Fisting
Perzine/artzine, Arwen Savage, arwensavage.com,$5
As someone who is generally harder on myself than I am on others, Fisting hits close to home. The cover features a girl bleeding from her eyes as she claws deeper into herself, surrounded by black. Through out the zine we see the girl surrounded by this darkness, with short but impactful statements, such as: “There is a false sense of security in self deprecation.”Savage manages to depict the character’s situation so effectively with little variance between the drawings through-out the zine. The use of the dark bubble and her reluctance to exit the void even when a loved one comforts her feels incredibly real. While I am intrigued by Savage’s use of black and white space, the writing is also incredibly soothing. Savage manages to tackle the issue of self-harm without coming off as trite, or unrealistically positive. It should be noted that rather than depicting the protagonist cutting herself, the dramatic truth of self-harm is gently muted as the character is depicted clawing her eyes out. It’s an exaggerated and slightly unreal effect that allows the text to be accessible to those who have self-harmed without being triggering. (Rachel Davies)
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