a place for zinesters - writers and readers

Have your zines changed over the years?

Being in the over thirty category, I have noticed my zines have changed from when I discovered and made my first zines to the zines I do today.

My first zine, WARFEAR, was an anarcho-punk zine focusing on punk, animal rights, politics etc . I started WARFEAR when I was 20 (1992). I did WARFEAR for 3 years and then ended it when I moved (1995).

I tried and failed to do many zines after, all focusing on the same themes and felt they were not what I really wanted to do.

I finally got back into making zines in in 2000 while working at an art store, and put out two zines, a mIni comic, Banzai Robot Wars and BANZAI,a music and art based zine.

Currently I am still doing BANZAI, tho I don't know how many more issue's I will do, as my interest in music style zines is waning. I also do THREAT N INK , a DIY-comics collaberation zine, which is one of my real loves and a zine I have a deep affection for.

I am noticing that as I get older I am I crave doing zines that are more personal in nature, or art based, rather than politics or music. I have several zines in the works that focus more on the personal side, and I like that. One is about my travels to Japan, another about stories from my youth, a third about meeting celebrities and also some more mini comics.

I do wonder what zines I will be doing in say 10 years, or 20? Will my grandkids think I am crazy when at 70 I am trying to explain why I still print zines on paper?

I would love to read others feelings on this issue!

--Jethro

Tags: change, old, young, zines

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ericka Bailie-Byrne on September 5, 2008 at 4:27pm

These days I only make photo zines. No more perzines that read like personal therapy sessions.

Permalink Reply by Alex Wrekk on September 7, 2008 at 5:34pm

My zines have totally changed over the years... but I'm a human that is growing and changing so I figure my zine is allowed to as well. Some people like to change the name of their zine but I like that I have the same title to my zine for over a decade.

Permalink Reply by superdilettante on September 10, 2008 at 11:31am

Funny, I'm feeling more like making a "personal therapy" zine these days. I feel, more than ever, that we start zines because we want to have conversations with other people. And when I think back on some of the zines that did the most for me, it was the ones that were obsessive, or crazy, or brave, without fear...

I remember sending my zine to a friend in Germany, and she was so shocked that I would write the things I did for relative strangers. At the time I thought she had a point, so I stopped to think about what I was doing and what it meant. That's when I stopped writing my zine.

Now I'm thinking again about why I'm doing things. Full circle, maybe.

Permalink Reply by Androo Robinson on October 14, 2008 at 2:31pm

I think I draw better than I used to...hope so, anyway.

Permalink Reply by Douglas Alan Waltz on October 21, 2008 at 9:58am

The only thing that is really different is my tastes in what I cover and the quality looks better with computer set up

Permalink Reply by Ryan Mishap on February 19, 2009 at 10:29pm

Good discussion.
I think, maybe, that first zines--usually done when younger but not always, of course--will mirror what zines and culture you find yourself in. It is normal, and desirable, for one's focus to shift over the years.
My own zines have always been politics-heavy, but also always kooky and absurd--and I have always had fiction. I didn't do it because i was getting older or more mature (hell no), but I intentionally started writing more personal bits where the politics were a part of the life and experiences rather than an abstract essay. i could talk theory and make arguments, but real life is much more interesting and messy.
The best thing about zines is that every one can do one and they can do whatever they want! I may have read that anarcho-punk essay decrying some negative aspect of our world a million times, but there's always someone just getting exposed to it who gets inspired. I like to think that those initial excitements help solidify principles so that when we want to do something else, those beliefs are incorporated into our personal zine, our comics, and, now, internets stuffs.
We'll keep printing words on paper and the cyborgs of the future will think us weird--why don't you just beam your story into my brain-circuitry you old coot!

