On October 29, I attended the 2016 edition of Canzine Toronto. Although I didn’t pick up many zines or comics this year, I still found some good ones. Ready? Let’s go.
Ignorance is Not Bliss in Start Over Again
Start Over Again H-P Lehkonen TW: Discussion of suicidal ideation and mental illness When you encounter a cartoonist through a webcomic or a long-running series, you often don’t get a grasp on the full range of their capabilities. It’s exciting to take an artist out of their initial context and see how they fare with…
How Ill Is Your Repute? A Sinful Review
How Ill is Your Repute? Kitty Curran & Larissa Zageris During this year’s Chicago Zine Fest, I was fortunate to come across Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris’ table, where a zine sporting four intriguing, old-timey-looking women and the title How Ill is Your Repute? caught my eye. Curran and Zageris are part of the creative hive-mind behind Taylor…
The Ballad of Peter Parker: Hannah Blumenreich’s Spidey Zine
Back in March, a bunch of people on Twitter retweeted a comic. What caught my attention wasn’t that it was a comic — I see a ton of short comics/illustrations every day — but that so many people retweeted it in such a short time. So I clicked on it… https://twitter.com/hannahblmnrch/status/708445047369256960 this is aces https://t.co/mjcqmNLd2J —…
Let’s All Fart in Public: A Review of If It Were Socially Acceptable
If It Were Socially Acceptable Sage Coffey Disclaimer: WWAC received a review copy of this zine from the artist. If It Were Socially Acceptable is an innocuous-looking minicomic. The bright yellow cover features a little snake with legs, sitting on the ground and wearing a goofy smile. Readers flipping immediately to the back will find…
Zine Review: Abstract Door #6/Let it Sink #9
Abstract Door #6: Gargoyles & Garbage/Let it Sink #9: The Tears of Jim Joyce Jim Joyce and Vicky Lim Anything could be behind a door. I assume this is why my cat is fascinated by closed-off rooms, but for Vicky Lim, doors are an opportunity for both a writer and a reader to open themselves…
Zine Review: Trans Man Walking #1
Trans Man Walking #1 Andi Santagata Sorry Mom Comix I’m very excited that the third and final zine I’m reviewing for Chicago Zine Fest is also debuting at the festival! Andi Santagata, the artist behind American Spirits: Freelance Ghostbusters—a webcomic that’s unsurprisingly about ghostbusting—just released a brand new zine called Trans Man Walking #1. It’s…
Zine Review: Lady Teeth #7 + Dude Swirl
Lady Teeth #7 + Dude Swirl Taryn Hipp and Jonas Cannon Images from various issues of Craphound My second review in this brief series highlighting zinesters who will be featured at Chicago Zine Fest’s Friday evening events is the seventh issue of Lady Teeth, a series of perzines—”personal zines” that contain writings about personal experiences—by…
Zine Review: On Confronting Anti-Blackness in Our Communities
On Confronting Anti-Blackness in Our Communities Brown and Proud Press A.V.A., Gabo Banksy, Cuauhtemoc, Tanuja Devi Jagernauth, Hoda Katebi, Munoz, Fatima Noekai, Fernando Romulo, Melisa Stephen, Vicko, and Monica Trinidad On April 29th and 30th, Chicago Zine Fest will host dozens of incredible zinesters, and will feature several of them at a Friday evening panel…
Zine Review: Gringa
Gringa Kat Fajardo Kat Fajardo’s Gringa opens with a startling two-page spread: protestors, some angry, many gleeful, hold up signs bearing statements like “Diversity = White Genocide” and “Return to Sender.” It is a stark, frightening punch in the gut; a reminder that those who carry xenophobic mindsets are not ugly, black-hat-wearing villains, but people…
Zine Review: Punk Rock Glee Club #1
We are all fans of something; however, the passion that goes with being a fan can create a barrier between the individual and the object of that passion. Anyone who’s awkwardly approached a celebrity or creator at a convention has felt this strange barrier, and some avoid meeting people they admire because of it. Liz…
Zine Review: The Lettuce Girl
The Lettuce Girl Sophia Wiedeman If you’re belatedly looking for a sweet, Valentine’s Day appropriate story, I do not recommend Rapunzel. I recently cracked open my collection of Grimm’s Fairy Tales to reread the tale, and realized that Rapunzel’s meeting with the prince is far from romantic. When he proposes, she gives him the once over and thinks,…