Mini Zine Monday: Art Bean Zine #1-3 by Krista Vendetti

These zines are a bit of a curiosity. I got them in a craft swap on a site called Swap-bot, which is for the most part not connected to the zine community, even when members make zines themselves. It’s sort of like a little parallel universe, a bubble where a zine culture has arisen almost completely separately from the “mainstream” zine community. Nyx from Sea Green Zines noted the existence of this other zine community in episode 2 of her podcast “The Zine Collector.” These zines are harder to come by than most, as they are generally never sold, only swapped with other craft swappers. And, as Nyx noted, they are almost always one sheet mini zines. I’ve encountered a few others on swap sites, and even those are short, mostly accordion zines. There are some ties between that community and the main zine community, particularly when zinesters get into craft swapping or vice versa, but for the most part, it’s like the two communities don’t know each other exist.

• Title: Art Bean Zine #1
• Size: 1/8
• Pages: 8
• Published: 2011
• Available: Probably not

This zine is absolutely gorgeous, in full color, with colorful painted paper, collage, and rubber stamping. Inside it is mostly handwritten. This zine is about art, specifically techniques to use when making ATCs (artist trading cards), art journals, zines, and other craft projects. This one focuses on making backgrounds and details.

• Title: Art Bean Zine #2
• Size: 1/8
• Pages: 8
• Published: May 2011
• Available: Probably not

I think this zine has my favorite cover, which has a bunch of circles cut out and pasted from marbled paper! As expected, inside you can find instructions on how to marble paper! There is also a spread on packaging tape transfer art and a mixed media piece on making messes while making art.

• Title: Art Bean Zine #3
• Size: 1/8
• Pages: 8
• Published: 2011
• Available: Probably not

This zine is painted on an old magazine page, and opens up to show the other side of the magazine page. This zine contains a quote from Aristotle on art, tips on where to find old magazines, and talks a little about how the zine itself was made.

I don’t spend much time on craft swap sites any more since they take up a lot of time and money, but I still have my collection of craft swap zines, which mostly focus on art and sometimes poetry. If you’re interested in crafting and zines, you might also be interested in swap sites. There’s Swap-bot, Craftster, Facebook groups, ATCsforAll, Postcrossing, sendsomething.net, and a variety of pen pal sites.

Mini Zine Monday: Meta Mini Zines

For Mini Zine Monday this week, I’ll be reviewing four mini zines about zines!

• Title: You Should Know About Zines!
• Author: Brusque Babe
• Size: 1/8
• Pages: 16
• Published: ?
• Available: Ask author
• Price: $1

I ordered this zine directly from the zinester, and it was well worth the dollar I spent on it. This zine does what I might have thought was impossible before. It introduces the world of zines in a super appealing way in just 16 small pages. This zine is handwritten with small print, so some people may find it hard to read, but for those who don’t find it difficult, this little zine packs in a lot of useful info. The zine starts out by listing a bunch of zine-adjacent interests that might mean someone would be into zines once they’re introduced. Then there is a section defining what a zine is and giving some of the history of modern zines. This section is surprisingly meaty, covering the difference from blogs and the advantages of the format.

Next, the zine emphasizes how accessible zines are and how anyone can make one. There is a page explaining various zine genres, zine fests, zine libraries, and other places to find zines. Some of the links on the back cover are a little outdated, but overall this is an awesome resource for telling people about zines. I personally include this zine in my box of zines that I show people during my zine workshops. I could imagine people buying a bunch and handing them out like tracts as a zine evangelist!

• Title: Your Table is Ready!
• Author: Nyxia Grey
• Size: 1/8
• Pages: 8 + 1 full spread
• Published: 2015
• Available: On Etsy
• Price: $1

I got this wonderful full color cut-and-paste zine in a trade with the zinester. It’s a little guide for tabling at a zine fest. The zine is double sided. The first half you can read like a traditional mini zine, then you can open it up and find a full spread on the other side with more helpful information! The zine starts out by giving some tips to people who are interested in tabling at zine fests, including how to be aware when registration opens and how to fill out the application form.

