, then  pees there.  Or waits until his lover is asleep, just so he can get up  and pee in the middle of the night.

Something that is not so much  as an after-thought for 95% of us is the ONLY thing Mark can think  about most of the time.  When should he pee?  And where, and how?

This issue is the dating issue, the one we've all been waiting for.

Quarter-size, color cover, 40 pages.

Mike T. Fournier, of Zisk and others, brings us a text-heavy story of his childhood in New England.  He weaves 5 or 6 stories together, telling us about punk shows, sporting events, his Catholic upbringing, his time in the Boy Scouts, and more.  With that variety of stories comes a variety of emotions as a young Mike finds his identity.  Great read.

But wait, there’s more!  One half of this zine is Policymaker, the other half is a piece titled, “2024 Isn’t Going To Be My Year,” by Donna Ramone of Razorcake fame.  A lot of Donna’s articles in Razocake center around her Muslim and Arab identities, and in this zine she goes deep into that topic.  She talks about her youth, her family, and her life.  Along the way she spells out exactly how fucked up our own U.S government is, and doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to explaining how small doses of daily racism affect people like her.

Half-size, B&W, 20 pages.

This unique zine is horizontal half-size, so don't let the image fool you.  It's the same size as a regular zine.  This is a travelogue describing the daily events of a road trip from Hawaii to Maine!  Quite a trip.  Not only does the author describe various places that he and his wife visit, but he also talks about his own personal memories as he stops at childhood homes and various locations from his past.  And not only does he describe the postcards he buys and mails, but he has actually reproduced those same cards for us to see!  A lot of work went into making this zine, and it was well worth it.

Half-size, cardstock color cover, color images, fold-out postcards, 40 pages.

A short little pocket-size perzine.  No photos, a few random illustrations, but 99% text, just Billy pontificating on various topics.  Themes of fear, loneliness, depression, and how to conquer it all.  An excerpt:

"Here’s the thing: it took me years, years, to realize that when a person says, “It’s cold,” what they actually mean is “I’m  cold.”  But they would say, “It’s cold,” and I would immediately say,  “It’s not cold,” which actually meant “I’m not cold,” and you can see how this could create some very pointless arguing."

Quarter-size, B&W, 24 pages.

After reading a book called Selftitled, by Nicole Morning, I was so  inspired by her writing style that I grabbed my journal and wrote for 2  hours straight.  The result turned into this zine.

Camping with  my partner, the lovely nature of New Mexico, the adventures she and I  have had, our travels to Baltimore, synchronized swimming, the impending  doom of Artificial Intelligence, and holding hands through it all.

Quarter-size, B&W, 16 pages.  Only $1.                  

Sub-titled as “Five Days in Chicago,” Proof I Exist #42 recants Billy’s return to the Windy City, relating his experiences through a series of lists.  A list of friends he hung out with, a list of places he ate, a list of museums he visited.  Rather than deep, long-winded prose, this is short snippets of his vacation in a city where he once lived for 10 years.  Quick read, only $1.

Quarter-size, B&W, 16 pages.                 

 Proof I Exist #43 is a split zine with my buddy, Ed Tillman!  After 25  years of making zines, this is my first official SPLIT ZINE, old school  style where you read half the zine, flip it over, and then read a  totally different zine on the other half!  My half is PIE 43, his half  is QRK5 #14.

We picked the theme of "Hot and Cold," with me  writing about the cold and Ed writing about the hot.  Ed's half talks  about living in Georgia, living in California, and working on film sets  in Mexico.  His stories make you thirsty, make you sweat, make you feel  bad for some guy passing out from heat exhaustion.

For my half I  tell one long story, all about the time they cut off the heat from our  punk house in Chicago. Yes, Chicago in winter-time with no heat, punk as  fuck baby!  Who needs to shower when you have cheap rent!?

This zine is quarter-size, B&W, 24 pages long, and is TWO ZINES IN ONE!  Enjoy!

 My buddy, Drew, is in a band called Orange Drink.  In the year 2022, he  wrote and recorded one new song every week, for the entire year.  But,  if that wasn't enough, he also made a VIDEO for every single one of  those songs.

Proof I Exist #44 is one long interview with Drew  about music, art, and life.  I've never done a long-form interview like  this for one of my zines, but I found our conversation to be so  interesting that I didn't want to cut it short and push it in with other  stuff, so I decided to release the entire thing as its own stand-alone  issue.We talk about the creative process, artistic discipline, and the  age-old question of "What is art?"

Listen to some of his music, watch some of his videos, then read this zine for more insight into who he is and what he does.

