Ian & Stuart's Australian Mac: Not for Sale/Another.not.for.sale (Australia).iso/hold me in your arms/FactSheet Five/Bypass_Reviews_A-to-L

Text File | 1994-09-04 | 91KB | 1,570 lines

ABOLISH ALL PRISONS!
And organise instead our own self-defence against violence, theft and
the State. This is a short broadside from the B.A.D girls and boys
Brigade, Stateside. [B]
Boston Anarchist Drinking Brigade Broadside #2, one A4 (U.S) manifest.
IRCs or $ and see what your dough gets you (Disinformation and
Distortion_ An Anarchist Expose of AIDS Politics available $5+postage,
see review in ByPass #1). BAD, P.O. Box 1323, Cambridge, MA 02238, USA.
Also on Internet: [e-mail].

ABUNDANT LIVING IN THE AGE OF THE TREE
At present the world's soils and water could grow enough plant foods to
feed the human population adequately. They do not at present, argues
author Kathleen Jannaway, not because of an exploding human population
but by the profligate feeding habits of the rich and by the animals they
breed unnecessarily to satisfy their desire for meat and milk. This
rearing of animals she calls the Second Population Explosion (in
Britain, two-thirds of annual home-grown cereals_ enough to satiate 250m
people a year_ is given to livestock, which even then has to be
supplemented with soya beans from India, wheat from Ethiopia).
Jannaway argues closely for a solution (to present ecological
devastation, drought, famine, flood and soil erosion) in the form of
self-reliant autonomous villages in a tree-based and vegan culture.
Trees, properly selected, planted and nurtured can supply enough food,
clothing, shelter and energy_ Abundant Living no less. This excellent
little pamphlet mixes statistics and analysis, a political ecology and a
compassionate optimism. [B]
40 A5 pages. ISBN 0 9517328 0 3 / #1.50 from M.C.L., 47 Highlands Road,
Leatherhead, Surrey KT22.

THE ADVENTURES OF MERIT MAOTSE
Book 3: Invitation To An Assassination. No one can write an
anthropomorphic story about mice without being compared, however
unfairly, to Maus. Yet this tale is so different that it almost gets
away with it.
It's not an easy read though, and not having read the first two
instalments I admit to being lost to some of the finer details. It's
basically a story to hang the author's personal ideas of what
constitutes freedom and the role of society (and revolution?) in
deciding how that freedom should be obtained and sustained_ at least,
that's what I think it's about, but I wouldn't bet my life on it.
Demands re-reading because it does not give up its secrets easily, which
is quite refreshing in a medium that normally lays everything out so as
not to confuse the reader. I'm sure any effort expended will be well
worth it, and if you're at all of a political nature then this should
definitely appeal to you. [AL]
28 A4 pages, card cover. #1.50 from Larry Watson, 25 Granby Gardens,
Reading.

ALL EARS
#2 No one has yet been able to make a radio-oriented consumer magazine
work on the UK news-stands. If they had, there might have been no need
for All Ears. This issue fills its competently dtp-ed 20 A4 pages with
opinion on the demise of Radio 5, news of regional station licences, an
LBC obituary, handy hints for phone-in callers, a joke listener profile,
an interview with Simon Armitage radio poet, corporation gossip,
competitions, a letters page, plus cartoons and one-page comic strip
from Peter Rigg. If you're tired of drivel-driven corporate output and
you don't begrudge the middle-class meritocrats that produce it their
right to exist, then this mag is for you. If nothing less than total
media seizure will please ya, you'll want it too, but with evil intent.
[SE]
Glossy paper, two colour cover, quarterly; #1+30p p&p from 68 Bankside
Lane, Bacup, Lancs (subs #6/4#).

ANAL SUPPOSITORY 1 / ANAL BANAL 2
#2 has a much better feel to it, looks good and has that oomph that
makes you pick up and read. Good mix of pictures and text with a nice
grubby quality. The cover has messages about art and arses. There's
Class War butt, a thin slither of situationists, the evil art market and
a rant on the word 'nice'. A very nice graphic too of how to administer
an enema and the odd picture about sphincter investigation. Shame that
not more were used as there's such a lot of gorgeous arse implements out
there. Can we put a bit more fist in it for #3? [M]
A5 typed/handwritten. #1, 8 pages and #2,10 pages. FREE for sae from: 3b
Burnt Ash Hill, Lee, London SE17.

ANSWER ME!
#2 & 3. If magazines could be sent to prison, AM! would get life without
parole. If Hell has a waiting room, there'll be a copy of AM! on the
coffee table. It makes all those mags your mother found under your
mattress and gave you a stern talking-to about look harmless and
anodyne. AM! comes crawling out of the belly of the Beast (Hollywood)
and its origins in the capital of the global Spectacle give its views on
the inherent futility of all human aspiration a special piquancy.
Self-produced and self-published by the appositely-named Jim Goad and
his wife Debbie. No other contributors. No ads. No reviews. "Fuck you!"
Goad seems to be saying in his inimitable manner, contradicting the
title's demand for response (though when I wrote to him, I got a speedy
and courteous reply). AM! wallows gratuitously in all that is most
hideous and appalling in human behaviour. #2 features a top 100 of
serial murderers, #3 has a top 100 suicides. Other articles in the two
issues cover gun worship, Mexican death scene magazines and deformity
comics, prank calls to suicide hotlines, artwork by serial killers,
Vietnamese street gangs. #3 has a very possibly libellous article by
Adam Parfrey, the sole exception to the 'no contributors' rule, accusing
Steven Spielberg of crypto-pederasty. There's interviews with David
Duke, Anton La Vey, Al Sharpton, Boyd Rice, The Geto Boyz, The Mentors
and sundry other carpet-chewers. Attitude-a-go-go. AM! is big (#2 weighs
in at 100 pages, #3 132 pages, both full mag size with glossy colour
cover), beautifully produced  and it appears sporadically, like the
plague. No one can read this and not believe that our society is
collapsing. Here's what you do: BUY this bastard, and read it from cover
to cover. [SC, unsolicited]
AK Distribution sell it for #3.50+60p post. Or order it direct for $7
(airmail) from: Goad To Hell Enterprises, 1608 N Cahuenga Blvd #666,
Hollywood, CA 90028. (If anyone out there has a copy of #1 they want to
sell for cash, contact me c/o ByPass).

ANTI-NUCLEAR NETWORK
#30. Politicized and international anti-nukers. Direct action, eco
anarcho and with federated groups across Britain. High on activity, low
on dogma. [B]
8 A4 pages. 40p from A-N N, c/o 265 Seven Sisters Rd, London N4 2DE.

APT
 #1, 2 & 3.  "Apt a. Suitable, appropriate; having a tendency to (do);
quick-witted (at) Hence, aptLY adv. aptNESS". Since 1988, Bib Edwards
has rummaged around in ancient British pop culture, in back issues of
The Eagle, Boys Own and a 1931 edition of Fowler's Concise Oxford
Dictionary to produce this wobbly confection of words, images and
styles. Imagine a 1930s Scout manual OCR'd and TIFF'd in with Edgar Rice
Burroughs's (rather than Wild Boy Bill's) imperial megalomania and
you'll have some idea of the Apt  experience. [SE]
12 A5 pages, hand-coloured covers. 30p each + sae from 88 High Street,
Bildeston, Ipswich IP7 7EA.

ARNIE
Question: can Arnie #6 possibly be better than #5? Answer: sho'nuff. A
zine to kill for (or pay the ludicrously cheap price of 40p+sae if you
prefer). It's all systems go and full steam ahead_ yep, Arnie busts our
zine-o-meter once again.
Do you wanna know what's in it? or should I just send you the 40p and
MAKE you get it? Some of the contents: New SubvertMan comic strip_
Liberty and Death!; Arnie and the Origin of Anti-State Tortoise strip;
interviews with Excrement of War and Conflict; a free poster; opinions:
media distortion, ex-teenage rebels_ Sell Out Shit, serial killers and
their fucked-up fascinated fans; Mumia Abu-Jamal; excellent letters
section... What else? Oh yeh_Anti-Choice Bastards Slashed With A Rusty
Coat Hanger. Just get it. [B]
24 A4 pages, wicked illustration throughout, dtp-ed text and pucker
print job. Forty fucking p+sae from: 16 Palairet Close, Bradford-On-
Avon, Wiltshire BA15 1US.

ARROW : TWO YEARS ON
Portrait of a Direct Action Group. Active Resistance to the Roots of War
is a non violent direct action group, committed to civil disobedience,
that grew out of the Upper Heyford Ploughshares Support Group/Gulf War
Resisters. This is a collection of interviews with past and former
members which paints a composite picture of the histories, motivations
and activities of the individuals who compose the group. Also included
is a chronology, along with photos. [J]
26 pages A5, dtp-ed. #1.50 from ARROW, c/o NVRN, 162 Holloway Rd,
London, N7 8DQ.

ASTERIX AND THE MONSTER ROAD
An Asterix the Gaul story with the dialogue replaced by the author's own
words to tell the story of the battle to drive a motorway through the
countryside. The Romans become the developers, the police and Group 4,
while Asterix and the villagers are the activists and monkey wrenchers.
Of course, it's all highly illegal, but then 'seizing the media' is an
important weapon in any direct action campaign. Subverting normal media
to get your own message across has been done before, but not always as
successfully as this. The author(s) manage to seamlessly meld the
original artwork with the new dialogue to provide a hefty read that is
both amusing and educational. Probably not as much fun as setting fire
to a Tory councillor, but good fun nevertheless. [AL]
52 A5 pages. Copy a bit rough in places. #1 from G. A Mail Order, P.O.
Box 407, Camberley, Surrey, GU15.

ASTONISHING BEER STORIES
#2. Three stories, the first takes place at the Smuggler's Inn where a
bunch of characters drink lots of beer and tell tall tales of pirates,
murder, ghosts and nefarious goings on. In the second and least
successful story, Big Jim meets Robin Hood; and finally, a bottle of
beer is accidentally contaminated by radiation, and anyone who drinks it
becomes a walking time bomb. Whether you enjoy this comic or not will
hinge on the author's artwork, which is probably unlike any you've ever
seen before, being artificial and repetitive, yet highly original and
quite striking at the same time. Many of the panels are simply 'talking
heads', and as the characters all wear the same mechanical facial
expressions, it makes identifying (with) them a little difficult. If you
can handle the visuals, you'll find a fun comic, with strong dialogue,
and a couple of genuinely witty one-liners. Not an unqualified success
then, but an interesting oddity and well worth a look. [AL]
26 A4 pages. #1 from 47 Upper Green St, High Wycombe, Bucks HP11 2RB.
Cheques to N Sambells.

A TO Z OF WRITING WORKSHOP TECHNIQUES
Steve Sneyd has put together a double-sided A4 which starts at A
(ACROSTIC) and going through the alphabet with some interesting (and it
appears tried and well tested) suggestions and subjects for getting the
creative juices flowing. [B]
 #1? Sae to Steve Sneyd, 4 Nowell Place, Almondbury, Huddersfield, West
Yorks HD5 8PB for more info.

