& bunch more reviews from Anne...

Fuzzy Lunch Box (S/P #2 April 2010)
Laura Nadel
309 Cedar St #34
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Half-size, 38 pages, $2 US; trades maybe
LauraNadel@aol.com

Laura describes this special issue of FLB as “A compilation of letters for Fuzzy Lunch Box written by our captive audience in prison. Some humorous, some informative, some heart wrenching.” As a description, it’s pretty much right on; the content is all letters from incarcerated folks written to Laura and it’s both sort of fascinating and a little unnerving (I mean, you’re reading letters after all, and even though the authors seem to be aware that their letters are being printed it still felt a little voyeuristic reading these letters.) That said, there’s some really interesting material in here, including a comic about the best and worst of prison, and though you don’t get to see the replies from Laura or her co-publisher & sister, Deborah, it’s a pretty fascinating read.

Fuzzy Lunch Box #15 – The Drink & Drown Issue (Summer 2009)
Laura Nadel
309 Cedar St #34
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Half-size, 42 pages, $2 US; trades maybe
LauraNadel@aol.com

The ‘regular’ version of FLB, this particular issue’s real standout is the dive bar reviews, which are hysterically funny. Laura writes that this issue’s about “anecdotal accounts of the twins hijinks while booze infused (at a punk show, almost getting asses kicked) and some dive bar reviews of dives in Santa Cruz CA.” The articles are catchy and funny, and the issue reads like kind of peeking into their lives; one of the dive bars they go to (Asti) is referred to as Nasti and by the end, you’re in on those kinds of in-jokes. Worth tracking down; I’d love to see some other issues of Fuzzy Lunch Box (that’s a hint, esteemed Editor…)

Lynchpin (#1, May 2010)
Willian Brian Mclean
105-56 Donald St.
Barrie ON L4N 1E3 Canada
6 5/8 x 10 ¼, 16 pages, $4 US/Can/Mex World ?, no trades
roostertree@gmail.com
http://roostertree.com

Description: “Lynchpin is an ongoing series of short comics stories (in the tradition of Eightball, Yummy Fur, and Optic Nerve). The feature story, ‘By the Numbers’ is a biographical tale relatng one half-hour in the life of Alanna Star & an attempted sexual assault. The supplement is a tongue-in-cheek autobio vingnette relating to OCD.” I know, heavy stuff and possibly triggering for people; at the same time, it’s important that people write and read about things like these issues. As a side note, the story does mention that the name of the main character was changed; the form the story takes is the narration of a letter, though you don’t know the background of the story or how it came to pass that it was sent to the author. I’d be interested to see later issues as well to see how the storytelling style develops; it’s a strong first issue.


A.M. vol 3 issue #3 (2009)
By Vezun
PO Box 15394
Las Vegas NV 89114
V32un@yahoo.com
www.vezun.com
8.5 x 11 (full size), 32 pages, $8, no trades

Vezun writes: “A collection of comics. Some one panel comics and short stories of different lengths. The genre of the stories different from one to the next as well.” The production values on this collection are pretty high; while it’s mostly black & white, there are four pages of full color (plus the covers). Stories range from some science fiction stories to one-panel illustrations (the titles of which are all listed on a title page) and the artwork is in many cases very detailed. The color work is eye-catching, especially a story called SEEDS, and it all ended up feeling kind of surreal by the end for me. But check out the website and see what you think…