Making Comic Zines

Making Comic Zines by Eddy Atoms is an instructional book with an independent and do-it-yourself attitude! Four characters—the rhino drummer Leon, the artist cat Bobby, Carmie the puppy girl who reads manga, and Toy, the thing that stepped out of a toy commercial—guide you on your journey to create “zines”—taken from “maga-zine,” comics you make and publish yourself. Because, as Atoms says, “when life’s monotony gets you down, where else can we go but into the plumbing of our own minds?” Oh, yes to that.

I love Atoms’ illustrations. They’re perhaps somewhat crude, but who cares? The creative spirit of the author shines throughout the book. As Atoms reassures us through art and writing, you just use your creativity to make a zine—“no digital editing needed.” And what’s more, the whole book (including the quirky illustrations) is in the style of a zine!

Weaved into this instructional zine is a little story about a farmer who lives in a futuristic world called “Pootonia,” where he digs up—you guessed it—poo all day long, “turning alien cow dung into clean energy for the oligarchs back on Earth.” He then desires to create his own zine, and luckily (or stupidly), the gang comes to help him and you too… or so the story goes. I give this book five stars because it’s very creative, especially the Pootonia story!