ATTITUDE PROBLEM
#26. Love, peace and rice cakes for milk free punking youth. "At shows I
find it amazing that people moan about spending 40 or 50p on a zine but
have no qualms about spending #8 on a T-shirt or #2 on a beer. At least
in a zine you may learn something and gain some knowledge or have a
laugh over it". Attitude Problem is DIY punk (the editor is part of A
Network Of Friends_ see our distro section) and committed to animal-free
and non-exploitative (self) activity. A bit less than half this issue is
pieces on growing your own, anti-roads, animal liberation (arguing it's
meaningless unless in the context of human liberation), and anti-
whaling. The larger half is words with Econochrist, Kill Rock Stars,
Disaffect and Bratmobile. Making some positive noise. [B]
32 A5 pages. 50p+sae (#24+#25 40p+sae each) from: ANOF, P.O. Box 2576,
Colchester, Essex.

BAD ATTITUDE
#5. Radical Women's Newspaper. Far too much stuff here even to try and
mention it all (it's available on audio-cassette and it takes 5 tapes),
how do they fit it all in? I was trying to pick out highlights and it
was, yeah this one, and this one, oh and this_ all of 'em really. So
what is it? Lots of radical womens' news from around the world_ women's
strikes, women taking control, against racism, police brutality, McLibel
etc. Bigger articles on Palestine, the UCH hospital occupation, a
women's co-op in Nicaragua, and the world conference on human rights (a
bit heavy this i thought). Writing is all good, but the articles that
really stood out for me was a lyrical, sad and powerful piece on war
rape (though i don't think reforming the law is the answer) and how the
Guardian chose to print one man's story of being falsely accused of rape
without bothering to get the woman's side. Scary. Plus, interviews with
Monie Love and Helen Zahavi, and more, more, more... Oh yes, most
articles have contact addresses if you want to get involved. What I'm
saying is: just fucking buy it , it's mega and for a quid, come on! [A]
28 A3 pages, colour cover, printed. #1, subs #5/6#; #10 friend rate gets
you invited to their parties, #15 group, #50 organisation) from Bad
Attitude, 121 Railton Rd, London SE24.

BAG OF TRICKS & PORNO FLICKS
#1. Very silly and pretty funny little zine, and a good first issue.
Creator Scott Blackberry manages to pack in the giggles (mostly) where
others just come over as embarrassing. Don't expect any dtp here_ it's
scratty and tatty, but with no power-chord band interviews (refreshing
in itself). So you get instead an 'interview' with Gunshot, filched from
Hip Hop Connection, with different questions stuck in; one with Vanilla
(N)Ice, the man with 11 million fans (nicked from Smash Hits_ coooool),
and a very silly, chat with cabaret band Poo and Wee. The style
continues with strips, crap computer art and some other bits . [B]
24 A5 pages, 50p+sae from S. Bradbury, 21 Orchard Rd, Lutterworth,
Leicester LE17 4DA.

BATTLEGROUND
A Comics Discussion Fanzine #4. A truly HORRIBLE cover (reminiscent of
early copies of Green Anarchist) encases a MARVELLOUS pandora's box of
comics chat, analysis, publications recommendations, inside dirt and
mainstream/alternative comparisons and crossovers. Andy Roberts weighs
in with a mighty "The Point of Sale" article that poses the political
nature of small press comix production. Another highlight is Fabio Paolo
Barbieri's "In Defence of the Superho"; that's the title, typo or what I
don't know but it fits an article that delves the chasm between fantasy
comix superhero characters and their 'real life' and less than zero cut-
out characterisation by actors on the big screen. "Publicising good
comics is an important part of BG's remit" says editor Andy Brewer and
judging by the clarity and intelligence of its genre discussion, I'm
willing to take their reviews advice on comics to get into.
BG is a huge 48 A4 pages and what it lacks in graphics (surprisingly few
for a comic-oriented zine) it makes up for in being a substantial and
extremely positive read. One reader notes: "I read BG over ten days
thanks to the new tiny type. I bought Comics World and read it over
breakfast".
#5. The rest of the zines for review pile up behind this one_ BG is
guaranteed to take you days to read. And now I take it all back about
the horrible covers; issue five's is a corker. Some nice headers too for
each section/article have been sorted out and preface a possible
complete dtp job due for #6. 40 pager this time, highlights being Mr.
Brewer's own 'Speak Fanspeak' (huckster, femmefan, prozine, perzine_
what does it all mean?); interview with Lee Kennedy (see Inner City
Pagan review); Death Of A Hero by Rol Hirst (has the Superhero finally
met his sticky end at the hand of the accountants and cash-flow
analysts?); a new zines section; and, of course, 7 infamous pages of
letters in some of the smallest type you're ever likely to see. A great
discussion forum_ it can only get better with your involvement. [B]
#1.75 each from Andy Brewer, 58 Kingsley Court, Aylesbury Close, Salford
M5 4EZ. Back issues #2+3 available (#1.50). Subs #5/3 issues.

BEER MAT #4 / STANDARD ISSUE #3
Call me a lightweight but: is my eyesight going from reading too many
zines or is some of Beer Mat not there at all? (Un)fortunately I think
it's the latter which is a shame cos I kept getting into articles only
to find the tiny type disappearing into that great hole in the page
where only punk zines fear to tread. What is wholly readable includes
sabbing news, how to be a sad unemployed git with a hopeless alcohol
addiction (hey, I can handle it), Polish scene report, good interviews
with Andy of Punkshocker zine, Gubbagrub zine and Terminus, 'tour'
report, how to deal with Nazis (and the ANL) and hours of drunken fun
with a cut-out and play Kill The Bill board game (only slightly less
gripping than the real thing).
The other half of this split issue has more sabbing, interview with
Herbgarden_ 'on signing to a major' (interviewer a little too gentle for
my liking), interview with Robin Webb of the A.L.F press office, useful
reprints from Ethical Consumer on sound/unsound cooking oil
manufacturers and biscuits (bake your own) and, amongst other goodies,
an excellent 5 page "Third World War" illustrated article by Graham
Burnett (who runs Land and Liberty Distro_ see ByPass #1 for other great
stuff by him). This half completely legible throughout. [B]
48 A5 pages, eye-damage repro in places. 50p+sae from 4 Rosewood
Crescent, Seaton Sluice, Whitley Bay, Tyne and War, NE26 4BL or from
Sheena and Nath, c/o 9 Links Rd, Weymouth, Dorset DT3 5BT.

BIFROST
The Rainbow Bridge. Monthly magazine for bisexuals. #33 is the Spring
Special (one of their bumper quarterly issues). A real smart little mag
this and i was well pleased to get it 'cos i'd not heard of it before.
Quite a few regular features i think, eg BiNews_ news from Britain and
the world, and Mediawatch by the "witch of the east" which exposes lots
of biphobia in both the straight and gay media. Also a well written
letters section, news on the 12th National Bisexual Conference, some
very pertinent points about the change in the age of consent, an
interview with Kate Fearnley (famous bisexual?), listings and small ads.
Articles are on a variety of themes; a reprint from a german gay
newspaper about one person's difficulties in managing their bisexual
lifestyle; how and why to set up a housing co-op for bisexual and bi
friendly people; and a great humorous piece on the "Kama Mundra":
impossible sexual positions for bisexuals_ much in the style of Frank
Key who is one of my fave writers_ well done Dave Stone. Finally, a
great vitriolic/ironic piece on post (or rather pre) feminism. Good
stuff. [A]
24 pages A5, proper print job. 90p+sae (subs: #6/12# unwaged, #7.50
waged, #10 organisations) from P.O. Box 1057, Edinburgh, EH3 9DH
(cheques to Bifrost).

BLEEDING EYESORE
#5 is almost a popular art and culture mag, but keeps one and a half
feet fairly firmly in standard (fan)zine/review territory. You get
photos, collage and artwork, some fiction and "poems" (by Lee Jewitt), a
comic strip. An article on Timothy Leary's 8 Circuit Brain, a Hakim
Bey/AOA reprint (with the original graphics), and a hippy trippy puff
for ecstasy finished off with some sensible advice on taking it. Plus
the Lesbian and Gay Freedom Movement on themselves and the Jennifer
Saunders and Spanner cases, and a short piece on women and prison. An
interview with Muslimgauze, and loads and loads of reviews_ films
(mainstream and 'avant-garde'), books (including Friendly Fire by Bob
Black), sounds and zines, and contacts for catalogues and distros. [J]
40 pages A4. #1+sae from Paul Harrison, 1 Prince William Court,
Featherstone, W. Yorks, WF7 5PH.

BOILED ANGEL
#7 The comic that caused the State of Florida to arrest artist and
editor Mike C Diana on an obscenity charge. Why oh why they bothered is
totally beyond me. The zine's content is the mix of fictional and
factional mass murder, bodily violation and torture taken out of the war
zone and set loose on the domestic front that has fuelled American
psychodrama and its fans since, well, since I can remember learning to
read. The only difference here seems to be that the morbid delirium is
recycled through a hardcore comics sensibility. In other words, it
skulks on the other side of town from the Taxi Drivers, the Brett Easton
Ellises, the Gary Gilmorons, even the cinema Transgressives, because
comics are still not a part of official culture. There's a Comic Code in
America, dedicated to stamping this sort of thing out. The good news is
that, amongst all the mannered, grungy death-lust, there's some
excellent art by Steven Cerio, and some even by Mike Diana. Worth
checking out the latter because, since conviction, part of his sentence
is that Mike should not be allowed to draw for the next three years!
[SE]
104 A5 pages. $6.66 from Mike Hunt Mint, P.O. Box 226, Bensenville, IL
60106, USA.

BRITAIN, MAASTRICHT AND THE BOMB
The Foreign and Security Policy Implications of the Treaty on European
Union. This pamphlet examines in detail the continuing and intensifying
militarization of the "European ideal" as embodied in the Maastricht
Treaty; focusing on the Common Foreign and Security Policy, an area
around which a deafening silence reigns in political debate, the media,
or anywhere else. Rai convincingly demonstrates that the provisions and
structures of the Union function both to reduce the influence of
'moderate' states, and to remove political decision making even further
from even token parliamentary 'democratic' accountability. He covers:
the history of political union, restrictions on national veto, the
Western European Union (the EC's actual, and to be, military arm),
Anglo-French military collaboration, intervention in the Third World,
the legal basis of conscription as a duty of 'European citizenship'
(thought that one would scare ya), and the forthcoming 'review' of 1996.
"There is agreement, particularly among liberal intellectuals ... that
EC integration in general, and Maastricht in particular, are welcome
developments. There is perhaps a hope that the removal of decision
making from the national to the 'European' level will lead to more
progressive and more humane policies. There is no basis in history or in
logic or in the text of the Treaties, for such a belief". Sobering and
clear-headed (with an intro by Jeremy Corbyn). [J]
34 pages A5, printed, colour cover. #1.15 from c/o 78 Seymour Rd,
London, N8 0BE.

