Sunday 15 December 2013

Zine Reviews: November '13

The Jellygoose Chronicles, issue #1 (Lisa Stockley, Swanage)

I'm so thankful I happened upon this new perzine at Autumn Zine Fest in Kingston recently. You know when you discover a new zine and you want to tell all the world how ace it is, and end up buying extra copies as presents for friends because it's just that ace? Well, that's how Jellygoose is. It's the creation of artist Lisa Stockley, and her sense of exuberance and fun comes through via lots of whimsical thoughts and drawings. She also includes some serious topics, delivered with humour and personal thoughts. So everything from depression to vegan diet to female sizing in clothes to gendered clothing gets mixed in with more playful stuff (funny cartoons about her life, mentions of Pete Doherty, random thoughts from dogs, Lush products, an ace article about cider vinegar, and so much more) . I just love the way she crams so much in, and you have to go back and read a second or third time around as there are still little bits you might've missed. You can tell she had a lot of fun making it. I don't often go for illustrated zines, but Lisa is one of the zines-makers who is changing my mind. Her art and style is full of so much detail, quite a sense of glee, and is really amazing. I cannot wait for issue two. I love this zine!



Herbs for Mental Well-Being

I picked this zine up at Bradford Baked Zines pop-up zine shop, in the summer. It's a neat mini zine, hand-drawn, and hand-written about natural antidotes. Even though I have a bunch of zines on the topic of herbs, this zine still shed more light and proved invaluable. I found it particularly interesting to read and learn about adaptogens, which are herbs that 'increase the body's resistence to anxiety, stress, fatigue, and trauma'. There is also a recipe for medicinal tea. The idea of food as medicine and any zines about it are great.



Ice Cream For Quo, issue #17 (Stephen Fall, London)

I was so glad when this zine came through my letterbox, as I always am. There aren't many general music zines readily, regularly available in print in the UK that I know of, so I welcome my fix of ICFQ. There are lots of the usual staples this issue, such as Concerts I Have Been To, where people trawl their gig tickets and memories of gigs over the years with many an interesting tale. I love that this can mean discussing Jessie J, Cud, and Dexys on the same page! Room for Ted Chippington too! The regular feature Everything I Know about Pop Music Comes from Radio 4 includes the usual mingle of amusingly related capers. There are articles on LegoLand, unexpected good reads, items on theatre and cinema, and zany overheard bits of conversation across London. It's a nice mix that could only exist outside of the confines of corporate media, and it's all good fun. There is also a wonderful interview with Sarah Nixey, which you don't readily get elsewhere. Back issues are available on the Ice Cream For Quo website - there is so much good stuff involved in each issue, I couldn't recommend this long-running zine more.




This is a guest post by Fliss, founder of SW London and Surrey Zine Collective - thanks so much!  These reviews have been posted a fortnight late due to life stuff getting in the way; forgive me!


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