If there’s a time when the world needs cute and cozy art that prioritizes care, kindness, and magical empathy more than 2020, I can’t think of it. Enter Hazel, a witch’s lifestyle zine curated, edited, published, and designed by artist Lucy Kagan. This year’s issue, which has a theme of “Spirit,” is the series’ last…
Quaranzines Will Keep Us Connected: An Interview with Jenna Freedman
When I first started working on this project in those wild, precious, before-the-Pandemic times, I visited several zine libraries in person and online, and talked to the librarians, barefoot and degree-d alike, who run them. During this process, I quickly began hearing familiar names come up in conversation. Zine communities can often be niche and…
WWACommendations: My Boo, Ruby Quartz Panic Room, Eavesdropper, and More
What comics are you reading lately? Every month, WWAC contributors share some of the comics we’re enjoying most lately. Let us know on Twitter what comics you’re reading!
Jane Mai’s Soft is a Brilliant Retelling of Carmilla
CONTENT WARNING: This article contains discussion of abusive relationships. When a friend recommended I watch a low budget webseries about a lesbian vampire who falls in love with her plucky college roommate, I didn’t realize it was based on Carmilla, a vampire novella by Sheridan Le Fanu older than Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I was fascinated…
How to Make a One-Page Zine
Life is rough at the moment. With everything that’s going on it can be tough to find ways to distract yourself. That’s why I recently started a personal project making one page zines about films that I’ve watched during self-isolation. It’s been giving me a lot of joy, so I thought I’d share this little…
From University Archive to Prison: An Interview with the DePaul University Zine Archive
Editor’s Note: This is the second interview in the Zine Interview Comics Librarium series by Alenka Figa. Read the first interview, “Our Queer Older Siblings Will Save Us: An Interview with the Queer Zine Archive Project.”
Normal Offers Queer, Desi Horror That Packs a Punch
The last Gaysi zine I reviewed was All that We Want, a gorgeous, warm celebration of queer desire. Their newest zine, Normal, is a complete departure from that exploration of queer joy, and instead dives into all that keeps us from such experiences. As Niyati Joshi makes known in their introduction, queer and trans people…
Bluestockings’ Inaugural Queer + Trans Comics Fest 2019
Conventions and art shows tend to grow with success, but that growth can come at the cost of exponentially increasing competition in ways many of its exhibitors cannot keep up with. The number of attendees increase year by year, inevitably encouraging greater involvement with corporate interests. Cost-effectiveness becomes a question, as the commercialization and franchising…
Our Queer Older Siblings Will Guide Us: An Interview with the Queer Zine Archive Project
I am sick of articles and think pieces that tell us zines are back. The more I visit zine festivals, talk to zinesters, buy zines, and check out zine libraries, the more I realize that zines never left. Zines, and the people who make them, have grown, found new avenues to reach people, and continued…
TCAF 2019 Diary: Calls to Action and Comics Communities
Ever since I moved to Toronto in 2018, I’ve heard about the Toronto Comics and Arts Festival (TCAF), which I had narrowly missed in 2018 because I arrived a month too late. So, it really isn’t surprising that the moment I got the chance, I made arrangements to attend the festival in 2019.
Marvelous MoCCA Mini Roundup
Going to the annual Museum of Comics and Cartoon Arts fest is nostalgic for me. I remember so many venues this con has used over the years, and recall so fondly the sense of excitement and discovery in finding quirky little photocopied mini comics, sold directly to me by their creators. Over a decade ago,…
ECCC 2019: Nola’s Zine Haul
Going into Emerald City Comic Con this year, I had one, focused goal: Zines. I never got to write it up, but I spent a lot of last year at panels and, while I enjoyed them, I also constantly felt like I could just be at Artist Alley instead. This year I leaned into that…