BROCHURE
#1. This is as mad as several brushes tied together with a string of
fairy lights. Brochure contains reviews of bands, all of whom I strongly
suspect to be imaginary, an extract from a similarly non-existent novel,
a letters page and a couple of crazed editorials. There's also a brace
of comic strips, one of which, 'The Earl's Court Murders', takes up a
third of the mag and is quite stonkingly excellent, if more than a
little incomprehensible. Excellent production as well; read it and weep,
all you zinesmiths out there, cos this sucker's got a full colour cover,
and is printed on heavy glossy paper throughout, all 24 A5 pages of it.
[SC]
#?. Sae for info to: Dertey Press, 39 Anstey Rd, Peckham, London SE15
4JX.

BULLDOG
#2. More jolly anthropomorphic fun with Captain Winston Bulldog, an
officer, pilot and adventurer in Blighty's Aerial Defence Force. Huh?
Well, it's like this: in a parallel world, certain animals and
vegetables have evolved sentience, alongside normal human beings. It's a
funny old place, as you'd imagine. A place where decency and a stiff
upper lip count for more than anything. This issue we get three Bulldog
stories, plus a Bobby Buckaneer (sic) strip from Wee-Keech comics (see
review). The main two stories have Bulldog entering a manga (Japanese
comics) type world, a clash which shouldn't work at all, but does
superbly, helped along by great art from Kieran MacDonald. The third
tale, 'Power Corrupts', is set outside normal Bulldog continuity and is
by far the weakest both in art and story of the three. Tophole stuff,
what? [AL]
32 A4 pages. #1.50 from Jason Cobley, 33 Willowbank, Fazeley, Tamworth,
Staffs B78 3LS.

BUN-APA
#37&38. Big Unusual Notions is an Amateur Press Association. A what? An
APA is "a cross between a fanzine and a commune". APAs vary in their
set-up; for Bun-APA only members can contribute to it, only members can
receive it and the costs of production are shared by the membership
(#1.50-#2 per issue). The great thing, says Central Mailer (co-
ordinator) James Wallis, is that "there is no censorship and no
editing". Each issue a theme is decided for the next one, anything
contributed by a member is printed in the form in which it's sent in.
I'll refrain from a name-check of all the 'known' and groovy
toonists/artists currently involved; that would go against the spirit of
the whole thing. Suffice to say that the two sample issues we got sent,
#37 Villains and #38 Telephones, make up some of the best collectively
organized 'zines' that money and a bit of commitment (if you want more
than one issue) can buy. Get involved. [B]
#37 26 A4 pages, #38 22. Bi-monthly. Membership open to all. Sample #
#1.50. All correspondence to Central Mailer: J. Wallis, 29a Abbeville
Rd, London SW4 9LA. [A list of 250+ APAs in existence can be found in
The New Moon Directory, $5 from Eric L Watts, 346 Carpenter Drive #51,
Atlanta, GA 30328-5030 USA]

CAPTAIN DOLPHIN
#5. CD was the Comic Creator's Guild's "Best Small Press Title". Short-
tempered but loveable crime fighter and finned super-hero Captain
Dolphin slugs it out in the last (or is it?) issue with evil, orphaned
Bapman, stakes the future of planet Earth on a game of pool and meets
his maker and a watery grave (fnaar) in a very fishy ending. The end of
CD_ or is it? And who is his mystery assailant? Other quick strips make
up a fun ("for immature readers only") but perhaps short comic. [B]
32 A5 pages, photocopied, card cover. 80p+sae from R. Kidson, 3
Langridges Close, Newick, East Sussex BN8.

CAPTION
#11. "What's vitally significant about the small press is the freedom it
offers to allow the creative process its head, unrestricted by the
pressures of the mass market. There's danger in that too_ of self-
indulgence_ but that's surely far more worth risking than the mire of
too much concern with saleability".
Caption is a magazine dedicated to providing a forum for small press
comics, their producers and their readers. Content is informed and
pretty accessible though something of a mixed bag. Sparks fly in places
as brains buzz in all directions; in others you get a whiff of burnt-out
sofas the morning after a wet bonfire night. Caption is an APA so that
much is really expected (for a tortuous explanation of APAs see BUN-APA
review). Some highlights (and these take up a good portion of the mag,
so don't be put off): Homophobic Assholes in Comics; Two Kinds of
Creativity by Mike Kidson (from where the quote above comes from);
transcript of a UKCAC comics convention discussion; and a comprehensive
ending News, Events, Reviews and Contacts section. A thoughtful package.
[B]
28 A4 pages, smart dtp and repro. Either send #1 for sample, supporting
membership #3/4 issues, contributory membership #3/6 issues. Cheques to
Caption. Contact Jenni Scott, 25 Hart St, Oxford OX2 6BN.

CARESS
#5. Newsletter for Writers of Erotica. Have you got what it takes to pen
a trouser-arouser? If so, Caress is for you, because it's full of
lowdown on the people who are just gasping to publish your book-to-be-
read-with-one-hand. Subject matter, length (of manuscript), favoured
plot outlines_ it's all here, along with a number of reviews of
magazines and books, censorship news and classified ads. [SC]
Loose-leaf newsletter 8 A4 pages, dtp-ed with a slightly off-putting
parish-news type layout (everything in little boxes). Subs #10/10#, back
#3 & 4 #2 each. The Write Solution, Flat 1, 11 Holland Road, Hove BN3
1JF.

CHARRED REMAINS
#4. Punk's not dead! This, at least, is the theory behind CR, the gnarly
offspring of Geordie-in-exile Russell, who lives in Hull. The format and
ethos of zines like this haven't changed since the early 80s, when
Brixton burned and Maggie ground our collective face in the dirt. CR
offers the standard punk mixture of interviews, reviews and radical
politics, served up with jollity and lashings of attitude. #4 has
vivisection, police surveillance, anarchist prisoners' support, tobacco
industry, putting stickers on lamp posts, an ongoing debate about
whether ravers are twats (what's so controversial about that?), and a
thing by and about Giroscope Workers' Co-op in Hull, a crew with whom I
can claim some acquaintance. Interviews with Sloppy Seconds, Erase Today
and Mere Dead Men. Also a laughsome cut-out paper doll centrespread and
lot of other bits. [SC]
48 A5 pages. 40p+sae/$2. Russell Remains, P.O. Box 43, Hull, HU1 1AA.

CLASS WAR
#61. So you think politics is boring? Then you've never read Class War.
Vitriolic attacks on the police, politicians, the government, fascists
(natch), and "Lefty" groups make up what is always a stimulating read.
"Britain's Most Unruly Tabloid" stands squarely on the belief that
violence is a necessity in the fight against the oppression of the
working class by the State and greedy scum bosses. By far the best and
most stimulating of all the tabloid papers, written in a highly
accessible and humorous style and guaranteed to appeal to even the non-
political. This issue has an expos| of the anti-fascist groups, such as
the Anti-Nazi League (a recruiting front for the Socialist Workers
Party) and the YNE (ditto, but for Militant); a call for non-payment of
VAT on fuel bills; and tons of useful info and hard-hitting articles on
90s Britain. [AL]
#62 introduces the all new 16 valve 'Turbo Sub' where you get copies of
CW's books Unfinished Business and This Is Class War, 3 back issues,
stickers and a badge. Golly. Not much point in a blow-by-blow
description of contents is there really? If you've never read a copy,
get ready for a good cut and pasting; if you have, then you'll know what
to expect. Some things, happily, never change. [B]
16 pages, tabloid-size newsprint. Bi-monthly. 50p sold in some
newsagents, on the streets, or from: Bristol CW, P.O. Box 772, Bristol
BS99 1EG or P.O. Box 1021, Edinburgh EH8 9PW.

COATHANGER CATALOGUE
Illustrations of 14 types of coathanger, all individually titled: the
Transvestite, the Zoophile, the Urolagnic. Dedicated to Guy Debord. What
are Dead Man Walking Productions getting at? Damned if i know. [J]
16 pages, dinky, nice repro. FREE for SAE, from Simon, 26 Knighton
Drive, Leicester, LE2 3HB.

THE COFFEE TABLE
If I didn't know better, I'd think it was sheer perversity that has
prevented Peter Stoneman from shacking up with Art and Tim at Vertigo,
so certain is his grasp of the ersatz U.S adult comics idioms. After
all, if he was published in America, he wouldn't be able to shrink his
intricate illustration and collage down to A5, to flirt with the danger
of having all those delicately poised lines and figures totally shagged
by some local offset merchant, or to sell his comic for as little as
50p. The Vertigo boys probably wouldn't let him drench his covers in
rose-scented essential oil either, even if it's for as good a cause as
it is here: providing a smell-track to his cover pic's red rose-jobs.
Also, Peter'd have to write off his short Helter Skelter tales (after
Manson, natch) of extraordinary madness, living death and daft love for
some irony-repellent company character straight out of the back
catalogue. Anyway, if you're into the more arty reaches of Vertigo's,
DC's and Epic's output, you could be cooing, swooning or whatever it is
the romantically inclined do_ ah yes, take laudanum, that's it_ over
this comic. [SE]
28 A5 pp, two colour cover. 50p from Peter Stoneman, 8 River Mead,
Ifield, Crawley, W. Sussex RH11 0NS.

COMIC FORUM
#6. Published by members of the Comics Creators Guild, this zine is
hybrid talk-shop, critical journal, infoline and think zone for anyone
nurturing a half-decent obsession with what happens between one panel
and the next. Almost everybody in the current generation of CCG
personnel_ artists, writers, editors, publishers, the lot_ grew up on
the zine scene and it shows. The comics small press receives deserved
coverage in this Superman special issue's pages, along with interviews,
social history, Hunk of Steel pin ups and a preview chunk of the revised
American edition of Richard Reynolds's Superheroes, about the comic
genre of the same name. News-stand comics coverage tends to bland in
with prevailing orthodoxies of the 'saddo'-baiting, 'get-a-life'
variety. Such tedia are foreign to Forum. I say if you're tired of
comics, you're tired of life. If you're not, this zine is for you. [SE]
72 A4 pages, two colour cover. #2.95 from CCG, 7 Dilke Street, London
SW3 4JE.

COPYRIGHT VIOLATION SQUAD BULLETIN
First dispatch of the CVS is now over a year old but still makes
excellent reading. Features articles on the U2/Negativland case (worth
checking out if you haven't heard of this amazing tale of corporate
censorship around copyright issues) with huge slaggings between SST
record label and Negativland. CVS supply copies of the Neg's U2 (now
deleted and masters destroyed) plus other plagiarized pieces, for $1
donation, if you send them a blank 100 minutes cassette, plus sufficient
postage (for Brits, $1 or 2 IRCs). Other intriguing articles include an
appraisal of the effect of The Electric Triad (telephone, TV, computer)
on our lives and relationships to the world, plus a piece on Parallel
Culture. Also reviews and news on issues relevant to copyright and its
blatant opposition. [RP]
24 A5 pages. Appears sporadically in conjunction with other (similarly
excellent) Drawing Legion Publications such as RETROfusion, Y.A.W.N and
Photostatic Magazine. Subs for 1 yr's worth (about 200 pages) is $18, or
send IRCs for info to P.O. Box 227, Iowa City, IA 52244, USA.

