The art deco-y baby-blue cover and chaotic background gives Neufutur an awesome look in spite of its lo-fi means. Unfortunately, it seems that creator James McQuiston commits the cardinal sin of the perzine: assuming too much prior knowledge. Because a majority of zines are obscure by their very nature, it’s not always safe to assume that your readers are familiar with previous issues. McQuiston’s constant references to past “ruts” make this issue somewhat confusing to read. However, McQuiston is by no means the first to commit this folly, and the air of mystery surrounding some of these references might convince a particularly intrusive reader to seek out his back catalogue. In short, Neufutur portrays McQuiston as something of a contradiction on wheels. On the one hand, he appears to be a self-centred rascal with a decided appetite for unwittingly using fancy words to prove his worth: “I can say I espouse them until my dying day but I may just be deluding myself to the end.” On the other hand, he appears to be a tormented bi-product of his safe American upbringing: “What have I done, who have I wronged to be given this roll of the dice? When will this end?” If this sounds like something that might wet your whistle, by all means give McQuiston a shout. He seems very well-connected with other zinesters, and hearing from you might just give McQuiston a boost to escape his latest “rut”… although I still have no idea what that means. (CG)
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