John lost his long-lived feline friend Maisie before writing this issue, which lends it a tinge of sadness. A drive in a moving van leads to an attempt to dictate a comic to his wife, with mixed results. Later, a series of comics chronicle the adventures of Diogenes the Cynic, the original punk rock philosopher. Simply drawn and always heartfelt, a classic comic perzine. $3 $2, half-sized, 36 pages.
Much of this issue is concerned with the adoption of two new cats after the loss of John's longtime companion Maisie. Stories of kitty hijinks follow, along with metalhead memories, reader response, the Top-40 list (a King-Cat fixture!), and introspective poem-like pieces, all illustrated with John's basic-yet-evocative drawings. King-Cat is a definite must-read for any comix fan. $3 $2, half-sized, 32 pages.
The newest issue of John Porcellino's renowned personal comic kicks off with a reflection on sobriety. Later on, a teenaged John and pals perpetrate an ill-fated copy scam. More stories in this classic comics zine focus on a return to Trinidad, depression, wisdom tooth removal, and a paean to the suburbs. Twenty years after John's first issue, King-Cat remains one of the best comics zines around. $3 $2, half-sized, 36 pages.
Shae's (The Road of Sand, Paingiver, Tragikotatos) new personal zine is built around three separate "dialogues," which can be told apart by their typography. The computer-typed sections are an interview with Shae's "dead Romanian poet lover" Tristan Tzara, where she and "he" talk about writing, politics, religion, etc. The typewritten parts are stream-of-consciousness vignettes about Shae's past (both the real past and the dream past), favorite things, and secrets. Handwritten parts comprise the introduction and a list of definitions, each like its own little one-line poem. Shae sometimes doesn't like it when people say this, but there really are not any other zines like hers out there: raw, honest, intellectual, and gorgeously written and laid out, this is yet another classic perzine from one of my favorite zinesters and people. $2, quarter-sized, 40 pages.
This is a split between one of my all-time favorite zinesters, and a great new discovery (for me), respectively. Ciara's new zine is one long story, starting with her move to Kansas and being a �grad school widow,� then segueing into stories about her mom's conversion and de-conversion to Islam, closing her distro, thoughts about physical disability, and the community she has in Lawrence and how it compares to previous experiences trying to find a political community in big cities. On the flip side, Ailecia's zine discusses Lawrence punk scene history, college memories, and gives a realistic warning to those planning on going to grad school, which should be required reading for anyone considering spending years of their life on it. $3, quarter-sized, 80 pages.
Ben Spies' litzine contains five stories, running from only a few paragraphs long to novelette-sized. These minimalistic stories concern the everyday lives of ordinary people, confronted with situations from dying animals to dying relationships. The standout story is "Stagger Lee," an exploration of the effects of bullying on a high school science student. Spies' fiction is good enough to be in any literary journal, and is definitely one of the best litzines out there. $2, half-sized, 32 pages. (Only two copies left!)