COUNTER INFORMATION
In their own words: "A free news-sheet with reports (often first hand)
of struggles against injustice and oppression worldwide. Workers'
strikes and occupations, claimants' actions, anti-racist and anti-
fascist activity, resistance to the oppression of women and gays, native
people's fight for survival_ all these and more are featured. We aim to
encourage our readers to see these battles as part of a wider fight to
create a revolutionary change from below."
Produced by an independent and open collective, based in central
Scotland. You can subscribe to Counter Info and take bundles to
distribute (for donation_ stamps and cheques/P.O.'s to Counter
Information). Provide addresses of anti-authoritarian revolutionary
groups in most areas of Britain. [B]
For current issue send sae to Counter Info, Pigeonhole C I, c/o 11 Forth
St, Edinburgh EH1.

COYOTE
Cut-ups, fold-ins, these were methods devised by William Burroughs to
introduce what he once described down a phone line to LBC's listeners as
'randomity' into the process of writing. Language is contrived and
arbitrary; a touch of randomity will set those signifiers free, you
understand. Maybe uncover the control mechanisms at work behind the
meanings. Or maybe not. There's enough randomity at large here to blow
even the least habituated of strip readers, though those of you who
warmed to Gary Panter's big-foot cut-ups and scratch-outs in Jimbo and
elsewhere may hit room temperature at least for wily Geoff Sawers's
Coyote. In it, panels from Road Runner, doggone adventure strips,
funnies, photos, woodcut prints are cut and pasted up with quotes from
such sources as the tabloid press, Jacobean theatre, linguistic theory,
history of science and an essay about an essay by Julia Kristeva. [SE]
16 A5 pages. 40p cash, stamps or comics from Geoff Sawers, Rising Sun,
30 Silver Street, Reading RG1 2ST.

CRASH
This is all about travel and travellers, not so much the sort with old
buses and dogs on strings as the sort with backpacks and extended
thumbs. There are lots of contact addresses, people looking for penpals,
places to stay etc. Readers are encouraged to join the Crash Network, a
register of folk who offer their living space for other folk to...
well... crash in. Every issue has a different travel-related theme. This
one is about the experiences of ex-patriates, and there are lots of
articles by expats, mostly living in the States. [SC]
20 A5 dtp-ed pages. 6#/yr. Annual subs $5. Sample $1+I.R.C to: Crash,
519 Castro St #7, San Francisco, CA 94114. [70p from Slab distro].

CREATIVE MIND
Magazine of Living Philosophy # 22. No, not hectares of printed
tranquillizer about Hegel and Heidegger, this is a mag about Social
Ecology and personal transformation. The articles are short'n'sweet and
plenty of 'em_ the State murder of Petra Kelly, an article about Arne
Naess, an attack on Thatcher's "Corridors of Prosperity" and inner city
developments like Canary Wharf. An article drawing parallels between
France in the 1780s and Britain today was convincing enough to get us
sharpening the blade of our guillotine. Also articles on the New Earth
environmental theme park fronted by Jonathon Porritt at Conisbrough, and
de Kleine Aarde sustainable technology demonstration centre at Boxtel in
Holland. Overall, a gentle and decent magazine. [LB, unsolicited]
40 pager, #1 from Helen Prescott, Lancaster University Philosophy Dept,
MAVE, Lancaster LA1 4YW.

CRUD
Neil's Crud, which predates Bugs'n'Drugs and is a little in the same
style, has been selling since time and his erstwhile publication has
long received the considered attention of most of North Wales'
upstanding (and uptight) worthies. Shopkeepers, fire chiefs, local media
notaries, the filth, even the Daily Express and the Home Office have
found something in Crud of interest. So what's all the fuss about? #7's
got Getting Off Your Head With Rupert Bear, How To Completely Ruin
Someone's Day, reprints of shoplifting and firebombing subvertisements,
a collage of some of the hilarious Crud free publicity kindly donated by
outraged local papers, a brilliant Aids letter and lots and lots of
other (some not so brilliant) stuff. Also Engine, P.M.T and Rubber Whips
interviews. Have a look and you could be the 4629th "wanker to buy this
ish of Crud". [B]
32 A5 pages, paste-up lines and tiny type galore. 25p+sae from Neil, 64
Ernest St, Rhyl, Clwyd, LL18 2DW.

CURIOUS THING / CHRISTMAS CATALOGUE
These miniature (sort of mail art) productions are the consequence of a
bizarre cut/paste/copy conspiracy concerning innocuous printed imagery
(Victorian etchings are big) and elucidatory (or not) type. Get these
descriptions: "Mutant Biscuit Transporter; Anti-onion Helmet with
Cabbagized Protective Hood". The Christmas Catalogue offers practical
seasonal tips on what you'll need to spot Santa coming (the "Camera
Obscura" at only #99.99) or even how to avoid the whole hideous
commercial spectacle (the "Time Machine" built by Bavarian trappist
monks is ideal). The ethos is stop making sense and the effect on the
reader is D.I.Y inspiration. [SL]
Curious Thing 16 A6 pages, hand stapled, #1.50. Xmas Cat 16 A7 pages,
hand stapled, #1. Comes with badge. Money or similar for trade to: A1
Waste Paper Co. Ltd, 71 Lambeth Walk, London SE11.

DANCING THROUGH THE DUSTBINS
A well-honed, studied and expansive piece of prose cavorting through the
detritus of the Information Age. Why write if merely to contribute to
the babble of the media overload? asks its creator Norman Jope. [B]
#1/$2 from Memes, c/o 38 Molesworth Road, Plympton, Plymouth, Devon PL7
4NT.


DARK TALES
In the 1950s all the darkness was supposed to have been washed out of
Anglo-American comics. American publishers inaugurated the self-
regulatory Comic Code Authority to make sure everything that went out to
the news-stands was whiter than WASP. British publishing had legislation
imposed on it by its elders and betters, in the form of the Harmful
Publications Act. Both are still in force. I suppose I could say that
Darryl Cunningham's dark comics are bang up to date, tuned well into
what the first tale terms 'the dislocating power of the post-modern
world'. But something about Dark Tales stretches back beyond comics'
whitest hour in the 1950s to the crude primeval dawn of madness,
revenge, fear, obsession and expressionism in Batman. Darryl's strips
don't look like Batman, early or otherwise. Each page is packed with
angular black and white figures, topped by captions which put their
readers inside the heads of a hit man, an artist, a prostitute, a media
tycoon and various other doomed psychos. Some of the tales are linked
through via one landscape of intersecting storylines. Others inhabit an
unnamed fictive urban zone. All retain an unflinching grasp on evil.
[SE]
48 A4 (U.S) pages full colour covers. #2 77 Liverpool Road, Buckley,
Clwyd, CH7 3LH.

DEPRIVED
#2. The only thing 'deprived' about this zine is the lack of exposure it
deserves. A worthy 50 pager dealing with underground death/doom/black
metal bands from all parts of the globe. Interviews come from bands
based as far away as Sweden and Brazil, to those just down the road,
through the traffic lights and next door on the left. Almost the same
questions are posed to all but as they all originate from different
cultures the answers don't tend to be samey or boring. Also plenty of
useful addresses for people like myself struggling to promote a band in
the hope that , someday, enough cashola will flow so one don't have to
resort to a 9-5 suit-and-tie existence, live in a luxury mansion and
drive a BMW. [BR]
No price (#1 should do it?). Contact: Brian Taube, St. Patricks, Main
St, Roundwood, Co. Wicklow, Ireland (Also address for Forlorn Existence
compilation tape and Celtic Distro).

DIVINITY
#7 (Vol 2 #2). Billing itself as The Quarterly Journal of Psycho-Erotic
Excess, Divinity is an offshoot of Headpress (see review). Concerns
itself broadly with all that is sexy and/or sickening_ porn and
horror/exploitation films, fetish clubs, "underground" experimental
film-making, industrial music, and the rest of "transgressive" culture.
Anything that gives the BBFC and the powers-that-be the shits,
basically. A word of warning here: politically correct it ain't, and if
you're the kind of person who thinks photos of a nude woman trussed up
and hanging upside-down off the ceiling can be nothing other than
degrading, then this mag is not for you. Louche from the beginning,
Divinity has been piling on the raunch in recent issues, and whilst
there are nekkid men in evidence, there are nowhere near enough of them
to claim strict impartiality. That said, it includes plenty of articles
by and/or about women_ Melinda Miel, Jennifer Lynch, Gen from the
Genitorturers and Velda Lauder inter alia in this issue, Lydia Lunch and
Doris Kloster in the last one. Intelligent and dangerous stuff. [SC,
unsolicited]
Glossy perfect-bound A4, full colour cover. #4.50 postpaid, 4 # sub #18
UK/#20 Europe/#24 elsewhere. Back # available. Statement that you are
over 18
must accompany your order. Divine Press, P.O. Box 108, Stockport,
Cheshire SK1 4DD.

DOG
#8 Put out by the folk at DoleFIN, this is a rambling sprawl of a stew
of a cut and paste collage zine. Amongst the chaotic mess are  articles
on getting help from your dreams, thoughts on gender/sexuality, tree-
hugging, the M11 link, Overvibe lyrics, recipes, Terence McKenna,
strange drugged out cartoons, reviews, poetry and bits, bobs and lots of
contacts for bands, distros, squatters and travellers. [J]
40 pages A5, rough. Donation+sae, from 87 Dorchester Way, Hayes, UB4
OHY.

THE DOLPHIN
Phil Laskey joins forces with Mauretania co-founder and psychetect,
Chris Reynolds, to produce this 'graphic novelette'; and a fine job they
have made of it. Dectora is trapped in a marriage with Tony, a man with
whom she's falling out of love. Taking a break from him at the seaside
with her uncles, she goes for a purifying bathe in the sea water only to
become caught up in another entanglement. Trapped by a fishing net, she
is saved literally and figuratively from drowning by the arrival of a
dolphin, who returns her to dry land. This sets in motion mysterious
events which will transform Dectora's life and lead her to an encounter
with trendy privatised police, Rational Control. Those familiar with
Chris Reynolds's fictional worlds will be glad that all the familiar
elements are here. Those who are new to the tropology should bear in
mind that a sense of location is also psychogeography. The naturalism in
Laskey's drawing normalises a little the hallucinatory dark spaces
comprising most previous glimpses of Mauretania but The Dolphin remains
a reassuringly disturbing read. [SE]
44 A5 pages, art paper, glossy two colour cover; #1.99 from M.S., 221a
Kilburn Lane, London, W10 4BQ.