There is a recommendation for fliers and business cards, as well as a list of useful items to have with you when you table. One thing I recommend the most is to have price cards with a description of the zine in question on each one. This zine also has tips for trading, pricing, how many zine to bring, how much money to have on hand, and more! I definitely recommend this zine to anyone who wants to table at a zine fest. Give it a once-over before you leave to make sure you haven’t forgotten something!

• Title: Zine Prompts
• Author: Vicky
• Size: A7
• Pages: 8
• Published: 2017
• Available: http://penfightdistro.com/resources/freebies/
• Price: Free

I got this zine as a freebie in the largest trade I’ve ever done (with someone in the UK!) It’s primarily a list of 40 zine-making prompts. Some are fairly obvious, like making a comic or making a zine within a certain time limit, but others are more helpful. The zine has a lovely cut and paste format, and also has a list of questions to ask oneself for inspiration and a list of inspirational words. If you’re looking for inspiration to make a zine, definitely download a free copy of this printable zine! It’s A7 size, which is roughly equivalent to a 1/8 size zine in US sizes. If you’re in the US and want a copy, make sure that when you print it you set it so it fills the page, rather than at 100%, and trim off the extra white space at the edges before folding it up.

• Title: Practical Zine Making
• Author: Vampire Sushi Distro
• Size: A7
• Pages: 8
• Published: ?
• Available: http://vampiresushi.co.uk/distro/?p=1076
• Price: Free

I also got this zine in the aforementioned largest trade. This one is specifically about the nuts and bolts of making zines. It starts out with some advice about numbering pages and keeping margins in mind, then gives a template for a ten page 1/2 size zine and a 22 page 1/4 size zine (in both cases, not counting the front and back cover.) Then it shows how to assemble the zines and lists some other zine resources. If you’re new to zine making and want to do more than a single sheet mini zine that there’s a million tutorials for, check out this zine!

Mini Zine Monday: POC Mini Zines

• Title: Superpower
• Author: Margot Terc
• Size: 1/8 size
• Pages: 8
• Published: ?
• Available: No

I got this zine from the zinester at Betty Zine Fest 2017. This zine is about the power of creating, and how people who aren’t represented in the media can and should create our own representation and use our power of creation for activism and social change. It’s about how significant art is, and how anyone can make it. Very inspiring!

• Title: Biracial Bandits
• Author: ?
• Size: 1/8 size
• Pages: 8
• Published: ?
• Available: No

I got this mini zine along with issue one of the larger Biracial Bandits zine in a trade. It’s an art/poetry zine about having mixed blood and feeling like you want to tear yourself apart over one’s inner contradictions, particularly if one is mixed with white. The zine is a mixture of collage and drawings with text on top, and a short poem on the back cover. All the pages are covered in red glitter glue (nail polish?) like blood. As far as I know only 30 of these zines were made.

• Title: Deseos
• Author: Chris Quinn
• Size: Approx. 1/8 size
• Pages: 16
• Published: ?
• Available: Unsure

I got this little zine in my first in-person zine trade at a QTPOC conference at UC Berkeley. There was a room where people were selling crafts, so I brought zines with me and initiated a trade with the first person I saw who was selling zines. This zine is about wishing for things, and how wishes seem more and more unattainable as you get older. After realizing this, the author wishes to not be as lonely. This zine is a mixture of text and drawings, but isn’t quite a comic. It’s a little rough around the edges, physically, and it makes you feel something when you read it.