Half-size, 40 pages long.  Black and white on the inside, with color on the front and back cardstock covers.          

I’ve never kept a reading log before, but was inspired by various zine-friends who do it every year.  So in 2023 I kept track of every book I read, and wrote a short synopsis and review.  The end result is Proof I Exist #45 – A 2023 Reading Log.

My reading preferences bounce around, from biographies to graphic novels, to zines which are perfect bound.  Unfortunately, I was too lazy to actually assemble this list of book reviews in the actual order in which I read them, but all 50-something reviews are there.  A history of pinball, all 3 Home Alone books, a memoir from the rapper 50 Cent.  If you like book reviews, or are curious about my reading tastes, then here ya go.

Half-size, 24 pages, full-color.

At the beginning of 2023 I asked my friend, Ed Kemp, if he wanted to do a journal-style perzine with me, which would slowly document our entire year.  The way we set it up was this: in January I would write a diary entry about my month, and Ed would make a list of major world events.  Then in February we’d switch assignments, and then alternate every month.  Proof I Exist #46 is a year’s worth of life events from both Ed and I, as well as a recap of all the major world events that happened throughout 2023, both good and bad.  It’s sort of fun to glimpse into our lives, while looking back on the past year.

Half-size, 36 pages, B&W.

I love the drawing on this cover.  More drawings, more paintings, more writing about art.  This one has several prints of portraits Ed has been painting, and they are so beautiful to look at.  He also has some photography, as well as a section talking about his Holga camera.  If you know what a Holga is, you’ll dig this little zine.  The highlight though, for me at least, was the story he tells about seeing a homeless man bathing in the LA River.

Quarter-size, full-color, 20 pages.

The “spooky” issue #13, released in conjunction with Halloween!  This issue is a combination of photos taken at night, as well as stories that somehow relate back to scary feelings.  Cemeteries in Mexico, Kenneth Anger movie screenings, and movie stars who have since passed away.  This issue also talks about Ed’s father and grandfather a bit, which is nice.  High-quality photos, contemplative writing, and engaging story-telling.

Quarter-size, orange cover, full-color photos, 20 pages.

 Proof I Exist #43 is a split zine with my buddy, Ed Tillman!  After 25  years of making zines, this is my first official SPLIT ZINE, old school  style where you read half the zine, flip it over, and then read a  totally different zine on the other half!  My half is PIE 43, his half  is QRK5 #14.

We picked the theme of "Hot and Cold," with me  writing about the cold and Ed writing about the hot.  Ed's half talks  about living in Georgia, living in California, and working on film sets  in Mexico.  His stories make you thirsty, make you sweat, make you feel  bad for some guy passing out from heat exhaustion.

For my half I  tell one long story, all about the time they cut off the heat from our  punk house in Chicago. Yes, Chicago in winter-time with no heat, punk as  fuck baby!  Who needs to shower when you have cheap rent!?

This zine is quarter-size, B&W, 24 pages long, and is TWO ZINES IN ONE!  Enjoy!  ;-)          

My favorite issue of Rain Barrel yet, and a great example of how a personal zine can GET PERSONAL.  Jordan pours out all her insecurities, page after page, telling the world "Here I am, take it or leave it."

RB4 starts off by diving into the concepts of ageism and anti-fat bias, with Jordan not only telling her personal experiences, but examining what she sees in the world around, both in real life and in the digital realm.  It was really interesting to see where ageism and fatphobia overlap, as the two concepts are similar, but not always the same.

From there the zine dives into asexuality, and Jordan's questioning and exploring of her own feelings.  This is also a potentially vulnerable topic, especially since Jordan is self-processing on the page right there in front of this.

I've enjoyed all the issues of Rain Barrel, but this is the one that hit me hard and made me want to give Jordan a big hug.  Happy to have this as part of my distro.

Half-size, B&W, 24 pages.

Kris has banged out another excellent piece of writing, as he documents his road trip from Spain down to Morocco.  He and his partner, Lola, as well as some other friends, travel by car through Morocco, a country they are vaguely familiar with, but not exactly comfortable in.  What makes this zine a lovely read is how well Kris describes each and every scene, taking the time to really describe not only the FACTS of the situation (time, place, scenery) but also the FEELINGS of the situation.  Are we excited to be on an adventure?  Are we scared that we might get robbed?  Are we relieved to finally find that restaurant we’ve been looking for?  Kris makes you smell the food, feel the sweat, and hold your breath when danger lurks.  Peppered throughout the zine are beautiful linocut art pieces, and as an added bonus, every copy includes an actual bag of Moroccan Mint flavored tea.