DO OR DIE
#3. "Voice of the Earth First tribe", not an 'official' EF! zine. Starts
with a letter from Scotland (wey_at last!), and just gets better. Wads
of stuff from all over_ from AFA to prison support to a letter from
someone about the lack of support shown after being throttled
unconscious by a copper. Articles on the Cardiff bay barrage, reprint of
a Scotsman article on the Skye Bridge action, Twyford, EF on the Danube,
The Wilderness (a group buying land to be left wild), Paranoia (by
Annette Tibbles in Holloway). Covering all the contents would take up
vast amounts of room, but the wonderful letter about irresponsible
shagging has to be mentioned. Book and zine reviews, letters, contact
list, campaign networks. [TK]
60 A5 pages, dtp on recycled. #1 from c/o SDEF, Unemployed Centre, 6
Tilbury Place, Brighton BN2 2GY.

DOWN TO THE WIRE
History and Writings of Prison Activist and Jailhouse Lawyer, John
Perotti
The USA has the largest number of prisoners, per head of population, in
the world; now standing at over 1 million. One of these prisoners is
John Perotti, jailed in 1981 for a non-violent $7 robbery while on
parole. If he is made to serve his full sentence (for time put on while
in prison) he would be released in 2036. He will be 81 by then. The Ohio
state prison authorities have tried to bury him in isolation in maximum
security blocks and destroy him bodily and mentally. He has been
harassed, beaten and fitted up, selectively persecuted because of his
struggle to exercise his right to free speech, to union membership and
negotiation of employee contracts for the compulsory 10 cents an hour
prison labour. John assists and prepares lawsuits for fellow prisoners
against prison officials. This is why he's brutalised. John practices
solidarity amongst prisoners in a system designed specifically to remove
any trace of individuality and humanity, a system designed "to drag up
the monster in you" and set prisoner against prisoner. "As long as there
is oppression, there will be struggle by the oppressed". This is John's
account of that struggle. All profits from its sale goes toward John's
legal expenses and directly aid his self-defence. [B, carried forward
from #1]
44 page A5 booklet. #3+sae from JPDF, c/o 45a Bedford Avenue, Powis,
Aberdeen AB2 3YL (Cheques payable to John Perotti Defence Fund).

DREAMACHINE PLANS
Created by Brion Gysin. The full instructions and the templates for
building your very own Dreamachine_ the only object "in the history of
the world" that is designed to be viewed with your eyes closed: "The
dreamachine really IS just that. A dream machine. One person I know who
exposed themself to its spinning glare came out of their semi-
hallucinatory state talking seriously of visiting another planet,
complete with aliens, cavepaintings and children."
The point of the Machine, once you've assembled it, is travel: it is
variously described as DIY space kaleidoscope, a drug free trip and  a
voyage of exploration of interior vision. Kit book does not contain the
light bulb and record turntable required to get it up and running. Comes
with the warning: "may be hazardous to people with epilepsy or other
nervous disorders. Use with caution". [B]
16 A5 pages of background, history and recollections on its use. 3
insert cards of design templates. ISBN 1 871744 50 4 / #2.95+sae from
Temple Press, P.O. Box 227, Brighton, Sussex BN2 3GL.

DREAM CREATION INC
#4. The dayglow yellow cover should have warned me. Then I flipped to
the tunes reviews. Check this: "Synthed-yawned access-coded clanger,
blipped, slow-building, taxtural brain simmering teasing weaver". Whoa
now folks and steady on. These dudes are surfing the waves of synchronic
"hyper-cosmic, ambient sound scapes" dressed in holographic space suits
and tin foil pointy hats. Drugs? I should say so. Rave? Of course. This
thing comes on like an excessively loud stereo playing manic techno.
Never mind; just lose your mind to: interviews with Club Dog ("we
originate in the Free Festie scene", #12 entrance on the door);
Mixmaster Morris; Mutoid Waste; Cooltan Arts Centre; Frazer Clarke (at
least a bit of sanity here); Terence McKenna on vinyl reviewed;  and (a
real scoop this one) a run-down on who's behind the sound systems making
all that fucking noise (and their phone numbers so you can ring and ask
them please to TURN IT DOWN). Enough stuff here to fry your head, sunny
side up. [B]
32 A4 pages, nice and not too tripped-out layout. Lots of pics of people
smiling and having fun (even the pigs). #2 from Mind Creation, 20 Firsby
Road, London N16. Tel: [phone].

DYKE-U-LIKE
The Collected Strips #1. A dyke's delight_ nights out, Cosmo quiz turned
upside down, vamps, gay v dyke, christmas at someone else's parents,
dyke consumer utopia, to shave or not to shave... 20 A5 pages of comix
strips culled from female cartoonist Jeremy Dennis' work for local gay
newsletters. [B]
50p from Alleged Literature, 26 Princes St, Oxford OX4 1DD.
ESTATE
An incidental line of dialogue from the first strip in this collection:
'You look a bit glum' / 'It's just every time we go round to Dale and
Mary's... she leaves us feeling... weird' / 'She's middle class, that's
why!' And that's just how it is. It's so easy to forget they're poison,
particularly if you have to live with them. Any comic artist with
incidental dialogue like this must have his own comic. Happily, Lawrence
Burton has extended the mighty hand of Runciter to publish this
compilation of John Mulcreevy's solidly drawn scenes from life enhancing
activity - booze ups, parenting, riots, police avoidance - on a working
class estate. It's hard to avoid contamination by the middle class. If
you don't take precautions, you can end up slumped in a daze wondering
what the fuck is wrong. Estate is here to remind you why. Ward off the
weirdness and the badness with its presence in your house. There is no
higher recommendation. [SE]
16 A4 pages, two colour cover. #1 from Runciter Corp, BM Indefinite,
London WC1N 3XX (cheques to L Burton).

FACTSHEET 5
F5 is a huge review/listing magazine for (mostly U.S.) zines, currently
with over a thousand reviews each issue. "Each and every issue is loaded
with reviews of small presses and other media from such diverse fields
as punk, humour, science fiction, anarchy, homesteading, window washing,
Zen, comics, folk rock, travel and unclassifiable oddness, as well as T-
shirt, book, record, tape, CD and computer software reviews". Check it
out.
$8 from P.O. Box 170099, San Francisco, CA 94117-0099, USA.

FEDERATION
Magazine of the Federation of Worker Writers and Community Publishers,
Spring 94 Vol 3. Mainly an information, news, events and contacts
magazine for its member organisations, Fed News' theme this issue is co-
operation and features articles on Cartwheel Community Arts, along with
reports on international links with sister organisations in Spain and
France. A particularly interesting piece, "Whose History?" looks at
ethical issues in oral history (what do you do when the interviewee does
not say what you, the historian, might want them to say/be looking for?
are subjects treated as objects of the interviewer's intentions? and
whose story is it anyway? how far should the teller be involved in the
reproduction of 'their' published words?) The article originates from a
series of workshops at last year's Festival of Writing and opens a can
of worms that others, particularly "community video" workers, have need
to recognize. 10 pages of book reviews of working class writers rounds
the package off. [B, sent by Working Press]
24 A4 pages, dtp, offset, glossy cover, full of typos. Subs #3/yr
(2#/yr?) from Federation, c/o 60 Upper Valley Road, Sheffield S8 9HB.

FEVERED IMAGININGS
#1 is a smart comic/artist sampler (3 colour cover, proper print job,
gloss paper) of eight strips. Highlights include Lateral Organisms by
Denny Derbyshire, a spooky tale of geographers, psychometry and trans-
generational hauntings, and Felinoid...The Prologue, an unsettling
computer text/graphic collage. TL O'Callaghan and Andy Hemingway give us
the secret history of Kudu Press and reveal Norwich's industrial past
when it was "Ink City", the centre of British comic production, a
"cancatenation of thundering presses". And, at last, the men in black
get a wardrobe rethink in 'Fashion Victim'. [J]
32 pages A4, professional. #1.90+sae from c/o Password Publishing, 38-40
Exchange St, Norwich, Norfolk.

FIRE RAISERS
#3 "Contemptible writing for the 90s". Dozen plus short stories/writings
by various folk. I loved it, sat down and read it straight through. You
don't get writing like this at the library/bookshop without wading
through all sorts of crap. Some of its very poetic, others a little
harder to chew, all of them are worth a read. It says on the cover
"Boredom or Fire Raisers you can't have both! Take a risk". Well at 60p
the odds are pretty even. [MP]
18 pages A4, two colour gloss cover, good print. 60p+sae from
Imaginaction! Communications, Flat 2, Rosebank, Alphington St, Exeter,
EX2 8AT. #1 and #2 50p each.

FISHBOWL
#1 Chris Tappenden's whacky gag strip Life in the Fishbowl with Ed only
fills 4 pages of this compilation but that's enough to give the comic
its title, its raison d'|tre and its source of appeal. Other strips fill
up the remaining 20 pages but Ed has got the spotlight and I just don't
see it moving. Ed, a Yorick-type skull, floats in a fishbowl, dishing
out world-weary wisdom and exchanging wisecracks with the reader as fish
swim by outside the bowl. It's the wit, the comic craft and the subjects
to which the strip turns its attention that hold it together. This
issue, Ed's patch of sea bed is being used for the dumping of nuclear
waste, with dodgy effects on the local fish. In between the Ed  strips
are various life-and-times-of-young-alternative-persons stories. [SE]
A4 (U.S) 2 colour cover #1.80 Slab-o-Concrete (see Distros section).

FIST
A very lusty, glossy and huge A3 Sunday Supplement-esque magazine.
Filled with interviews with musos who describe themselves as 'shaman'; a
sculptress who works with leather and PVC, a couple who are into S&M and
Tom Vague. All very transgressive stuff, illustrated with excellent
photos, a haunting graphic love story and cartoons. Fist's aim is to
highlight those who challenge dominant culture and this it does
admirably, in and of itself and for those in its coverage. Definitely
worth checking out. [W]
#2.49 from 85 St. Agnes Place, Kennington, London SE11 4BB.

FIX FUNNIES / COOL JERK & HOMOGAL
The best of the two comix is Fix_ all about a funny little guy who needs
some drugs "Like NOW!" and is constantly reminded of his plight by
overhearing conversations such as: "Sorry Mary Jane but since the weeds
came in, the herb garden has gone to pot". Good humour, great drawing
style (carefully slap-dash, very effective) which is also maintained in
the second comic, Cool Jerk. This one's a bit of a superhero bank
robbery kind of story where our saviours come to the rescue. Both very
lively; have a look. [RG]
A6 photocopied, 8 pages and 16 pages. Both 50c each + postage from
Garlic Press, c/o Sean Bieri, 1521 Hubbard, Apt #14, Detroit, Michigan
48209, USA or 50p each post-paid from Slab Distro.