• Title: Growing Up Salvadoran
• Author: Yeiry
• Size: 1/8 size
• Pages: 8
• Published: ?
• Available: On the zinester’s website
• Price: $1

I bought this zine from the zinester at Betty Zine Fest 2017. It’s a short handwritten/drawn zine of anecdotes about growing up Salvadoran in the United States, some silly and amusing, like how the author’s aunt was able to get a huge fish through customs when coming to visit, and some more serious, like how genealogy is so difficult because so many family documents were burned during a war. I’m Mexican-American, not Salvadoran, but I related to the part about the family tamale assembly line. Definitely worth adding to your collection!

• Title: Island of Love and Rage
• Author: Rachel Casiano Hernandez
• Size: 1/8 size
• Pages: 8
• Published: November 2017
• Available: Unsure

I got this zine very recently in a trade with the zinester, along with a letter responding to one of my zines she got from me at a zine fest, as I explained in my first review on this blog. It’s about being Puerto Rican, constantly having to defend Puerto Rico and it’s citizens to even well-meaning white Americans, and about the way the past treatment of PR ties into how much of a disaster it finally was when hurricane Maria hit. It also touches on ancestry and how history is written by the victors of wars. Others tend to end up forgotten. This is a zine about anger and grief and frustration, and well worth reading.

• Title: Supplemental Slander 8 1/2
• Author: Mimi Thi Nguyen
• Size: 1/8 size
• Pages: 8
• Published: 2013
• Available: No

I got this zine as a freebie when I ordered some zines from a distro, probably Brown Recluse Zine Distro. It’s mainly a list of advice regarding how to resist “sexist education” and to do your own research, even when it’s unpopular. This is essentially advocating skepticism, which is something very important to me and the way I view the world (see these tweets I made: https://twitter.com/ParadoxRevealed/status/955963099382677505), though it also says that when a breaking point is reached, sometimes we have to take what we can get at the time. The style of the zine is very cut-and-paste, and at times is a bit difficult to understand. It still provides some food for thought, though.

The Litchfield County Zine Fest is Happening!

I haven’t mentioned it much here yet, but I’ve been trying to start a zine fest in Connecticut for the last year. I applied to get an arts grant from the state, but they got put on hold because of budget issues. But today I just found out I’m going to be getting the grant, so the Litchfield County Zine Fest 2018 is going to be a reality, and tablers won’t have to pay a fee!

I haven’t gotten the official official notification with the contract I have to sign yet, but a person from the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council emailed me to tell me I got the grant, which you can also see here on this official state website: http://www.cultureandtourism.org/cct/cwp/view.asp?a=4346&q=600560

I’m super excited about this, and will soon be able to reserve the venue and finalize a date, and then send out tabling applications!

Assembling a 1/4 Size Zine

Someone on the Zines and Zinesters Discord server was confused about how to put together a 1/4 size zine from my instructions, so I took a quick photo series with my Ipad. I’ve decided to preserve it here in case anyone else is confused. Sorry for the blurriness. (Also, I realized after I stapled it that this was one of my earlier zines that used a different layout, so I needed to re-do it afterwards, but this will work fine with the following layout):

Here’s the photo series:

Step 1: The stack of pages.

Step 2: Set the paper cutter to cut horizontally along the center of the pages.

Step 3: The stacks of cut pages.

Step 4: Pick up the top stack and set it on top of the bottom stack.

Step 5: The final stack.

Step 6: Fold the stack in half.

Step 7: Staple along the fold.

Step 8: Finished stapled zine.

Hope you found this useful!

Mini Zine Monday: More Queer Mini Zines

TW: Homophobia, biphobia

• Title: Xicanx Crybaby: Fresas Frescas
• Author: Xicanx Crybaby
• Size: 1/8 size
• Pages: 8
• Published: ?
• Available: On zinester’s Bigcartel shop
• Price: $1

I bought this zine from the zinester’s Bigcartel shop, along with another zine. It’s about existing as a Xicanx, brown, genderfluid person and facing transphobia from people, going away to college, learning that there are other options for gender than cis man and woman and that they/them pronouns made them feel more comfortable, and resisting gender norms common in latinx communities. The zine is laid out in plain text with a single image on the cover. The words are sharp, biting, and empowered. This zine is definitely worth picking up, especially if you identify with any of the experiences listed.

