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Xerography Debt is a review zine for zine readers by zine writers (and readers). It is a hybrid of review zine and personal zine (the ancestor to many blogs). The paper version has been around since 1999. This blog thing is are attempt to bridge the gap between Web 2.0 and Paper 1.0. Print is not dead, but it is becoming more pixelated.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Review from Anne: Meniscus #17


Meniscus #17
(June 2010)
By Matt Fagan
Half-size, 26 pages, $3 (…?)
c/o Brainstorn
1648 W. North Avenue
Chicago IL 60622
hadmatter@hotmail.com,
www.etsy.com/shop/pokiespout
facebook.com/mattfaganart

I found this actually kind of inspiring: I like Matt’s comic style very much (lots of bold lines) and though the story itself is kind of heartwrenching (awesome store in weird financial straits) it’s really evocative of the kind of art that comes out of a difficult situation where your job and your identity and such are kind of bound together. I don’t want to say too much out of fear of giving away the beautiful cadence of the way the story’s told, but I’ll say this: shoot Matt an email and get your hands on this issue, because it’s a standout.

Review from Anne: Math Ed Zine #1 and Math Ed Zine 0.8: Km/Ky REMIX

Math Ed Zine #1 and Math Ed Zine 0.8: Km/Ky REMIX
By Owen Thomas
quarter-size, 8 pages, $2 (?) trades? (go check out the website...really)
POB 9679
Columbus OH 43209
http://vlorbik.wordpress.com

So, these two zines appeared in my mailbox with a little note on the envelope saying “for trade or review.” First thing: I don’t understand them. Second thing: they look really cool. MedZ #1 is “the hip-pocket lingo” issue—basically a glossary of math terms. Apparently the blog’s been up since June 2007, and I got into the idea that maybe these zines were done by a grad student: “i’d just put out #1 (“the hip-pocket vocab”, a crosslinked glossary for elementary logic, sets, and number theory originally prepared as scholarly apparatus for a set of lecture notes i used to supplement “math for poets” classes)…” which, honestly, sounds like a rad idea, “to shove ‘em more or less at random into mailboxes of faculty i’d enjoyed talking to and hope to spark up some conversations about me and the weird stuff i get up to.” Neat, no?

Review from Anne: Absent Cause #4 (Survival)

ABSENT CAUSE #4 (July 2010)-"SURVIVAL"
edited by redguard
half-size, 84 pp with color cover / $3 US $4 Can/Mex $5 world trades preferred!
PO Box 1568
New York, NY 10276
redguard@gmail.com, redguard.etsy.com

ABSENT CAUSE is generally billed as being about "underground cultures, hidden histories, feminist and queer sexualities, body image, chosen families and radical politics; vampirism, the gothic, horror and the macabre; surviving abuse, coping with mental illness/dangerous gifts, self-harm and suicide." Each issue is organized around a different theme; it’s an anthology with a wide range of contributors and perspectives. What I particularly enjoy about this zine is not just its international scope, but the interviews and first person pieces about a range of approaches to the theme (as ever, you might want to approach with caution if you have particular triggers and there’s some potentially NSFW things afoot.) I love also that there’s color art included in the centerfold; this issue includes an image called “Neatly Daily” by Natalie Perkins that’s really beautiful (check out her work at definatalie.com). Includes some music and zine reviews as well. Worth checking out.

Review from Anne: BROOKLYN! #68

BROOKLYN! #68
24 pages, 5.5 x 8.5 $10 for a 4 issue subscription
(PAYMENT IN CASH!)
Fred Argoff
Penthouse L
1170 Ocean Parkway
Brooklyn NY 11230

As was said in an earlier review (and I love mentioning every time I write a review of a new issue: “The name of this zine is BROOKLYN and that's also what the zine is about, Fred's beloved borough of Brooklyn." I always enjoy reading an issue when it appears in my mailbox, even with a completely baffling cover photo (turned out to be of lots and lots of Brooklyn pickles, as Brooklyn is the new home of Guss’ Pickles). Full of photos of Brooklyn (and Park Slope parades), an article about Midwood, a piece about why Brooklyn! will not become an e-zine plus “The Mother of All Brooklyn Bus Rides”, and a really, really funny “Brooklyn Lexicon & Pronounciation Guide #54.” (I gotta track down the other 53….)

New review of Xerography Debt #27

http://blackguard23.livejournal.com/