V. Vale's Zines! Vol. I by jenny boe

ZINES HOME

INTERVIEWS:

Seth Friedman, Factsheet Five

Paul Lukas, Beer Frame

Chip Rowe, The Book Of Zines

REVIEWS:

Lisa Carver's Rollerderby and Dancing Queen

Seth Friedman's Factsheet Five Zine Reader

Paul Lukas' Inconspicuous Consumption

V. Vale's Zines! Vol. I

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Zines! Vol. 1 is a compilation of in-depth interviews with the people behind some of the most vital zines around. Through his thoughtful questions to each writer, editor V. Vale finds out how they began doing their zines and what it means for them. Calling zines "a grassroots reaction to a crisis in the media landscape," he explains why zines are a powerful tool for letting individual voices come through in a time of ever-increasing media homogenization. Rather than beating us over the head with this concept, Vale lets the interviews validate it by introducing specific diverse voices in publishing, such as Fat Girl, a zine "for fat dykes and the women who want them." Vale praises zine-making as a revolutionary and heartening act: "If communication can be viewed as food, then everything the mass media serves has been depleted of nourishment by corporate self-serving agendas. Amidst this landscape of lies, the zine movement has arisen everywhere like the hydra of discontent."

But Zines! Vol. 1 isn't a lecture about free speech and corporatization. One of the things that is emphasized most in the interviews is what a pleasure it is to make zines. Lynn Peril tells how (like most zine publishers) she has no expectations of making any money from her zine Mystery Date, and would be happy if some day she broke even, though she doesn't necessarily expect that to happen. As far as her reasons for publishing, she says: "It's all to alleviate boredom; to have fun." Of course, she also laughingly admits that her "number one goal is to get mail," and tells of some incredible people she's met through her zine, which takes inspiration from sources like home ec. textbooks, romance novels, teenage dating guides, and etiquette manuals.

People also start zines because they are angry. Tye, one of the founders of the Revolution Rising collective, remembers thinking, "I have to do something with my energy and my anger. What would make me feel better?" Newsletters and flyers evolved into her zine, Meat Hook. Her fellow collective member, Dani (publisher of Housewife Turned Assassin), appreciates the community-building aspect of zine-making: "It's so amazing how something spreads. I think it's incredible that somebody across the world is inspired by some tragedy in your life, or some venting of your anger, and it gives you a good feeling — it was well worth it to do all the work of putting out a zine."

One of the strengths of the interviews is that they don't stick to zine-related issues: Vale's questions meander, thus we get to hear Thrift Score publisher Al Hoff's epiphany that "the saddest thing on earth is an I Love You This Much statue that somebody threw away!" and X-RAY publisher Johnny Brewton's tales of his early punk years, like playing a show at "a party that turned into a riot; the newspaper headline read, Rock and Bottle-Throwing Melee at Punk Rock Party!"

Noel Tolentino of Bunnyhop tells a disturbing real-life story of censorship. The cover of their "Geeks vs. Jocks" issue, a hilarious cartoon drawing of Binky (from Matt Groening's Life In Hell comic strip) knocking out the Trix rabbit, got them into a little trouble with Groening's lawyers. While Noel felt that the illustration was in the spirit of Groening's work, citing for example the constant cultural references in The Simpsons, his lawyers didn't see it that way, and they demanded that Bunnyhop destroy the zines and apologize in the next issue. Binky's head was subsequently decapitated from the covers of the zines (some of which were "left around" in various places), and a "cold, minimal apology" was printed. Copyrighted material often turns up in zines, and it's probable, as Noel suggests, that Bunnyhop's extremely high production values and "professional" appearance caused the lawyers to act so harshly; he even says he'd like to think that Groening himself was unaware of the action. In any case, this is a disturbing example of "censorship by threat of lawsuit" (as Bunnyhop's publishers certainly couldn't afford to fight the threatened charges against them). Zines! Vol. 1 does a service in bringing this episode to light.

In addition to the interviews which make up the heart of the book, there is an extensive history of zines by Nico Ordway. He explains how self-publications have been an essential part of revolutionary movements, and a tool for communication within oppressed groups of people, citing examples ranging from exiled Sephardic Jews to dissidents in modern-day China. The scope of this history is almost overwhelming, but it serves well to illustrate how zines "carry on the traditions of independent publishing." Ordway ends his section with a heartening cry: "Zines forever!"

A ten-page section of quotes follows, many from Riot Grrrl-oriented zine writers. Some of these are about zines and self-publishing; others are examples of the free expressions that are made possible by zines, like this quote from Mary in Discharge #3: "I want to say it so perfect. I want to convince you that everything is going to be fine and that we will all survive this fucked up world we had no part in creating. I want to take us out of it and not be mere products anymore." There's also a mind-boggling list of zine addresses — very little description or other information is given, but you can get an idea of what might appeal to you from some of the titles (Gun Fag Manifesto or Boy Does Highschool Ever Suck, anyone?).

Zines! Vol. 2 is due out in June, and will include interviews with the publishers of some great zines like Dishwasher, Murder Can Be Fun, Temp Slave, Eight-Track Mind, Slant, and Sidney Suppey's Quarterly and Confused Pet Monthly. I can't wait to read more of Vale's conversations with zine makers. Zines forever, indeed!

Jenny Boe grew up in Berkeley and now lives in Seattle, where she writes, temps, and maintains a Tripod homepage. She has recently rediscovered the joys of the International House of Pancakes.

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