• Title: Queer Rage Against the Straight Gaze: The Imitation Gayme
• Author: Kaye Medcalf/mountlandme
• Size: A7
• Pages: 8
• Published: ?
• Available: Unsure

I got this zine from the zinester after they posted about it on Tumblr. It came all the way from the UK. This comic zine is shown as a dialogue between the director and the people portrayed in the movie The Imitation Game, pointing out the movie’s homophobia, sexism, and tired gay tropes. This is a great little zine, though there is one part that seems on first glance to suggest that sexless relationships are childish or not fully adult, but in the context of the movie desexualizing Alan Turing, it makes sense, as sex with other men was an important part of his adult relationships. I don’t know whether it’s possible to get a copy of this zine still, but it’s scathing critique of The Imitation Game is well worth reading.

• Title: Bisexual Health Month (Prize Zine No. 8)
• Author: J. C. and Rochester Public Library Q Club
• Size: 1/8 size
• Pages: 8
• Published: 2017
• Available: Unsure

I got this zine in a trade with the zinester. This zine starts out by defining bisexuality and telling how it differs from pansexuality and biromanticism, but I’m not sure I agree with the pan definition used (I personally use the “attraction to all genders” definition, not the “no preference for the gender or sex of the person” definition used in this zine) or that bisexual implies attraction to both binary genders (I know bi people who aren’t.) It also uses “polyromantic” and “polysexual” to refer to polyamory, when “polyromantic” and “polysexual” have an entirely different meaning to some people (attraction to more than one, but not all, genders). This may sound like nitpicking, but as a bi/pan person myself, I find language to be very important. I believe this zine was made by bi-identifying people, so I can’t be too harsh, but it is perfectly possible for bi people to erase other bi-spectrum people’s identities, so I felt I needed to point it out.

The zine also has a list of bisexual myths and refutes them all, then gives a list of resources. While I wouldn’t recommend this zine as an initial introduction to bisexuality, but would still show it to people who already have a grasp on the basics of bisexuality to bust myths, give extra resources, and introduce them to the controversy over language in the bi community.

• Title: Bisexuals: We’re here, too. We’re Queer, too.
• Author: Une Friandise Press
• Size: 2″ x 3 5/8″
• Pages: 32
• Published: June 2012
• Available: On zinester’s Bigcartel shop
• Price: $1.50

I bought this zine directly from the zinester, and it came in a mid-sized padded envelope despite its smallness. The author told me I was the first to buy it. While this is a tiny zine, it’s still packed with content. While a few things are out of date (it’s a bit old compared to some of my zine collection), it still has a lot of good information. It spends a lot of time busting bi myths and biphobia, then has some drawings of famous bi people. It also has some frequently asked questions and a list of resources. The entire zine is handwritten, and each copy is individually colored in with colored pencils. Definitely worth checking out, considering how rare it is to find bi zines.

Mini Zine Monday: Queer Mini Zines

TW: Transphobia, gender dysphoria, body image

I just realized that I also wanted to review mini zines on this blog, but that if I reviewed one at a time I’d be doing some really short reviews, especially for the mini zines that are mostly art or have very little text. So instead I’ve decided to feature a bunch of mini zines per post on Mondays. I’ll try to keep to a theme, but I’ll probably also do variety reviews. I have a lot of mini zines.

• Title: Are You a Boy or a Girl?
• Author: Jennie Paik
• Size: 1/8 size
• Pages: 8
• Published: 2017
• Available: On Etsy
• Price: $3

The first zine is an art zine about gender. I got my copy in a trade with the artist/author at a zine fest. The artist/author responds to being questioned about their gender by making a bunch of illustrated responses, some of which are silly, some of which are more deep. Definitely worth picking up for the cute art! There is a drawing of 3.4 squids in a trenchcoat!

