Chainsaw Chains & AccessoriesMowers & Garden Cultivators
Issue 10 of Chainsaw is post missing 'n' type key - hence every 'n' was painstakingly penned in by Charlie Chainsaw's fair hand. Reasonably in-depth interviews with Au Pairs and Disque Attack account for the bulk of the fanzine. Mike Weller provides the comic strip, Hate on the Dole and there are a couple of short pieces: Contaminational Power looks at defence spending and Anarchy and Freedom ponders political systems, drawing a rather surprisingly pro status quo conclusion. Review of Chaos, Six Minute War, Milkmen, and The Capitalists live at Polio Hall. Brief appraisals of a batch of 7"s: Girls At Our Best, Anorexia, Klinik, Six Minute War, and The Instant Automatons.
A4 scanned at 600 dpiChainsaw #10
Фиды
I recently (ie. about an hour ago) finished reading Yeti Researcher, a fake scholarly journal devoted to the study of crypto-hominids. Its humour lies in its combination of reality with fiction, and how you're never quite sure how seriously to take any of it. I really dug it, and it reminded me of a piece I once wrote in a zine for the (fictional) Canadian Journal of Kaiju Film Studies about the Very Hungry Caterpillar vs Godzilla film.
I bring this up, because if I didn't know any better I might think that Skill Shot was an equally fictitious zine, chronically events that never happened, and people that didn't exist.
Except that they do exist, despite the fact that I don't think I've ever met anyone who's (admitted to being) into pinball, and before I read this zine I didn't even know there was a pinball scene.
By Marv
PO Box 93
Boston
Lincolnshire
PE21 7YB
England
Gadgie is another of those big, thick (over 30 pages) punk zines that covers music, zines, complaints, and whatever else is running through the creator's mind.
Gadgie's been coming out for ages, and its creator Marv is now in his late 30s, married, and even has a child. Old punks don't die, they just (pro)create the next generation.
In this issue Marv talks about the punk scene in Boston, England (both current and its origins), going to Loch Ness for a holiday with his partner and kid, misheard lyrics, a pretty epic account of every injury he's ever acquired while playing soccer/football, and loads of other stuff.
I like how Marv seems really enthusiastic about everything, and how being injured bothers him because it means he can't go and dance at punk shows. However, his nonstop style of writing was kind of exhausting, as you don't really have any idea when the longer pieces are going to end or what's going to happen next.
None So Brave
4 Issues of Adventuring Into Basketry were published during 1981/1982 - if it proves popular here I'll post the lot. AIB was a collective effort from Neil Burrows, Andrew Hulme, Ian Rockley and Jon Tait; the title inspired by a Swell Maps song. It's a rather stylish proposition with poetry from J. Tait; interviews with Echo & the Bunnymen, and 23 Jewels; a profile of Swell Maps' Golden Cockrill; LP reviews - Killing Joke, The Red Crayola, The Raincoats, Josef K, and The Flying Lizards; 7" reviews - The Associates, 23 Jewels, The Barry Gray Orchestra, The Monochrome Set, The Red Crayola, Blurt, The Durutti Column, Essential Logic, Virna Lindt, Mari Wilson, Shake Shake, Il Y A Volkswagens, and Visitors; live - Tuxedomoon, Bauhaus/Subway Sect/Birthday Party, The Cure, Iggy Pop. Regular features in the form of Baskets of the Month and Spitfire Parade + a liberal sprinkling of basketry related diagrams.
A3 folded scanned at 600 dpiAdventuring Into Basketry #1
By David Blandy and Inko
I've reviewed a couple of Blandy's comics on this site in the past. If you read those reviews you might understand why I have a hard time thinking what to say about this comic that mixes James Brown lyrics with Shaolin monk cliches.
This is, I think, the comic by Blandy that I've enjoyed the least. Whereas the others had more concrete topics, this one is much more vague in what it's about. The cover blares "Discover the true origins of the barefoot lone pilgrim!", and is made up in several ways to look like an old fashioned superhero comic. Yet inside we only get a single person sitting inside, reading, drawing, and thinking about philosophy. Actually, I guess that is the origin of Blandy's alter ego.
By Matthew Craig
thematthewcraig.com
I've reviewed a couple of Trixie Biker comics in the past, and I kind of wish I'd read this one first, as it's a brief origin story for the character. Now I know the vague, and not really important origin for this magically-powered, motorcycle-riding superhero.
The art's not the best, but at least part of that is down to the not great reproduction. Plus it's like five years old, I'm pretty sure Craig's art has improved since then.
By Cody Roder
I recently read something online somewhere (on the Comics Reporter maybe?) that talked about graduates from the Center for Cartoon Studies. The person (whoever they were) wrote about how the center was turning out comics graduates who may know something about putting together a comic, but are still just making minicomics and webcomics with the hope that something will catch on and they'll have a career.
This comic really reminded me of that idea, because while this comic may have a pretty cool cover, the interior is generally confusing and not particularly coherent. At least part of this is because the comic contained within is at least partially a "daily diary comic" (or at least that's what it says on the final page), but I never would have guessed that.
MAG. Beat Paper Crap!!!!
By Jason Niebauer
www.jasonniebauer.com
I reviewed one of Niebauer’s zines a while ago, and was a bit disappointed. This one however is basically review proof. It’s just some drawings of abstract shapes in a 1/8th size zine. I really don’t have anything to say about it at all.
By Pearl
PO Box 74
Brighton
BN1 4ZQ
UK
I really love maps, and this is an incredibly interesting one (that is an awesome fold out, in a format I’ve been meaning to use for years, but am too lazy to actually do).
To use a kind of lame analogy, it’s sort of like real world Facebook, showing all of Pearl’s friends, how they’re connected to her, and how they’re connected to each other. Some of the connections are really awesome, with my favourites probably being “[are] friends […] because they’re both scientists” and “is famous, he played Bungle the Bear in Rainbow (a TV Programme)”. But there’s also charm in “used to be in a band with”, “met at a party years ago”, and “lives in same street as”.