Half-size, B&W with a blue cover, 44 pages.

Written by Sharaya O., the same Californian who writes Word of the Day, Self Harm is a zine about NSSI, which is "Non-suicidal self-injury."  Trigger warning right now for those who have trauma around a person cutting themselves, or in other ways injuring themselves.

Sharaya starts off on page 1 describing her experiences in 8th grade, cutting herself as a means to feel some sort of control in her life.  She asks that you listen to her story in a non-judgmental way, which is the perfect mindset as she herself does a fantastic job of describing the very real emotions surrounding this topic without either lamenting or romanticizing the events.  As someone who grew up doing the exact same thing, I related to a lot of this, and appreciated that this zine doesn't come off as a lecture, nor does it try to make her past seem cool or mysterious.  She simply tells her story.

An unexpected highlight is when she interviews her dad on the topic.  "When did you find out I was cutting, what advice would you give other parents?" and so on.

She also cites a number of helpful resources for people struggling with this issue.

If you are a current or former cutter, you'll relate to a lot of this. If you are worried someone you know might be harming themselves, this is a great way to open up dialog about it.

Half-size, color, 16 pages.

“Straightaway Tangent is about travel, coffee shops, roads, urbanism, waking up in a van, working through an unrequited crush, goth shit, escaping winter, hot water, video games, zines, Krishna consciousness and other spiritual paths, and social anxiety.”  Thus begins the first issue of a new zine by August Personage.  This daily diary starts off in Pennsylvania and ends up in South Carolina as August lives in his van and travels the eastern U.S. looking for adventure and a better understanding of himself.  Solo travels can be such a bittersweet experience; on the one hand you can do anything you want, and spontaneity is the compass.  But a lot of nights end up alone and lonely, and I’ve felt that so many times.  Emotional ups and downs presented in a very clean and easy to read layout.  Color photos throughout.

Half-size, 52 pages, B&W with color photos, cardstock cover.

A continuation of issue #1, August spends some time in the southeast part of the country.  Florida, Georgia, Carolinas …  Living out of a van, sleeping in Wal-Mart parking lots, and reports on all the bars and coffeeshops he comes across.  My favorite parts were when he talks about visiting zine libraries and zine stores.  Great travel-zine with lit-level writing style.  Clean layouts, good margins, well-made zine.  August is the type of person who mentally records conversations with strangers and then goes back later and shares with us the best bits.  This zine is a road trip from the comfort of your own home.

Half-size, 44 pages, B&W, color photos, cardstock cover.

The newest edition of Ed’s “Touring America” series (Jan, 2024).  The cover proudly shows the state flags of Arizona and California, the 2 states Ed visited last summer, a long way from home for this Jersey-boy.  I love all of his Touring America zines, but have a particular attachment to this issue because Ed and I actually hung out together in Arizona!  And being best buds like we are, he offered me some space in his zine!  The first half of this zine is my review of our time together in Arizona.  We played pinball, went to the state capitol, and hung out together at the Phoenix Zine Fest.  All of it taking place during a heat-wave in Phoenix!

Immediately after our time in Phoenix, Ed hopped a plane and headed to Oakland, where he saw some baseball games, ate some delicious food, and took in a handful of other local sites.  Ed is always up for an adventure, and this issue is the latest report.  I love his attitude of “touring America,” slowly checking off boxes of cities and states, able to make conversation about more and more locations.  “Oakland?  Yeah, I’ve been there once, had a great time!”

Half-size, 12 pages, mostly B&W, with color cover and color centerfold.

Another travel-zine from East Coast Ed!  Ed runs a distro called The Word Distribution, and also writes the zine Pencil of the Week.  But his touring zines are really starting to take shape as well.  For this issue he heads all the way across the country to visit Seattle!  This great perzine reads like a diary, taking us along for the adventure, day by day.  And it’s fantastic how Ed uses 2 of his passions, zines and pencils, to help guide the way.  He meets up with some zine-friends, he meets up with some pencil-nerds, and of course he eats all kinds of good food along the way.  For only $2 you can live vicariously through him.

Half-size, color cover, color photos, 16 pages.

To order directly from the author, go here.

My buddy, East Coast Ed, has a new issue of Touring America!  And, I gotta  say, this is my favorite one yet. Why?  Because it's all about my  favorite city, Chicago!  Ed lives in Jersey, but when he takes trips to  other parts of the country he writes about his adventures, and it's  always so fun to read.