• Title: Transphobia. It’s Funny Right? Nope.
• Author: Carrie
• Size: 1/8 size
• Pages: 8
• Published: ?
• Available: On Etsy
• Price: $0.50

I got this mini zine as a freebie when I ordered another zine from the zinester. This zine is mainly about how Urban Outfitters has a history of selling offensive clothing and other items, including some with explicitly transphobic language. There are also some quotes on gender and clothing and fighting oppression, as well as some advice for fighting transphobia. I don’t believe the author of this zine is trans themselves, but it is still worth reading by allies who want to know a little about the controversy over Urban Outfitters.

• Title: Dysphoria
• Author: J. C.
• Size: 1/8 size
• Pages: 8
• Published: 2016
• Available: Unsure

I got this zine in a trade with the zinester, who I met on Tumblr. This zine is a combination of art and poetic text describing his experiences with dysphoria. The art is intentionally chaotic and scribbly and expressive. Definitely worth checking out, but may be triggering to people who experience dysphoria around gender.

• Title: The Void
• Author: Kat/disabledfemme
• Size: 1/8 size
• Pages: 8
• Published: February 2015
• Available: Not currently

I got this zine in a trade with the zinester after we met on a website called Skittlr, which I’m not even sure exists any more. Since then we’ve connected elsewhere online as well. This is another zine about gender feelings, as well as the feeling of being empty inside and eventually coming to accept the void inside oneself and grow from it. The zine is all poetic text that is arranged artfully on the pages and packs an emotional punch. Once again, this zine may be triggering to people who experience gender dysphoria, and perhaps depression as well. The zine isn’t currently available, since the zinester’s Etsy shop is on vacation.

• Title: I Don’t Have a Body
• Author: Charlie Lentz
• Size: 1/8 size
• Pages: 16
• Published: ?
• Available: No

I got this zine from the zinester in a trade. Following a trend, here is another zine about gender and body feelings. Like The Void, this zine uses artfully placed poetic text to express strong feelings. It is about coping with negative body feelings and society’s prejudices by “not having a body.” Again, potentially triggering for mention of transphobia, alcoholism, eating, and negative body image.

• Title: I Have a Body
• Author: Charlie Lentz
• Size: 1/8 size
• Pages: 16
• Published: ?
• Available: No

I got this follow-up to I Don’t Have a Body from the zinester’s Etsy shop, which is still open, but no longer carries either of the mini zines. It’s about the zinester reclaiming their body and refusing to allow others to “consume” and use it, and how painful the process of becoming visible/physical is. This is more of a perzine than the last zine, as the text is less poetic, but the words are still artfully arranged. Trigger warning for body image, bleeding, patriarchy, eating, and smoking.

Zine Review: Dig Deep 8 by Heather

• Size: 1/4 size
• Pages: 48
• Published: April 2017
• Available: On Etsy
• Price: $2

I’ve been a fan of Dig Deep zine since my early days of zine collecting, as they are some of the first to show up when you search “zine” on Etsy, and they are all either $1 or $2, so they are very accessible. The layout of zines in this series are very clean, but still very zine-y, with old-fashioned clip art and a variety of fonts. These are very much perzines, and they contributed to making the perzine genre my favorite zine genre.

Dig Deep 8 was the first issue to come out in over two years, and it’s a nice thick one. Maybe not compared to many of my perzines, but it’s still very text heavy compared to a lot of perzines nowadays, and it is very well written. The zine is divided up into three parts. The first part is titled “Zines,” and is ironically about the author feeling conflicted about her relationship to zines and stepping down as an organizer of the Chicago Zine Fest. Heather asks hard questions about whether it still feels right to share so much of herself to strangers when many of her friends have moved on from zines.

