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THE FREE PRESS DEATH SHIP #2
And the Death Ship continues to sail, still striking a blow for true freedom of press (that is, without
the now-standard taxation, regulation, and censorship generally imposed upon the media of a ?free country?). This periodical
honestly promotes independent publishing in a number of ways, by providing small press news, informative updates on less-than-scrupulous
entities in the zine community, a publishers? forum in the form of a sizeable letters column, reprints of appropriate excerpts,
and a generous listing of zine reviews and contact addresses. (This latter section didn?t seem quite as fat this issue as
it did the last time around, but as it still contains over one hundred listings it remains a valuable resource in itself.)
Also included in this issue are an interview with venerable proprietor of The Match!, Fred Woodworth, and a host of piratical
etchings and artwork making for most fitting text accentuation. The Free Death Ship #2 even comes with a very handy and informative
slip-in guide to U.S. postal rates and classifications, listing charges by weight as well as destination and giving me a clearer
definition of what ?Media Mail? is than the postal officers were able to do (basically it?s the new ?Printed Matter? / ?Book
Rate? fee - that tells me more than the answer I got one day at the P.O., ?We don?t have ?Printed Matter? no more.?). No mere
catalog of variable-quality zines, The Free Press Death Ship is at once a sourcebook, sounding board, news service, and all-around
lighthouse for the DIY publisher. And as I may have said last time, a publication that truly deserves attention and support.
So send your efforts, and better yet some always appreciated cash, and help The Death Ship stay the course.
* * * *
Free / donation from Violet Jones
P.O. Box 55336, Hayward, CA, 94545
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HAPPY #2: Elephant, Bunny and Chicken ? By Josh Simmons
Git yer smilin? faces on, because it?s another juicy and peculiar issue of HAPPY! There?s a friendly drawing-board
chat with master Josh Simmons himself in a segment of ?Autobiographical Comix,? wherein Josh shares his insights into said
genre before relating a valuable ballpark lesson learned about the dangling ballsack; that chapter?s simple line drawings
are contrasted with the ultra-fine cross-hatched journey that is ?The King of the World Makes a New Friend? (also heartwarming,
this one); there?s a hearty chortle to be had with a golden shower thanks to a holy ?Helping Hand?; and there?s one final
chapter of cruel reality before Happy 2 comes to a close. It?s all fine stuff, and I?m quite sure it?s good for you, too.
* * * *
$3.50 + age statement from Top Shelf Productions - www.topshelfcomix.com
P.O. Box 1282, Marietta, GA, 30061-1282
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HOLY SHIT ? Reinhard Scheibner
How does one begin to explain watercolors of naked youths squeezing shit out of a giant sea cucumber to
fertilize phallic cacti? In this hallucinatory multi-media collection Reinhard Scheibner doesn?t strictly offer any explanation,
rather he simply opens up the vaults of repression and desire and evacuates them upon the drafting table. In a therapeutically
fetishistic representation of a pure fascination with metropolitan squalor, Scheibner displays a simultaneous fascination
and contempt for mankind, sparing not even himself in what literally becomes a sociological and scatological deconstruction.
Fecal representations of humanity appear throughout Holy Shit, and whether in rips on the Impressionists and social scenes
or with lively turds painted onto home furnishings and molded anthropomorphic feces, Scheibner takes the lowest possible look
at society in this aptly titled tome. But it?s not all about shit ? other sick wonders herein include self-mutilation, auto-fellatio,
darkly expressive nightlife settings, monstrous sexual and scientific experiments, psychedelic microbes, dances of pleasure
and death, scenes of cannibalism and racism, and a wide array of sexual activities conducted out of boredom, depravity, or
anything other than love. Among the paintings, models, colored drawings, and the like, some particularly striking examples
of Scheibner?s work are stark black and white, almost cartoon-style, pieces that appear to depict various bad behaviors taking
place in colonial Africa. Le Dernier Cri?s lovingly silkscreened reproductions faithfully display Scheibner?s works in all
of their sickly beautiful colors, except in a rare place or two where scanning or registration blur some details unmercifully.