So where did he go, what did he do?  Some  of the iconic stuff, like Sears Tower, Wrigleyville, and the Art  Institute, but also lesser known stops, like a wooden alleyway, and  various parks.  And of course, he talks all about visiting the legendary  zine store, Quimbys.  He even got some authentic deep dish pizza!  It  didn't sound like he's gonna rank that above a NY thin slice, but he  expressed his love and respect for that delicious pile of food.

I  lived in Chicago for 10 years, and this zine made me miss it even more  than I normally do.  But it was also great to read about places I'd  never visited, and some that I'd never even heard of!  I also loved his  partner's 3 pages of Chicago trivia in the middle of the zine.

Half-size, 20 pages, color covers.                  

People often choose their travels based on their interests.  Pinball nerds will travel for pinball tournaments, sports-people travel to see a good game.  And, of course, lead-heads travel for pencil conventions.  Yes, pencil conventions exist.

Ed Kemp, author of the well-known zine, “Pencil of the Week,” documents one such trip in his new issue of Touring America.  Pencils were the reason he went to Minnesota, but while there he also took in a list of other sites and experiences.  I always look forward to a new issue of Touring America because I love to know what different places have to offer, and I love seeing those things through Ed’s eyes.  Bookstores, art museums, and restaurant reviews, this zine is your chance to hang with Ed in the Twin Cities.

Half-size, 12 pages long.  Color cover and color photos in the middle.

This here, ladies and gents, is a good ol’ fashioned fanzine!  Unsolved Mysteries was one of the most popular American TV shows of the 1990s, a show that all of us have seen at least once or twice.  This was maybe the first “true crime” television shows, a phrase that is now its own genre.

This zine tells a history of the show. I love the show’s title, “Unsolved Mysteries.”  That could mean almost anything, and it did.  We have horrible crimes, like rape and murder, but we also have stories about aliens, Bigfoot, and ghosts. What was really cool to learn, though, is that this show did help solve a lot of these mysteries! 

Parts of it are sad and scary, some parts are fun and funny.  And all of it is filtered through the author’s personal experience of being a super-fan.  Half-size, B&W, 32 pages.

K. Ratticus, our beloved Chicago zinester and one of my long-term BFFs, uses WDJ3 to tell us the hopelessly romantic story of how she met her partner.  While slaving away in a Chicago restaurant she starts to get buddy-buddy with a Spanish-speaking co-worker.  Little by little they become more than just friends.  This is a great zine, a sweet story, and is written in both Spanish and English.  

Quarter-size, B&W, 44 pages.

New Zinester on the block!  Sharaya O. out of California brings a zine full of words!  Sharaya likes to read a lot, and when she comes across an interesting word, she writes it down.  Looks it up.  Tries to understand it.  This zine documents that process.  But this isn’t a dictionary, this isn’t just a list of words.  This is a linguistically-themed perzine.  The words are fun, and interesting, and largely unknown to me, but what makes this zine fun is reading Sharaya’s experience and opinions of the words.  Comments like “Reserve this word for when writing a gothic novel” is what keep you turning the pages.  Short zine; quick read.

Quarter-size, full-color, 8 pages.

 To purchase this zine directly from the author, go here. 

Zisk's  new catch-phrase is "So many ways to be a baseball fan," which is perfect for me.  Because I don't really follow baseball.  I check the  scores, and cheer for the Chicago teams, but other than that I can't  tell ya too much.  I'm a very casual fan.  That being said, I really  loved this zine.  Each issue of Zisk has a variety of contributors,  talking about a variety of topics.  But none of it is hardcore stat  analysis, or predictions of who will win the next world series.  Instead  it is a series of articles on the more fringe or quirky aspects of the  game.  Don't get me wrong, some of these writers are clearly hardcore  baseball fans.  But what's great about this zine is that it never judges  a reader on how much they know about baseball.

Articles in this issue include handwriting analysis on pro-player's autographs, opinions  on the new pitch clock, and a guy going to every single White Sox home  game.  Also some cool art and illustrations along the way, and a lot of  contributors who are well-known in other parts of the zine world.  Good little zine for only $3.

Half-size, B&W, 36 pages.                  

A baseball zine for the rest of us!  Put together by Mike T. Fournier and Mike Faloon, this zine always presents new and quirky angles for baseball fans.  As a punk-rocker who likes sports, I have spent my life feeling conflicted about where I fit.  Not only do I “get” what this zine is doing, but I feel like this zine gets me!  As the slogan says, “So many ways to be a baseball fan.”  This issue has an interview with a woman all about women in baseball.  It has a story about Dodger Stadium, a story about a Congressional baseball game, and even some fan fic.  A great line-up of contributors in here.

Half size, B&W, 44 pages long.