I’m not quite sure what to think about Monstress. Una Crow is certainly provocative as one of the creators of Mad Cow zine, but her solo effort is a bit bland. Don’t get me wrong, the zine was a good read. The zine promises an intelligent woman full of ideas, opinions and radical thoughts against the conventional, but really, where are they? This is supposed to be about “trespassing in the boy’s club,” but there are only traces of this stated theme. The art is twisted, I loved the Lil Medusa comic (despite the fact I didn’t really get it), and I appreciated the candid entry into Una’s relationship with her father. The enclosure of the letter to her MP regarding Bill C-36 (the Anti-Terrorism Act) was an intense statement. I admire her perspective concerning what past Canadian governments have executed upon Canadian citizens and the belief that “the bill criminalizes itself, group membership and personal associations rather than action.” However, after reading such a strong piece of political objection and persuasion, there wasn’t much else to mention that crucially related to trespassing on any club, especially a boys’ one, even though most of her topics were on simply that: boys. (Lara Atkins)
perzine, 36 pages, Una Crow, $2, 229 Willow Avenue, Toronto, ON, M4E 3K6, [email protected]