This and, spoilers, the upcoming WWACommendations contain some of my favorite things: Fall reads, zines, and mini-comics! We’re coming to you post CAKE, SPX, and several other indie fests, and as I write this intro the Short Box Comics Fair is also underway. On top of that, it’s also Fall publishing season in the mainstream…
Rosie Reads x CON DIARY: Black Zine Fest Blazes a Trail For a More Inclusive Con Experience
Los Angeles has a booming indie comics and zine scene, with massive shows like LA Zine Fest, Heavy Manners Library, and the dearly missed CALA making welcoming spaces for creators to showcase their work and find community. Attending local zine fests as part of the collective Zines 4 Queers she co-founded with fellow zinester oumou,…
ESSAY: The Role of Dōjinshi in Comic Fanzine Discourse
In December 2021, a conversation concerning the definition of the term “zine” unfolded on Twitter. This conversation arose from anxieties surrounding the rise of professionally printed and highly selective fanzines. Many comic artists lamented what they perceived as a betrayal of the DIY ethos of North American zine culture, while others expressed their frustrations regarding…
REVIEW: All the Zines I Bought at This Year’s ECCC
My hopes for Emerald City Comic Con weren’t high this year. I was fresh off of working San Diego Comic Con for the first time and feeling underwhelmed with the artist alley areas. As it turns out, I’ve been spoiled by ECCC—of all the conventions I’ve been to, they have the most robust artist alley….
What’s a Zine? WWAC Roundtable on Zinecourse
In an era where self-publishing is easier than ever, what makes a zine a zine? Is a crowdfunded glossy fanzine full of big name fanart the same as a Xerox’d treatise on your favorite band? Is there room for more than one definition of zine? WWAC held a round table to find out!
Comics Academe: 2020 in Review
To close out 2020, Comics Academe asked contributors to write about the conferences, articles, and books that had the biggest impact on them. They attended virtual conferences and comic cons and read, wrote, and were recognized for groundbreaking work in and around comics studies.
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!
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.”
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…
Get Your Spoop on with Horror Zines
‘Tis the season for all things pumpkin spice and spoopy, which is fantastic news for those of us who love horror. My favorite thing about the genre is its expansiveness. A horror story can be a traditional ghost or haunted house story, or a tale of body and psychological horror that reminds us of our…