The ending of this section is bittersweet, recognizing how much zines have meant to her, but also that she, to some degree, has moved on. It saddens me, because I’ve been a fan of her zines for a few years now, but I’m glad she’s made friends and grown because of the zine community. It would be sad to see her distro, Stranger Danger, close down, especially since I distro some of my zines with her. I think what really gets to me about this part of the zine is my own worries that someday I’ll grow out of zines, that they won’t mean as much for me as they do now.I guess I’m afraid of changing, of looking in the mirror and not recognizing myself. I’ve definitely had times, especially recently, when I’ve spent more time on game development than on zines, but zines are still a major part of my life. I want the love and connection zines bring to continue in my life, and to spread those things to new zinesters though my workshops. I don’t know how long it will last, but for now I’m holding on.

The next section is titled “Mail.” It’s essentially a love letter to sending letters and other forms of mail, and all the wonderful things the author has gotten out of having pen pals. One thing she talks about in this section is an event she and her friends invented called 31 Postcards in 31 Days, in which they send 31 postcards in the month of October. Also described is an exhibit at a local art gallery where people who have experienced trauma sent in postcards talking about healing, and the author comments on how mail itself can be healing. I agree. I love getting and sending mail, though I tire easily when I have to write letters by hand, which may be related to my multiple sclerosis. I don’t have a lot of close pen pals, but I still do a lot of zine trades and write letters to the people I am close with when I can, and I cover the envelopes in stickers and washi tape, hoping to brighten someone’s day. As is described in the end of this section of the zine, mail is a way to cultivate the love one has with the people one is closest to, despite the distance.

The last section of the zine is titled “Care.” It’s a guide full of suggestions for caring for yourself and others. It’s divided up into 11 parts. I won’t spoil them all here, but I will say that it includes such varied things as questions to ask oneself, actions to take, actions not to take, a book to read, and things to consider. Not all of the suggestions work for me, particularly those that recommend daily records of things, because I’ve tried that before and it can become obsessive, something I feel guilty about if I don’t do (this is why I don’t keep a diary,) but I’m sure they’ll work for some people.

This is probably not the zine to read if you’re brand new to zines, but boy did it make me feel things. I recommend it especially to people interested in sending mail and pen pals, as well as people looking to be more intentional in how they care for themselves and others. This zine makes me want to write more letters to my friends. I think I will.

Zine Review: Cat Party #1: Five True Cat Stories by Katie Haegele

• Size: 1/2 size
• Pages: 32
• Published: ?
• Available: On Etsy
• Price: $3

I don’t quite know how to categorize this zine. It’s a selection of excerpts from the author’s book, Cat’s I’ve Known. There isn’t exactly a zine genre for selections from books, but since it’s stories of personal experiences with cats, I’m categorizing it as a perzine.

I got this zine at Quimby’s NYC bookstore in Brooklyn, NY. Coincidentally, I was there with my mother because we were in the process of adopting a cat from the local shelter, even though we live in NW Connecticut. My mother saw the cat online on a list of animals that were about to be euthanized. The cat was on the list because she had a respiratory infection, some dental problems, and was an older cat. When we got to the shelter, the people working there pointed out how unusual it was to save a cat from the kill list, particularly if it was an elderly cat. We brought her home and now she lives in my brother’s bedroom, because our other cat still can’t be around her without trying to attack. Her name is Diva, and she’s really bonded with my brother, sleeping next to him on his bed most of the time. Most of the time she’s a super chill cat, but sometimes she’ll swat at you if she doesn’t want to be pet, and she digs very aggressively in her litter box.

Now, to actually get to reviewing the zine! I love the cover! It has a bunch of cat drawings that show a lot of personality. The inside of the zine is laid out much like a book, which makes sense, given that this zine is made up of selections from a book. It doesn’t look super zine-y on the inside, but it’s still put together by hand in a normal zine size with two staples along the crease. In between cat stories are several more cat drawings to illustrate the cats being described.