A fine and contemporarily warped volume of grotesque realism descended from the likes of Dix and Grosz, Holy Shit is a wonder
you really ought to behold. (And hell, in ten years this?ll be worth at least $200.)
* * * *
15 euros from Le Dernier Cri - www.lederniercri.org
41 Rue Jobin, 13003 Marseille, France
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HUMAN DOG POUND #2 ? By D. Rat
I don?t know which feels better ? coming across a brand new publication of heinous mastery for the first
time, or opening up the mailbox and being surprised to find a second issue hot on the heels of the debut. Human Dog Pound
is about the sleaziest comix zine I?ve seen lately, and that makes it a rare thing indeed. It?s got everything you might expect
from the title: bestiality, retardation, misogyny, and flat-out brutality, all running rampant across mayhem-filled pages.
Between single-image savagery the strip ?Family? takes dysfunction to a new level, ?You Fucking Weirdo!? looks at a pack of
?em, ?Bloodclot? is a fucking freakshow, there?s the welfare drag ?Solution,? and ?You Give Me the Creeps.? Hell, there?s
even a dog-fucking pin-up! On a not-so-exuberant note, this issue also includes a eulogy to Andrew Sheen. Perhaps better known
as Gus Chamber, front man for the vile and misanthropically brilliant Aussie band Rupture, Sheen?s indulgences apparently
caught up with him all at once. Fuck, I?d wondered what happened to that guy . . . Ah shit, better that than going prematurely
senile and becoming a geriatric joke on music television. But back to the meat of the issue, this is some weird wild shit
from down under that perfectly exemplifies real underground comix. C?mon, baby, you know you want it . . .
* * * *
$4.00 from D. Rat
P.O. Box 1662, West Perth, WA 6872, Australia
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MACHINA MUNDANA ? By Marcel Ruijters
Presented on colored parchment stock and thickly stamped with multi-hued scratchboard panels, the overall
impression of Machina Mundana is that this is an illuminated manuscript from a long-lost tribe of demi-human mystics. And
within its pages Marcel Ruijters? typically surreal mythology unfolds to depict the life cycles and rituals of strange races
and savage creatures: troglodytes, penitents, monsters, martyrs, saviors, the damned, and the dead all cavort through timeless
landscapes filled with appropriately curious wildlife and landmarks. Are these atavistic fragments of an eternally symbolic
dreamscape, or simply figments of an imagination rich with myth and folklore? In either case this is a rare and beautifully
crafted piece of work that anyone would be proud to own.
* * * * *
$11.00 / 11 Euro - www.xs4all.nl/~troglo
Marcel Ruijters: P. Jacobsstraat 6, 6133 AM Sittard, Holland
Le Dernier Cri: 41 Rue Jobin, 13003 Marseille, France
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THE MATCH! #98
For some reason I found this issue of The Match! quite a bit more reasonable and approachable than the copy
I read several years ago. After an editorial ironically suggesting that the best way to overthrow The System might be to support
its overload by encouraging ever-more-ridiculous extremes of bureaucracy and police statism, The Match! presents its regular
columns as well as articles on this issue?s theme, fanaticism. There?s the alarming twist on the Police Beat, ?Who the Police
Beat?; ?Freedom Eclipsed? looks at some of the many, many examples of why the term ?free country? no longer applies to ours;
Ivana Martin takes ?A Look at the Violent Student Syndrome? that includes a severe examination of the faults and hypocrisies
of the Blac Bloc; there are detailed reviews of and commentary upon ?Publications Received? that often include related news
items (of particular note is the account of active censorship against The Opera Glass, a zine about, yes, opera, that?s been
practically banned in its region, as well as a very sensible warning against the use of ?private mailbox? shops); a perceptive
rag-out of the Harry Potter books (?Why I?m Not Wild About Harry?) by Iris Arnessen; correspondence; and more. This copy of
The Match! also came with a pamphlet reviewing the Koran; from the sound of it, not only is this holy ?recitation? a particularly
sadistic text, but one that?s also practically satanic in its megalomaniacal intent and the way in which it grants special
self-serving favors to ?The Prophet? (including cousin kissin? privileges). As Woodworth concludes his review, ?We have witnessed
the result.? Although Woodworth explicitly lays out his anarchist beliefs (including ?Criticism of, and resistance to, all
statist laws and authoritarianism?) The Match! is very much more a watchdog of diminishing freedoms and a signpost of things
to come than a soapbox for personal propaganda. There?s an awful lot of eye-opening material here, all of it proving time
and time again that the truth is a very scary thing. No mere pamphlet, this ?Journal of Ethical Anarchism? is a full 80 pages
long, and at number 98 The Match! is a publication impressive for both its longevity as well as its utter independence.
