Koogmo #9
Zine, Anthony Abelaye, Issue 9, PO Box, 861294, Plano, TX 75086, USA, $1
Funny, quirky, or strange – those are the attributes that tie the stories in this collection together, at least judging by the submission guidelines on the last page. I wish I had read that page first, because not knowing made this collection of random factoids, crackpot philosophy, prison letters, and other snapshots of life not just hard to make sense of, but downright depressing!
A heartfelt intro confirms that Abelaye indeed worried this assemblage was “too random.” Said intro was written on a typewriter he found on the ground in 1993, and judging by the ink flow it is either poorly calibrated or recently had its ribbon changed. Why is this important? Well, it gives this zine that 1990s feel — it’s like a relic from a time when zines generally fell into three or four categories: fanzines (interviews and reviews), perzines (creative nonfiction), tribute zines (zines about specific bands), and everything else — those rare zines that just seemed to be about ANYTHING. Koogmo takes me back to that last, most random, occasionally troubling kind of zine; a zine that is like stumbling over a letter you’re not supposed to see or intercepting a recording that is disturbing out of context. Thrill-seekers should order and weirdos should contribute. (Chris Landry)