FLOATING LEAVES AND FALSE ECONOMIES
"It is not unemployment that disfigures society but poverty"
Norman Jope's anti-copyrighted offering revives a pamphleteer tradition
as old as the Diggers and Ranters. It's a departure, for Jope, from his
usual literary output; it's a call to thought and action, and it's
incidentally a cracker_ a firework written with clarity and conviction
and likely to explode in your hands.
The subject is the government's "War on the Workshy", a comprehensive
investigation into why and how the hardship fund and the guarantee of
enough money for 1,000 calories a day has been taken away. Economic (and
more particularly political) reasonings behind the removal of these
provisions are pulled apart. Jope does not waste time moaning and
pleading for that most foolish of demands "The Right To Work". His
concern is that those who choose a leisured penury rather than the
living death of Situations (pretty) Vacant have lost that choice. The
changes in the law that have brought this about, the travellers and
their threat to normality, the Moral Crusade and the transformation of
worker into vassal, Jobplan, Restart and "Actively Seeking Work"_ all
this and more go under the microscope here. The Abolition of Work and
the social uselessness of most jobs nowadays gets an airing towards the
end.
To us who've felt the Tory whip (Back to Basics, beat me, beat me, with
a bag on my head upon the kitchen table) some far-sighted connections
and contradictions are exposed; for those who haven't (there's 13
million of you Tory-voting shit-eaters out there) this little stick of
dynamite should blow your brains (and we're talking serious head wounds
here). Highly recommended. [B]
20 A5 pages plus card cover. #1/$2 to: Memes, c/o 38 Molesworth Road,
Plympton, Plymouth, Devon PL7.

FLYPOSTING: DO IT
A free collection of instant images for the unscrupulous flyposterer.
This 12 A5 page booklet contains 10 timely and anti-copyrighted graphix
for high street redecoration. Sourced from Homocult, Guerrilla Girls,
Fatuous Times, Plague Your Eyes, Ade L. Vice, Doug Minkler... [B]
FREE for sae from Andy, 25 Hart St, Oxford OX2 6BN [If this sort of
stuff gets you moist and gluey then try Flyposter Frenzy, a huge A4 book
of anticopyright images, for #4.95 from Working Press, 85 St. Agnes
Place, Kennington, London SE11 4BB. Distributed in America by Inland
Book Co., P.O. Box 120261, East Haven, CT 06512].

FRANKLY
#4 Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! This is the stuff. Frankly 4 is the Doug McLure
special issue, with strips including PAs by the much loved and fatuity-
intensive film and TV star. There are McLure-themed contributions from
the towering 'Joke' Miller, John Bagnall, Ben Rowdon, Paul Cockburn,
Debby Lonnon, John Harrison, Simon MacKie... Filth and Weirdness special
awards go respectively to Lonnon and Miller, who also contributes a one-
page, old-money-remembering stumble back through the years to The Pub
That Time Forgot. Package topped off with a skewed but useful review
section and interview with an old chum of mine from the Titan and
Fleetway days, Rian 'Designer' Hughes. Away from his Quadra and
chromalins, Hughesey is the only cartoonist who can draw machines and
designed objects that are more alive than the characters that use them.
Frankly specialises in sharply drawn humour strips and this is what you
get here. [SE]
36 A4 pages, glossy cover. #1.95 from 17 Maxwell Drive, Pollokshields,
Glasgow G41 5DR.

FREETHOUGHT HISTORY
#8. Devoted exclusively to the history of agnosticism, atheism, humanism
and kindred topics on religious controversy. This # has In Memoriam:
E.P. Thompson; Lillian Harman's Our Brethren of Darker Hue (1899); the
art of Carlos Cortez (IWW) and a lot of smaller news and notes. Editor
Fred Whitehead also publishes Peoples Culture newsletter and wants
contact with British working class cultural activists. Will exchange
publications. [B]
10 pages (US A4). Available by subscription $10/yr from Box 5224, Kansas
City, Kansas 66119, USA.

FRONT COVER
#2 "This zine is an open platform for ideas and creativity aimed at the
liberation of all life". Bit of a mixed bag, mainly politics with a
couple of stories by Stan Batcow reprinted from elsewhere. Favourite
article was on the bardic tradition in Ireland (the first of three
parts, others to follow). Other articles range from the destruction of
the seas' ecosystems, to home birth, sexism, a Last International
reprint on Groucho Marxism (hilarious), and how to become a god. Also a
couple of interview parodies, some quotes and cartoons, and something on
the banality of everyday life. Some of it's kind of humorous, and some
is kind of cynical: like i said_ a mixed bag. [A]
28 pages A5, gloss cover, cut/paste. 50p+sae from Danny, 68b Fivey Rd,
Ballymoney, BT53 8JH.

FURRY FURRY
#1 A small collection of anthropomorphic feline cartoon stories edited
by Damian Cugley. Features some person-cats from another planet going on
a picnic, Zooty (by John Miller), who eats a lot, is watched by
spacemen, eats more and meets lots of girls (nice artwork), and
a(nother) space cat in Salvaged by Jeremy Dennis. Also some sketches by
Jeremy, and some reviews of other furry comics. [A]
32 pages A5. 75p from Alleged Literature, 26 Princes St, Oxford, OX4.

FURTHER TOO
#5. Not much to laugh along to here, though maybe that's not the
intention. Filled to brimming over with: No More Posing at the Scala;
"Progressive" music appreciation (do YOU remember the Outlaws and Lynyrd
Skynyrd?, do you want to remember...); Who Needs Riot Grrrl?; a man
appreciates Women's Cricket; Why I Love Courtney Love; lots of TV show
appreciation; Studio 600; games to play on E-mail; Madonna vs Cicciolina
(how the two shape up to each other and who comes out on top for
Believability, Wankability, Star-fucking, Politics);
Neoism=Fascism=Nonsense; and pages of record and zine reviews. [B]
40 A5 pages. #1 from J. Simmons, 168 Elm Grove, Brighton BN2 3DA.

GIANT SKULL ON WHEELS
The Runciter Corporation is responsible for some of the funniest comics
in existence. If you haven't read any yet then start with this. It
firmly rips the piss right out of the American comic system, from its
nerdish consumers to its nerdish corporate scivvies who delude
themselves into thinking that somehow it's really part of a big cultural
redemption act to name their absurd output as art and stagger around
babbling about creativity and professional values. This alone makes
Runciter's GSOW worth a look. There's no story. A giant skull on wheels
eats a couple of skins, drinks 50 pints, sees Aliens 4 (with Adolf
Hitler and Dracula), sends a couple of ghosts to Hell, kills Hitler,
Dracula and the Alien who are on promotional tour with the film, outwits
the Sweeney and goes on a killing spree with Tin Tin. Awkward ineptitude
is piled innocently on top of awkward ineptitude in a way which is
instantly identifiable as the method of contemporary American comic
culture happily building itself a mountain of crud. The #86,000 tag on
the back is meant to provoke smirks at the daft pricing of graphic
novels and the comic system's obsession with fancy production and profit
margins. Readers of X-Men and Sandman should be made to go about the
streets with copies of Giant Skull On Wheels bolted to their foreheads.
So write off for two copies: one to read and one to do the world this
public service. [SE]
16 A5 pages, card cover. 50p from Runciter Corp, BM Indefinite, London
WC1N 3XX (cheques to L Burton).

GIBBERING MADNESS
"That is not dead which can eternal lie / And with strange aeons even
death may die." As #2 of this zine demonstrates (with the emphasis on
'demon'), the influence of H.P. Lovecraft must be one of the things
which can lie eternally, cos it sure ain't dead. The bloody clawmarks of
the Cthulhu Mythos are all over this rancid brainburger, which consists
mostly of original poetry, artwork and fiction.
Things that rang my bell: the groovy centrespread artwork, the pics of
sculptures by Clark Ashton Smith, the desiccated corpses on Page 5, the
back cover, Evan's film reviews. But the whole thing is pretty lively.
[SC]
Monstrously good value at 25p+sae for 40 A5 nicely dtp-ed and arty
pages, this meaty mother can be had from: Evan, 917 Ecclesall Road,
Bannercross, Sheffield. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl
fhtagn!

GINGER NUTS!
#1 Wildhearts fanzine for Wildhearts fans, by Tara of Scuzz zine. All
the usual band stuff_ pics, interviews, gigs, reviews, plus deciphered
lyrics to "Caffeine Bomb". Neatly put together. [J]
20 pages A5, good copy. 50p from Ginger Nuts!, c/o Tara Wilcox, 42
Lochinver, Bracknell, Berks, RG12 7LD.

GLOOTENGLOTTLE GAZETTE
#1 Newsletter of the Planet Glootenglottle, ruled over by a divine
Empress (a "benevolent despot"), where women are in charge and men are
in bed (on their backs). That aside, it's a collection of pomes, pics,
clippings and reviews by various hands. Kind of semi-separatist feminist
in orientation (men are bearable but not equal), which doesn't sit well
with me at all. But what's in it? A rant about dark nights and the risk
of rape, another about zines which are "so full of anger and anti-
groovey and unproductive" which  veers into being a rant about people
who beat people up (not entirely sure of  the connection myself),
zine/band reviews, cartoons, lots of references to the Rocky Horror
Picture Show and a good piece demonstrating the sexism of language. #2
should be out already. [A]
16 pages A5, rough cut/paste. 50p+sae from 119 Station Rd, Drayton,
Cosham, Hants, PO6 1PL.

GLS
A serious and worthy Belfast-based literary and arts magazine, shortly
to metamorphose into something else called 'Big Spoon'. This issue has a
Politics and Art theme, which is given a certain piquancy by the Belfast
location, though I'll admit to being as pig-ignorant about Irish
politics as virtually every other Brit. The editorial claims a broad
spectrum of political views is represented in the mag. One contributor,
Danny Morrison, is currently in prison for 'terrorist offences', and is
described as being Sinn Fein's former Publicity Director. There is a lot
of poetry of a high standard, reviews of books, films and local art
exhibitions, a short story and a symposium on the aforementioned art and
politics. GLS has a nice layout and good illustrations, though there is
a rather heavy incidence of typos. Highlights for me included the
reproductions of paintings by Ronnie Hughes and Marion Barrett, the
poems by Naomi Riches and Michael Donaghey's piece The Body Politic. An
all-round good read. [SC]
36 A4 pages inc, glossy b/w cover, dtp-ed. Quarterly. Single issue
#1+postage, subs #4/4 issues from: GLS/Big Spoon, 32 Salisbury Court,
Belfast BT7 1DD.

GRAPHOTISM
#4. Graph is getting things going for the UK graffiti/aerosol art scene,
with pages jammed with some of the most mind-blowing street art you're
ever likely to see. The main part of Graphotism is reproducing the
pieces that have been sent in and there's particular features on
specific writers and events too to give you a more in-depth insight into
the way things are going. Hex from New York fills a couple of pages with
his crazy stuff. There's an interview with the organizers of the Selly
Oak, Birmingham, Blueprint Gallery_ a massive open air graffiti space; a
photo-report of the scene in Madrid; and stuff from the aerosol-crazed
geeks of Hull. Much room given over to reports of graffiti jams all over
the UK. An important part of Graphotism is shared knowledge and trust
between all the people involved in a scene which is still treated as
criminal. Importantly, the editors make no distinction between people
writing illegally on trains and walls and those getting it up on
authorized spaces, clothes, or even in galleries. [MF, unsolicited]
32 A4 pages. Art paper, some full colour, some b/w. #3.50+50p p+p.
Cheques to Graphotism International. Subs #15/4#. P.O. Box 352,
Wallington, Surrey SM5 2WJ.

