DEFIBRILLATORISM #1,$2, 8 ½” x 5 ½”, copied, 16 pgs.

You know, Mike, writing, “So if it’s shit, what are you gonna do? At least it only cost two bucks” in your introduction had me worried about the quality of this zine at first. But then I read through it and I think that you are a remarkable writer, especially for being able to articulate the thoughts that were flying through your head while you traveled. I mean, you tied in bits and pieces about Black Flag, John Steinbeck, and Catholicism into one story without losing focus and rambling where most people would end up getting all existential and self-absorbed. The cover and the layout are nice and clean too; I hope to read some more of your stuff in the future. –Lauren Trout (quit.talkin.claude@gmail.com)

GENEVA 13 #4,$2 (postage- paid), 8 ½” x 5 ½”, photocopied, 60 pgs.
The fourth issue of this locally themed zine from Geneva, New York, talks mostly about the local agriculture business, which is a lot more interesting than it sounds. Long interviews with a cattle auctioneer and an organic farmer shed light on two professions that I previously knew next to nothing about. Perhaps more importantly, both interviews paid tribute to working class dudes with solid personalities and values. The article encouraging readers to participate in local elections and a contributor’s list of favorite comics and graphic novels from the local public library struck me as great ideas to fulfill Geneva 13’s goal of reaching out and providing some useful information to their community. Throughout the zine, the editors also reprinted some entries from a poetry contest for first through eighth graders that they judged. My pick is “Poor Nicky” by first grader Astrid Olivia Lilly: “There once was a mouse named Nicky/Whose food choices were so picky/She saw a trap/and the trap went SNAP!!!/And poor Nicky was so icky.” –Lauren Trout (G13, PO Box 13, Geneva, NY14456)

RIOT GRRRL!,$?, 8 ½” x 5 ½”, photocopied, 32 pgs.
This is a split zine by Jolie Drama and Hannah Neurotica about the feminist music movement that changed each of their lives. Jolie’s part of the split is about finding connections to other women and her own creative side through the riot grrrl community. Jolie writes in a very raw, stream-of consciousness kind of way without really focusing on telling a story that has a beginning, middle, and an end. As for the grammar and spelling, I wouldn’t even mention it if it were just a few things here and there, but not capitalizing words at the beginning of a sentence, writing “cos” instead of because, and using the “&” and “!” symbols in almost every sentence are sort of inexcusable. It’s difficult to take this seriously when it’s written in a way that I can hardly follow what she’s trying to say. Hannah’s side of the zine tells the story of her teenage years. She was a Green Day-obsessed high school misfit who eventually found her place in the riot grrrl scene and an internship at the Kill Rock Stars headquarters in Seattle. I thought that this was the much better half of the zine, though it could have used some editing, too. Both Jolie and Hannah’s stories are intensely personal—to the point of making the authors come across as pretty crazy. It’s like a thirty-two page manic episode that’s bursting with passion and urgency, riddled with grammar and spelling problems. –Lauren Trout (Lickmylit@gmail.com)

TECHNICOLOR POLKADOT #3,$?, 8 ½” x 5 ½”, photocopied, 28 pgs.
This zine is definitely way more thought out than the Riot Grrrl split (the other zine that Hannah sent in to review this time around). The stories are about the people who she hung out with during her college years, framed by references to the drugs they did and the music that was so important to them. Again, the stories in here all get awfully personal and Hannah shares a lot of strong emotions that most people would write down once and then hide to keep others from reading. –Lauren Trout (Lickmylit@gmail.com)