Singles: a collection of punk romance short fiction
Chris Eng
The stories in this collection of short fiction are tied together by the theme of young punks navigating relationships. Some of the relationships we encounter are brand new (the shy guy meets comic shop worker girl who schools him in
Doctor Who knowledge), some are casual (the on-again off-again couple who stop in an alleyway for a foiled quickie) and others are being nurtured (the collection is bookended by anniversary stories). Not all of them have happy endings, and there's even a twisted version of O. Henry's Gift of the Magi (better known to me as the Bert and Ernie Christmas gift exchange story) midway through the collection in the story "Feel Good Factor."
Stop by and read about punks in love.
Crud Three
Vicki Nerino
Vicki Nerino's Crud series features characters who live in a sewer doing appropriately disgusting things, like blowing snot on the cloth of a hot air balloon to mend it, and pooing off the edge of the balloon's basket (made of a garbage can) to propel it off the ground.
But each story is really about friendship and the struggles to keep friends safe and sound. With minimal dialogue, Crud Three follows the search for a turtle named Tuna through this underground mess.
If you like gross mixed in with tales of friendship, Vicki's work is for you!
How the world actually works: unscientifically proven facts from Finland
Liisa Aaltio
"Modern world theories, the development of science and growing technology has, for a long time, fogged our knowledge of the real facts about how the world actually works," writes Liisa Aaltio. She then proceeds to share "8 unscientifically proven facts" she learned growing up in Finland that explain everyday events.
Each fact is accompanied by drawings illustrating the point. Facts include collecting and placing flowers under your pillow to see your future spouse in your dreams, home gnomes who live behind fireplaces and mess up your house if you behave "improperly," and trolls that will build houses in your teeth if you don't brush the sugar away before bed.
Hello Sunshine
Emily Taylor
Using non-traditional storytelling — with images surrounding the text rather than following a paneled comic structure — this zine tells an abstract story of spending summers in a cabin and the experiences the characters (or the author) have with surrounding nature.
This brightly coloured, accordion folded zine depicts summery things such as triangular cabins, foxes, girls in summer dresses, forests and preserves such as jellies and jams.
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