THE GREAT ENOCH
#1. Named after a type of sledgehammer used to good effect by the
Luddites for mending machinery. Contents include some good personal
political stuff (straight edge/anarcho) mixed into mainland Europe
HC/punk scene, band news and info. Interviews with German (anti-car)
band Age, Norwegian edgers Onward and Peter from U.S punk mail order
firm Blacklist, an eyewitness report of the Copenhagen Riots during the
Maastricht Treaty referendum. 'Highlight' is a massive 9 !! page
interview with Marxist party-building Dutch band Man Lifting Banner who
waffle on and on enlightening us stupid proles of the need for a
vanguard revolutionary party and a dictatorship over the proletariat.
But don't worry though, happy punkers and punkettes: after the
revolution MLB promise that there'll still be housewives and they'll
even be allowed to vote for representatives for their workers' councils
(under the personal supervision of MLB of course).
MLB spout the kind of dull and wordy drivel that would be laughable if
they weren't so serious; and it's disappointing that an otherwise
interesting and informative punk mag should bother to waste that amount
of space on such garbage. Editor Jak promises less of this and more of
the good stuff next issue, which I look forward to. [B]
20 A4 dtp-ed pages. #1.20/$2 postpaid (or trade) from J. Nielsen,
Danmarksgade 82 st tv, 9000 Alborg, Denmark. (#4.50 for a semi-big
surprise packet including a bunch of zines and 1 or 2 7"ers).

GREEN ANARCHIST
#34. GA is a forum for contentious ideas and even more contentious
activity. The core of this ish is devoted to anti-ideological
perspectives on class, sexuality and individuality. Though at times they
tend to ramble on, questions are being posed here, and outlooks being
offered, that you just don't see in any other 'anarchist' publications_
with the exception of Here & Now. GA seems to have found its feet, its
credibility and a wider audience (last issue sold 2,500). You definitely
don't need to be 'green' to read GA; though its foundation is
ecological, its coverage and articles are practical anarchy_ how,
indeed, are we to get from here... to there. GA is a 20 gutterpress size
newspaper with news, diary of events, sex lib, Criminal Justice, Class
Questions, Mexican Revolution 1910-20, survival tips (in the garden and
on riots), contacts and mail order for some of the most interesting
publications you'll find this side of the situationists. Previous issue
far better to my mind and worth ordering as well. [B]
75p/free to prisoners/subs #7 for 10#. NEW address: P.O. Box 407,
Camberley, Surrey, GU15 3JY. Editors point out that their mail is
regularly monitored and suggest using first name only or pseudonym.

GREENHOUSE WARRIORS
Glenn Dakin and Phil Elliott were among the many people caught short
when Turtlemonger Kevin Eastman's Tundra Publishing UK went down the
shitter. This six-issue mini-series had only reached #1 when it was
canned. Neither the story's crisp, clear-line narrative nor its
rationale ever made it a sure-fire winner for its intended audience of
US comic buyers, despite featuring a group of boisterous superhuman
plant mutants and their bespectacled boffin boss. Still, a green X-Men
was an idea worth trying, so Elliott decided to publish the remaining
episodes. The latest in print is issue 4. #1 Ploughed and Scattered
introduces the Warriors, their Professor Xavier substitute, Doctor Glass
and the background to this future world in which the Greenhouse Effect
has made the whole tropical region almost uninhabitable. #2 Sown and
Reaped joins Warriors Poppy, Thistle, Heliocanthus, Lavender and Cactus
with Honeysuckle, Brother Earth, a mutant threat from inside the
Doctor's greenhouse and a TV presenter who wants to live forever. #3
Cultivated pits the Warriors against a batch of man-eating skulls
inhabiting the Barrier Reef while, back in Glass's greenhouse, Brother
Earth makes Heliocanthus lose his mind over sexy Honeysuckle. #4 Matcho
girl Thistle thrashes the skulls and the new threat of the coral heads
is revealed as Honeysuckle plots against the Doctor. [SE]
28 pages US format, full colour cover; #2 each from Phil Elliott, 2
Alexandra Street, Maidstone, Kent, ME14.

GREEN LINE
#112. On the go for years, covers the range between the Green Party and
Earth First with a bit of overlap here and there. One to show your FoE
friends_ a bit heavier but it won't scare the knickers off them. This
issue: comment of Back to Basics; Network (news bits); fighting the
clear-cutting of Canada's last rainforest; The Vanishing Taiga (on the
effects of deforestation in the far North; Privatisation of the Forestry
Commission; the Non-Proliferation Treaty; plus letters, books, zines,
actions, diary, small ads. [TK]
20 A4 pages, dtp, recycled, two colour cover. #1. Catalyst Collective,
P.O. Box 5, Lostwithiel PL22.

GROUND LEVEL
#1 A sampler, essentially a puff-zine for Slab Distro and its many
goodies, this is clearly aimed at goddamn scrounging scum who've got
nothing better to do than read comics (slackers like you and me).
Includes excerpts from well-hyped U.S and Canadian material, such as Too
Much Coffee Man and Dodo Comix, and they're aided by the inclusion of an
agit prop angle: snippets from Moral Sense and Hoax raise the mag above
the ordinary. A good Hunt Emerson interview too, which relocates him as
the seminal British small presser. Check it out. [RS]
20 mini-pages. #1.50 from Slab-o-Concrete (see Distros section).

GROWING OUR OWN
Brilliant _ a how to, as well as a why to, on cultivating your own
garden or allotment. Covers what's wrong with industrialised agriculture
and livestock farming, and the benefits of vegan organic methods, making
an invaluable source book on that "most important [and underrated] of
all work: food production". Kathleen Jannaway, an organic 'farmer' with
16 years experience, briefly covers the philosophy-in-action of vegan-
organic living and the importance of reafforestation, then describes in
accessible detail a system of largely self-reliant and self-sufficient
growing (and one that requires the minimum of digging!). Loads of hands
on experience and tips from the layout of the plot to compost making,
through what and how to grow, to disease and pest control and food
preservation_ all without animal products, artificial chemicals,
fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. I found especially useful the
"permaculture" aspects: green manures (comfrey, nettle), what to grow in
winter to preserve and regenerate the soil, wild plants to add to enrich
compost, and the rediscovery of little regarded edible plants_ beech
nuts and acorns, medlars, worcester berries, chickweed, swiss chard. Add
to all this a look at quinoa and hazel cultivation, the use of aromatic
herbs as pest controllers, some recipes and this could be the only guide
to growing your own that you'll ever need. And in case it isn't, they
publish a lot of other stuff too and there's also contacts for seed
suppliers and other useful sources. It's always time for people to
exercise "the most basic right without which political freedom is a
mockery_ the right to use land to meet their needs". Go on,  it's a lot
healthier, and you'll taste the difference. [J]
28 packed pages A5. 95p from MCL, 47 Highlands Rd, Leatherhead, Surrey,
KT22 8NQ. (cheques to MCL).

HANDMADE
14 single page one frame each white on black images of hands doing_
reaching, wrenching, hexing, hoping. Seemingly simple; suggestive and
smart. Neatly put together. Limited edition of 50. [J]
16 pages, dinky, nice repro. FREE for SAE, from Simon, 26 Knighton
Drive, Leicester, LE2 3HB.

HEADPRESS
#8. Subtitled 'The Journal of Sex Religion Death', Headpress is the
great rival to Divinity (see review). Less exclusively concerned with
matters sexual than Divinity. Having said that, every issue of Headpress
is themed, and, this being the "Big Sexyland" issue, it's all about,
erm, sex. But it ain't usually_ honest! Articles on porn stars'
buttocks, male masturbation, bizarre perversions, interview with Gen
from Genitorturers, and another with porn director Patrick Collins.
Regular features: a rant column, a street-crazies sightings column and a
reviews section. There's a bit by me here, too, under a different name.
[SC, unsolicited, reviewer's choice]
68 A4 pages, glossy b/w cover. Quarterly. #3.50 UK/#4 Europe/#5
elsewhere. Subs 4#/yr #14/#16/#20. Back # available. Headpress, P.O. Box
160, Stockport, Cheshire, SK1 4ET. Statement that you are over 18 must
accompany all orders.

HENRIETTA
Ed Pinsent is the nearest thing to a producer of modern fables to emerge
in the comics small press.  Time and time again his characters, apply
themselves fantastically to ethical, moral and sometimes philosophical
conundra. Such is Henrietta, ball of fun, boisterous, relentless,
active, energetic young everywoman. Ed's Henrietta stories, not all of
them fabulous but the nearest thing, are collected in this model of
compactness. In it, she meets the Monster in the Waste Bin and spurns
his offer of seemingly tasty comestibles made from trash. In the jungle
she fucks the Man of a Thousand Wings a hundred times and gives birth to
a hundred offspring. She eats a whole town in the Land of Pastries and
inhales a mouthful of helium to escape. Seized by murderous humour, she
challenges the tyrant Xerxes and kills him as he declares his love for
her. These are snippets from the strange stories here, containing some
of his best cartooning currently in print. (SE) 44 A5 pages. #1 from Ed
Pinsent, 43 Finsen Road, London SE5 9AW.

HOLY TITCLAMPS / QUEER ZINE EXPLOSION
#13 / #10. Two zines in one from Larry-bob, the main man of Factsheet
5's Queer reviews section. HT is predominantly oriented towards gay men,
rather than lesbians (this is not a criticism, merely information), and
features stories, comics. This issue written entirely by Larry-bob,
which is not always the case, and includes A Modest Guide To Unsafe Sex,
Childhood Friends, a tirade against twentynothing losers which abraded
me, and all sorts of interesting personal stuff. Also a penpal section
full of gay men in prison who would love to hear from you.
QZE is a zine listing just like ByPass and Factsheet 5, but for gay and
lesbian zines. Larry-bob reviews more zines than I can be bothered to
count, mostly US, but some British and European as well. Larry-bob
encourages submissions. [SC]
64 A5(US) pages, dtp, nice repro. 3#/yr, Holy T is $3 sample, #10/4#.
QZE available separately for 2x29c stamps/2 IRCs or $2 for 4 issues.
Larry-bob, Box 591275, San Francisco CA 94159-1275, USA

THE HOOKAH
#12. Hookah is published by the Legalise Cannabis Campaign, and yes,
it's drugs, drugs, drugs all the way. Grow it, ingest it, fire up your
bong and test it. Dope for rope, for fuel, for paper, paint, food and
clothing. A natty 'Vote For Cannabis' poster, a good guide to drug urine
testing from the U.S, biblical back-up to justify (to God?) your habit,
16 famous people who grew marijuana, and a bunch of cannabis clippings
out of the noosepapers. Printed 1993. [B]
32 A5 on recycled trees plus roachable two colour card cover. #1 (30%
off for bulk orders). Free to LCC members (#5/yr or #4 claimants).
Copyrighted. LCC, BM 2455, London WC1N 3XX.