* * * *
Free (but send a cash donation, hey?) from Fred Woodworth
P.O. Box 3012, Tucson, AZ, 85702
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GALATEA LIVES #14 -
The central features to this issue of JDMZ?s successor are a pair of articles entitled ?The Cult That Rapes Its Children?
and ?The Third World War Has Already Begun.? In the first author Jeffrey Deboo takes a stern look at the Roman Catholic Church?s
damnable practices regarding the pederasts of their order, particularly the way in which they not only retain such members
but actually go to some lengths to aid and abet the offenders in their midst. Not at all an hysterical anti-Christian raving,
this lengthy essay deeply researches the ugly phenomenon to name names, dates, figures, and statistics as well as delving
into the psychopathology of the felonious monks and the consequences of their actions upon their victims. (One of the most
unpleasant aspects of the epidemic is that often the levying of the harshest deservable penalties against the offenders is
prevented by the fact that by the time the priests? victims are old enough and brave enough to confront their victimizers
and make their accusations, the statute of limitations for the crimes has run out.) ?The Third World War . . .? examines in
world-wide detail the diabolic mindset and accompanying actions of Islam?s ongoing anti-West jihad. As usual Deboo?s analysis
is thorough and eye-opening, and fortunately after a number of despicable examples it does reach a favorable conclusion with
some fair suggestions and the statement, ?Above all, the Third World War is eminently winnable.? Other regular features of
Galatea Lives include further dour news from the ?Global Warning Watch,? zine reviews, brief film commentary, and several
pages of correspondence. A fine example of a writer?s publication. * * *
$3.00 + age statement from Jeffrey Deboo - P.O. Box 930, Gresham, OR, 97030-0214
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GALATEA LIVES #15 -
Galatea Lives continues to keep a sharp and watchful eye on the Middle East, with significant articles looking at American
reactions to 9/11 ?One Year Later? (from the perspective of the government as well as pacifist/protester cliques) and a critical
examination of ?The Religion of Peace and Justice? through the words and deeds of the followers of Islam. In other articles
editor Deboo enters, explores, and gladly exits the world of the Internet, compares ?The Old World and the New,? takes an
odd look at ?Succession? that for some reason promotes the idea of androids being built to outlast human life on earth while
also supporting the ?Rare Earth Hypothesis,? and indulges in a bit of fantasy with ?If ?Our Kind of People? Ran Things.? There?s
also some poetry (including a reprint of Kipling?s ?The Truce of the Bear?) and frank thoughts on the Bali bombing (with a
few choice words on how our over-eager anti-war demonstrators haven?t seen fit to protest the ongoing atrocities committed
by Iraqi and Islamic regimes), recent films, zines, George W., the DC snipers, genetically modified foods, and global warming.
