No One Likes to Keep Going After They’ve Cum
Comic, Shelby McLeod and Z, 8 pgs, shelbymcleod.com, $5
I picked up this slim illustrated zine during my usual 15-min period of frantic wandering/buying during Canzine Toronto last year. Shelby’s illustrations immediately drew me to their table – the cover of the zine features its title emblazoned across a back-alley garage door, and it’s an image that struck me as both heavy, stark and strangely cute at the same time. This zine explores what I think is the dissolution of a relationship juxtaposed against an artist spraypainting their thoughts in Toronto alleyways. There’s a drawing of a half-open door in what feels like a very Toronto-ish apartment, radiators lined up beneath the open windows, and shoes thrown off beneath the coatracks. Throughout the zine, there are frustrated musings: “How can I tell you what I’m thinking with my teeth clenched shut?” Later, as the artist faces another alleyway: ”I am not impressed, just easily forgiving, and in love with you.” I spend a lot of time roaming through the alleyways of Toronto with my dog Nattie. As she races down the asphalt, through the dead leaves, my mind often wanders towards the joys and fuck-ups of my past, towards how I can make things better in the future. I related so deeply to this zine and the way it quietly grapples with the soft anguish that accompanies being in love with someone who is not at all right for you. (Alison Lang)