Welcome To This
Marta Chudolinska, 12 pgs, Private Spectacle Press, https://martachudolinska.com/
Welcome To This is made up of several illustrations and a two-page comic. Rendered in green and purple, most of the illustrations in Welcome to This are of flowers or animals entangled with flowers, as well as some vegetables with faces that resemble a more “realistic” Veggie Tales. The pairing of cool colours sets the tone for the zine, where an owl sits among the stars at night, and this evening scene feels as though it extends to the surrounding pages. It all looks lovely.
It’s something you would take care to enjoy the sight of, rather than pluck and putin a bouquet. The zine’s two-page comic entry depicts woodland animals making a zine. A squirrel carries apencil. A bird carries scissors, and a bear pushes a Riso on wheels. Where’d they get it? Who is to say! But you love to see new faces supporting the scene, you know? It’s a quick and funny take on the “forest creatures gather round” imagery from Snow White and other classic animations. And hey, a cute little squirrel laying its body weight against a stapler to put its ‘Foryst” zine together is a truly memorable and lovable image. There’s a welcoming and distinct personality to each thing, great and small, as with all of Chudolinska’s projects.