The first cat story is about a former pet named Sylvester who like to watch boxing on TV. The next story is about a librarian’s cat she knew when she was a student in a Catholic school, but it’s also about libraries and computers back before the modern days of the Internet, and the secret lives of the nuns who staffed her school.

The next story is the longest selection, about a cat named Trixie. Trixie was the author’s first cat that was hers and hers alone. She spends some time talking about her first job out of university, setting the tone, and then tells about how she decided she simply had to have a cat of her own, and how the perfect cat practically dropped into her life. Then her dad died, and she moved back home for five years. Trixie went on to help brighten her life. Eventually Trixie had to be put to sleep, after 14 years of being the author’s friend. This piece is an emotional rollercoaster. I alternated between laughing and feeling the sadness of losing friends and family.

The last story is about the author’s current cat, named Coco. She got her when she was already elderly, but accepted that “there’s no love without loss.” The zine ends with an sweet ode to Coco. I really enjoyed reading this zine, as I’m a cat person myself, and I’ve had to lose cats to dogs, cars, and old age. I’ve never had a cat completely to myself, but I will someday. This zine is incredibly well written, which does make sense, considering that it’s excerpted from a published, edited book. But it also retains some of the zine feel, sharing stories about cats that aren’t just about cats. It’s also about life, death, growing up, and the little things that you remember as time passes.

Zine Review: I Love Soda #2-4 (+ Mini Zine) by Rebecca B.

I got these zines in a trade with the zinester (I think I bought a few, too) at the Betty Zine Fest 2017. We were in the same row of tables, so we ended up talking. I showed her the soda reviews I have in a few issues of my zine Anecdata. She also had a free mini zine, which I’ll also review here. Sadly, she didn’t have any copies of the first issue.

After first hearing of these zines on the Sweet Candy Distro website, I thought they’d be more “artsy” or “hipster-ish.” While they do include the author’s photography, the soda fanzine aspects are played completely straight. These zines really are about loving soda. If you love soda and/or photography, definitely check out these zines!

• Title: I Love Soda #2
• Size: 1/2 size
• Pages: 12
• Published:  August 2012
• Available: From Sweet Candy Distro
• Price: $2

This zine begins with happy surprise that so many people were interested in the first issue, and goes on to explain why the author decided to write such a zine. She actually was primarily interested in showing the photos of soda she’d taken, both analog and digital. And of course she loves soda! Scattered throughout the zine are little personal anecdotes about various sodas, as well as a fan letter the author received and a selection of survey responses collected at the Portland Zine Symposium. This zine is straightforward about what it is and a breath of fresh air after reading some more abstract zines.

• Title: I Love Soda #3
• Size: 1/2 size
• Pages: 12
• Published:  August 2013
• Available: From Sweet Candy Distro
• Price: $2

This issue of I Love Soda is almost entirely photos with short captions about what is pictured, and occasionally a personal anecdote. There is also a list of the top-selling sodas of 2012 with some commentary. The zine features a variety of local sodas as well as the difference between older bottle/can designs and the current ones.

• Title: I Love Soda #4
• Size: 1/2 size
• Pages: 12
• Published:  July 2015
• Available: From Sweet Candy Distro
• Price: $2

This is the most recent issue of I Love Soda, and it actually has two introductions written in two different years. Apparently the zinester had been working on it for a while. This zine lists the top-selling sodas of 2013 and 2014, has a zine fest report and how soda became relevant at the event, shares more survey responses, and has a lot of photos with captions, as usual. This issue definitely has more text than the last issue.

• Title: I ❤ Soda
• Size: 1/8 size
• Pages: 8
• Published:  July 2014
• Available: Unsure

This little zine was made at the 2014 Portland Zine Symposium during a mini zine workshop. It contains some basic information about the zine series and the zinester’s favorite sodas, as well as information about some limited edition sodas out that summer. Best used to see if someone is interested in the idea of a soda fanzine before giving them the real deal.