Permalink Reply by kami on February 28, 2009 at 6:46pm

my first zines back in the mid 80s were noise noise noise - a punk music zine and then splatter videos (self explanatory) - then it drifted into Sprak! a mix of punk and film, then a more personal aggressive rip off of Answer me and then funhouse which was a music/lit zine and now i'm doing Sprak! again - which is back to the splatter/cult films... plus the odd one off on music and things i find interesting but essentially i seem to have gone back to the beginning but now i know a bit more so it's the old man vs you kids of today routine... :P
i still get a kick out of seeing words in print, putting together a zine, all that stuff...

Permalink Reply by Olivia Arrow on March 29, 2009 at 10:12am

I hear you! I also feel like my music/arts/culture zine is starting to become less appealing, as I too am leaning more toward the personal side. I have been wanting to make a new zine, completely personal (but fun and engaging, of course!) but at the same time I am getting more private as I get older. Does this make any sense? I just can't stop making zines as it's one of my true loves in life. But I want the content to be a little closer to my heart while keeping from being tmi.
Anyhow, I would love to see your zines about your Japanese experience!
Also, I have a section in my main zine about celebrity run-ins...would you like to contribute one of your experiences -and then also promote your celeb zine?
Thanks for allowing me to blab. It's nice to know others feel the same!
XOXOlivia

Permalink Reply by Eunice on May 31, 2009 at 7:36am

Hello! I'm 48 and just starting to get back into the zine thing. I was in SF fanzines, apas etc. Never really dabbled in zines outside of fandom. I'm planning to do my first zine in donkey's years (not counting a couple of apazines) and it's scary! From what I've seen, zine folks seem to be around my daughter's age (she's 22).

My early zines were rather naive really. I don't think I've changed that much. I'm still interested in 2000AD (especially Judge Dredd), SF and so on. I think I'm not as: I want to say angry, but that's not it at all. And It's not passionate, as I'm still passionate about things. I get more het up about the plight of battery farm hens than "right on" politics. I think that what I'm trying to say is that the 80's were my formative years and the world is different now.

Permalink Reply by kami on June 1, 2009 at 12:41am

but since all those kids seem to be nostalgic for the 80s (look at the music and movies out right now) this could be our time to shine :)

Eunice Seren Probert said:

Hello! I'm 48 and just starting to get back into the zine thing. I was in SF fanzines, apas etc. Never really dabbled in zines outside of fandom. I'm planning to do my first zine in donkey's years (not counting a couple of apazines) and it's scary! From what I've seen, zine folks seem to be around my daughter's age (she's 22).

My early zines were rather naive really. I don't think I've changed that much. I'm still interested in 2000AD (especially Judge Dredd), SF and so on. I think I'm not as: I want to say angry, but that's not it at all. And It's not passionate, as I'm still passionate about things. I get more het up about the plight of battery farm hens than "right on" politics. I think that what I'm trying to say is that the 80's were my formative years and the world is different now.

Permalink Reply by Paula do Prado on June 1, 2009 at 5:18am

I only started making zines in my late twenties and I'm hooked. I've always been more into visual stories...they're a little weird...a little obscure. I get bored easily so I make my zines in editions of 5 or 10 or one of a kind artist books. I'm becoming rather obsessed with making photo books. I think I'll be making zines till I can't press the buttons on the copier and then I'll use a stick if needs be, or I'll hire an assistant. I keep a copy of all the zines I make so I'm looking forward to looking back in 10 years time and seeing how my zines have developed.

Permalink Reply by Monstress Zine on July 2, 2009 at 11:45am

my zines have changed a lot. my current zine started as sort of a reaction to my first zine, madcow, which was very explicitly political grrrl and trans empowerment and since i was editing a collaborative zine for a collective of young women and girls, i ended up storing up all this stuff that didn't really fit in madcow. when madcow was done, i started my new zine monstress and all the monsters, movies and pulp fiction came out. while i think it might seem less personal in some ways, because it's less revealing about what i guess we usually mean when we talk about personal, it's more personal in lots of other ways. it's way more artsy-fartsy.