ZINES

WARMER by AIDAN KOCH

Aidan's comics are about line and texture, knitting these patches together like a quilt, and letting the texture of the page underneath show through. The colors here are very smart and subtle. White becomes a color. Grey is very much a color, and black is conspicuous in its absence. Then there is a "warm" yellowish color for the pages and a bit of isolated "warmth" for the cover. I have a negative criticism but I think I'll express it as a criticism I have of my own comics. (Should I say it?) OK, here goes.... Insincerity is important, it is real, and (at the risk of sounding shamanic) it is sincere. I'm not sure if that makes sense, and I hope that wasn't a terrible thing to say. Anyway, get this zine for the colors and for the hands. The love of drawing is laid bare here. link





LIZA by DAVIDSON MIDDLE

This is another "grey" zine. 16 pages of photographs of a girl with "I love Travis" written on her breasts. The girl is taking these photos herself, presumably for Travis. I enjoy the voyeurism, the complex relationship that develops, between Davidson, the girl (Liza?), Travis, and the reader. Subtle shifts in expression, her conflicting role as image and imagemaker, objectifying object, a branded human, a humane brand, a single image repeated over and over. There is a ton of shit here. File under "sequential" & "image-text." link