HORMONE FRENZY
#1 A queer gender type thang as it says on the back. I really liked this
zine_ full of personal rants about stereotypical gay culture and its
constraints_ well cool. Pretty low production values, which is part of
its charm, lots of cuttings and images cut and pasted with comments, and
some articles. Band and zine reviews, a cyberqueer tales of the city (to
be continued), comic strips, more rants (religion, the stereotypical gay
scene, the Sunday Times, the gay scene... ). It's fun, it's lively, it's
bursting with energy_ get some today. [A]
24 pages A5. 50p+sae or swap from Mark, P.O. Box 361, Cambridge CB7 2BZ.

I'D RATHER BE OUT KILLING COMMUNISTS
This one blasted a whole in my living room the size of an A5 fanzine.
"This magazine title is not fascist" says creator Willshaw. Well, I kind
of guessed that. There is a reason behind it though: "We are sold
choices of how to respond to our pain... all are dogmatic TEAMS. A
DOGMATIC team gave us the PAIN in the first place, why increase the
dogma, why increase the PAIN?".
Great graphics: Macho Wanker; Religion Breeds Hatred; My Imagination
Lost to the Mass Media; Jock Types ("I despise you like a sickness.
Every day I plan my revenge with growing accuracy") and a very peculiar
9 page cut-up 'comic' strip_ The Inner City. What's the writing about?
Well, no band interviews; instead: Trouser Medals + la Jean Genet; Lying
as an Asset for Success; a poem for Dean Martin; Sexual Intercourse is a
poor substitute for Masturbation; and more. Recommended, extremely good
value, and it's also a Sheffield City Hunt Sabs benefit. [B]
28 A5 pages for 20p+sae from A. Willshaw, 61 Southview Crescent,
Sharrow, Sheffield S7 1DG.

IMPERFECT
#001. This hymn to anti-modern melancholy exploits the formal lay-out of
the adventure comic. In a series of delicately drawn and finely printed
pages, an androgynous figure in the surf reflects on God, the sea and a
decaying factory as skulls emerge from the sand. #002:  Fine lines pick
out a naked female figure against a blank white background in almost
very panel. Over this, awkward snatches of first person narration
celebrate fear, torture and abuse as the scourges of guilt. Both are
highly contrived books. The artifice wears thin in places but is held
together by the utter conviction of Michael Exelby's visuals. (SE)
16 pages, US format, art paper, #001 glossy cover, #002 matte; #1
each+sae from Elm Tree, 21 Pulleyn Drive, Tadcaster Road, York, YO2 2DY
(cheques to Michael Exelby).

INNER CITY PAGAN
#1&2. Lee Kennedy was someone I'd heard about and seen in a couple of
comics, but never had I fully appreciated the humour and hilarity of her
work. As with all great autobiographical comics we get honester than
honest tales about student life in the 60s, past lovers, cat-stories,
job grumbles, fears of old age... just loads and loads of very funny
anecdotes which are easily recognisable. You'll feel instantly
comfortable with the rough, not-so-perfect artwork, and by the time you
reach the end you'll feel like you've known her for years. Unmissable.
[RG]
A4 photocopied; 38pp+28pp. #2 each from: c/o 58 Durrington Tower,
Wandsworth Rd, London SW8 3LF.

INSTANT COMICS
Andy Roberts's compilation sampler comic of bits and bobs from way back.
There's a strip based on Black Flag's Gimme Gimme Gimme. There are
Wiiija Records shop ad strips: excellent but ephemeral even in their
natural habitat. There's a deeply meaningful modernist metafiction, The
Miraculous Infant Jesus of Prague. There's right-on revenge: Roberts
redeploys the signature choppy panel breakdowns of paradigm softcore
nerd artist Guido Crepax and fills them with images of unfantasised,
everyday, male and female sexual humanity. There's bignose whacky
humour, punky rants, even snatches of the compulsive sketchbook
doodlings which are the essential mental back-up to regular strip work.
But, despite the storming megamix, the strips which float shimmering in
the brain when the comic is put down are three semi-autobiographical
pieces: these memories of one cute kid and two valued friends long gone
are utterly devoid of sentiment, polemic and clich|_ even the pen line
is more definite and sure_ are a certainty that osmoses from the lines
on the page and all the way up the optic nerve to where they just aren't
forgotten. [SE]
24 A4 pages. #1+sae from And/Or Comics, 25 Hart Street, Oxford OX2 6BN.

IT'S NOT SATIN
The words of the title are the last words spoken by a woman before she's
murdered by the protagonist of this story. The narrative begins with an
introduction by the murderer to a demonic picture of his imaginary
friend: "He's not God but he's not Sattin". From this point on the
narrative is told in the first person, the murderer, for whom it's the
story of a beautiful love affair full of adoration, respect and
fulfilment. Ed Pinsent forsakes his usual fabulous territory for an only
slightly realer place, inside the mind of a homicidal schizophrenic,
where innocence and evil mingle freely. The murder's brutal details are
edged out by the lightness of the tender caresses and loving dedications
which are their real meanings. It's disturbing because there is no
resolution, no outside agency, no return to normal values where guilt
and evil are inextricably drawn together: only the world of the
schizophrenic. Funny, chilling but not morbid. The comic is drawn in
full colour but only a black and white version is currently in
circulation. [SE]
30 A5 pages. #1.50 from 43 Finsen Road, London SE5 9AW; colour versions
(from #20) available by request.

THE JOCK
#9. Maybe this'll become an underground cult thing amongst independent
comics fetishists. Brilliantly drawn cartoons, around a story of a
bureaucratic dictatorship which controls through music: a 1984 where Big
Bro isn't content to just watch, he plays a soundtrack of shit music
too. The heroes of the comic, The Resistance, are engaged in
broadcasting the 'old' songs like Rat Trap by the Boomtown Rats. There's
a vague implication that all of the incentives and incitements to revolt
are already contained with the lyrics of pop songs.
The main character is a DJ (realistically arrogant and annoying) whose
rebellion is based round his pirate shows and who wants to "put the
world back the way it was" (to a world that inspires songs like Rat
Trap?!) There's a sub-plot too which is even better than The Jock,
alluding to the idea that sexual repression is intimately linked to
social control. [RP]
36 A5 pages. Free sample for sae. Otherwise 75p from W.R. Hirst,
Rushgrove Farm, Holt Head, Slaithwaite, Huddersfield, W. Yorks HD7 5TY.

KIDCORE
#1. This radical education pamphlet comprises two halves, both of which
seem to be extracts from some longer (unnamed) work. The first, Kid
Control, is about the diagnosis and treatment of hyperactive children,
mostly with reference to the USA. The gist of it is that hyperactivity
is a bogus catchall diagnosis used to suppress socially deviant
behaviour. Something like schizophrenia, in other words, and similarly
reflecting sexual, racial, cultural and class bias. The argument is
forcefully made, with an academically credible panoply of references
which unfortunately can't be traced, because the bibliography of the
book from which this is taken is not included. The second part, Subvert
Yr School, is a list of more-or-less wacky suggestions for cultural
revolution in the classrooms. Here is one of the silliest: "6. Limit
each teacher to three declarative sentences per class, and fifteen
interrogatives". Not much here to gladden the heart of John Patten, I'd
have thought, and that's all to the good. [SC]
8 A5 pages, dtp-ed, FREE for sae from: Andy, 25, Hart St, Oxford OX2
6BN. You're all going to be tested on this next week, so read it
carefully.

KLEINTJE MUURKRANT
The title means, literally, "little wallpaper"_ it translates better
into English as "off the wall"... and possibly "in yer face". Published
as a monthly 8 pages A3 newspaper it has plenty of articles on anything
"underground", from anti-racist action (the Dutch establishment do not
believe they have a problem with racism so it doesn't exist! so now its
underground), squatting news, gigs and gays etc. Little art work so not
for picture posing politicos. This reviewer was particularly impressed
with the main articles which were well written and very well informed.
Class and economic distribution analysis around Den Bosch were discussed
and then the argument was broadened out to Dutch/European society
generally. Good stuff in the libertarian tradition; informative, always
combative, and with a nice 'street' feel to the language... pity it's
all in Dutch though. [JO]
Subs: 25 NFl (guilders) per yr. Kleintje Muurkrant, Postbus 703, 5201
AS, Den Bosch, Netherlands.

LEE BUTLER
This is satire. Butler uses comedy and realism to strip away at the
surface of class politics and lay out the distinctions that divide
English life, dealing with the kinds of characters, plots and fictions
that permeate English reality. It's all here, social pain and strain,
real qualities misrecognized: when Lee Butler discovers Galileo and does
extra-mural work, he's treated as disturbance by the teachers and told
to stop learning by his dad. Gradually something gruelling and
compelling is being built here by Peter Rigg and Paul Schroeder, with
more skill than I can think of used anywhere in the small press_ or in
the not so small press. If it falls down a little in places, it's in
slightly scrappy lay-outs, occasionally sketchy or misplaced figures and
word balloons. But you won't notice because of the strength of the
story. If he was making almost any other kind of cultural product, Peter
Rigg would be internationally feted, festooned with awards and
universally loathed by the upper classes; instead he's doing comics
which only get praised to high heaven by marginal scum like me. Buy his
comic. [SE]
28 A5 pages, 2 colour cover. #1 from Peter Rigg, 150 Beaufort Street,
Nelson, Lancashire, BB9 OSA.

LONGSHOT COMICS
#1. Ah me, the life of a reviewer is indeed a cruelly arduous thing.
Countless hours of hacking my solitary path through the media jungle,
doing my mouth-on-a-stick bit, have caused me to start seeing dots
before my squinty red eyes. Hang on... there really are dots before my
eyes, page after page of them! Y'see, the whole of this maxi-minicomic
consists of dots engaging in dialogue with each other. Which is funny,
tho' whether it's quite funny enough to sustain your interest for 3840
teeny-weeny panels is debateable. I can't claim to have waded through
the entire epic yet, but the story so far runs something like this:
Cardiff, 1860. A child is born into a large Catholic mining family.
After being orphaned in a pit disaster, he marries his landlady's niece.
Fired from his job, he enlists in the army and goes to fight the zulus.
Wounded in action, he is discharged, returns to Wales, and goes to work
down a mine. He and his wife finally learn, after 14 years, how to have
sex, and they produce a large family. By this time, it's 1900 and
halfway through the comic, and you've got a fair idea what it's like_ a
parody of decades-spanning historical dramas like The Forsyte Saga. The
story is told with a great deal of irony, some social didacticism, and
amusing in parts [SC]
Longshot, all 84 dinky dotty A6 pages of it including the cover, is
available for the outrageously low price of $1+I.R.C or more money.
Devotees of the dot should send their dosh to: Shane, 733 43rd Ave,
Lachine, Quebec, Canada B8T 2J5. Eyestrain Comics catalogue also
available. (#1.20 from Slab Distro).