This zine is everything Run With Scissors (also reviewed in this issue) isn’t–short, sweet, interesting, endearing, well illustrated, good. Starla! gets it right with this one. This super-short, quarter-page zine is comprised entirely of little observations and ideas, none of them more than three sentences long. Phrases like “I have mustard on my pants…again” take up whole pages and are accompanied by simple little sharpie line drawings. This is the best kind of perzine– one that doesn’t overdo it, and presents you with an interesting glimpse into the life and mind of the writer. Have you heard that Alfred Hitchcock quotation about good drama being life with all the dull bits cut out? That’s what a good perzine is too–it offers us a chance to see things from someone else’s honest perspective. The Johnny List Project does a fantastic job of taking out all the dull bits and leaving us with something new, interesting and definitely worth checking out. (Emma Healey)
Perzine, 14 pages, Starla! Blue, c/o Sharpie Fumes Collective, PO Box 31224, Halifax, NS, B3K 5Y1