High on Burning Photographs #3
by Ocean Capewell
escape_well@yahoo.com
It’s the first time I’ve read this zine, although I’ve been meaning to pick some up for a while now. There isn’t really a good way to describe the style in which Ocean writes... but it’s strong and thorough and emotional. Done in classic cut and paste style, she writes about grieving, moving from place to place, death of friends, the radio and its comfort, etc. In the middle there’s an enlightening spread of short descriptions of people and the stories they’ve told her. I really like this zine. It’s not self involved but written in a way to learn something from her.
High on Burning Photographs #4
by Ocean Capewell
escape_well@yahoo.com
This series might be my new favourite series! In this issue, Ocean writes about many personal things, like dealing with alcoholics & sobriety, self-esteem, a job she had as a mail opener, “voluntary singlehood,” and more. A lot of these issues touch on subjects I’ve been thinking about lately, so I was especially intrigued and read it in one sitting (my attention span lacks a lot of the time, so it’s a feat for me). And I must say, the part about her dad thinking gay people lived in holes made me laugh out loud. She concludes the zine with a page about staying in Philedalphia and some thank-yous.
The only complaints I have about these zines is that the backgrounds for a lot of the pages are flashy patterns that hurt my eyes when trying to focus on reading. Also, way too many typefaces are used throughout, and there are even multiple fonts used on one page. It makes it really busy and hard to follow at times. Other than that, I really enjoyed both these zines and am looking forward to reading other issues.
Second Hand Smoke #3
by Christian Filardo
christianfilardo@gmail.com
This zine is of sketchbook type drawings and journal-like scrawls, and made me LOL at times. Specifically the comic about wanting to be a sandwich, and not burying a run-over bird because it was “totally smashed.” The doodles also remind me of my own sketches. It’s cleanly put together, simple, and thought provoking in a way (that is almost morbid at times). And, the flap of the envelope greeted me with, “You look great!” when I opened it, which made me crack a smile, not gonna lie. So thanks :) Great zine.