Deboo also keeps a lookout for ever-growing Big Brotherism: ?In July the FBI issued a warning that people with known terrorist
connections have been downloading images of major sports stadiums from the Internet. Kind of interesting that they know who?s
been downloading what from the Internet, don?t you think?? Despite having already overdosed on CNN in the past weeks, I?m
actually kind of looking forward to what Mr. Deboo has to say about the current shitstorm in Iraq in the next issue of Galatea
Lives. Tune in next time . . . * * *
$3.00 + age statement from Jeffrey Deboo - P.O. Box 930, Gresham, OR, 97030-0214
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HEADHUNTER #3 & 4 -
More crazed (and most possibly hash-inspired) portraits from Monobrain. Headhunter #3 is photocopied so darkly on such thick
stock the pages are almost glossy with images of cartoon mutation: heads elongate and distort to the point of explosion, chaos
rains down upon every page, and guest artist Rael contributes a few dozen small, almost Picasso-esque portraits. Issue four
is a smaller, square number with a full-color cover, and is full of groovy (if sometimes crudely drawn) monsters. Headhunter
four also comes with a one-track CD inventively inserted into it, full of the same static, squealing, and electronic buggery
that ?niet centrum voor niet kunst, idiote elektronika & wanstaltige extatica? is renowned for. I think these may be ?trades
only,? so send sumpin? over and see what you get. * * *
Monobrain / DeHondenkoekjesfabriek - Postbus 68, 7700 AB, Dedemsvaart, Netherlands
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L?HORREUR EST HUMAINE #4 -
?Nouvelle Encyclopedie Pratique D?Hygiene et de Medecine Pour Tous.? A perfect-bound publication with a beautifully printed
full-color cover, L?Horreur Et Humaine appears to be something of a medical dictionary enhanced with archival illustrations
and the black & white contributions of over two-dozen multinational underground/comix artists. Not speaking French (aside
from the token phrase, ?I don?t speak French, you cock.?) I can?t tell if the text entries are authentic definitions of conditions
and procedures or instead Dadaesque figments of medical fetishism, but the collection of artwork stands out in any language.
Some of the more outstanding artistic examples presented here are Antoine Bernhart?s psychotic Japanese scenes, Marco Corona?s
ejaculating disemboweled Judas, spooky scratchboard pieces by Matthias Lehmann and Thomas Ott, Olivier Texier?s cannibal mutants,
and Zven?s incredibly simple but incredibly creepy offering. Many of the drawings have a medical theme, and nearly all of
them have a disconcerting nightmare aura to them, so that even the less impressive pieces still work to balance out the numerous
definitions and anatomical diagrams. One drawback to L?Horreur . . . however is the lack of quality control in the layout
and printing process. Everything, text and images alike, has been scanned and manipulated electronically, marking nearly every
page of the book with noticeable pixellation. The identification of the artists is peculiar as well, being only listed alphabetically
at the end of the book. This is apparently the order in which their work appears, but still makes the matching of a piece
to its author sometimes difficult. But these minor flaws aside, L?Horreur . . . is a truly cool collaborative idea and a nicely
twisted little package of work. Inspiring, even. * * *
Sylvain Gerand - 26, rue du Tapis Vert, 79500 Melle, France
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HORSEBACK SALAD / MAIN LINE TRACK REHABILITATION / ZOOK AND MAX: AIN?T WHAT THEY USED TO BE / ZOOK AND MAX: WEIRD IN THE BASEMENT
? By Tim Kelly ?
Tim Kelly is apparently quite the prolific comic artist, claiming around 80 of the things to his credit (he?s something of
a musician as well, see the Audio Reviews section for review of his Demos: On the LIRR and In the APT), and this batch of
four recently made it my way in a packet tagged with multiple toy and cartoon character stickers. Three of these variable-length
digests concern the alien critters Zook & Max and their wacky adventures here on earth, while Main Line Track Rehabilitation
is about a li?l Jewish goth chick and a li?l Jewish hippie chick who, um, buy toys. The Zook & Max comics are filled with
a lot of bad gags and puns, desperately wacky characters, statements that are either inside jokes or completely out of left
field, odd pop & comic culture references, and one-liners that are explosive to the characters but just bewilderingly off-the-wall
to this reader. One sample strip: Box 1: An excited guy says, ?I?ll have a cheesburger.? Box 2: A clerk with a taco for a
head says, ?We?re all out of sausages.? Box 3: The customer screams, ?ONIONS?? Yeah, it?s like that. I?m all for off-the-wall
nonsense as long as it?s ridiculous and juvenile enough to tickle my puerile funny bone, but all of these strips seem so damned
inoffensive and restrained that they completely miss my mark every time. Almost as if they?re aimed at a child of Kelly?s
or a young friend of the family who ?gets? Tim?s oddball sense of humor and commentary. Me, I can?t quite tell where the hell
these things are coming from. Is this DIY stoner humor from the simple-minded average American household? Or some sort of
recovery therapy? Kelly?s a fairly accomplished comic artist, having a knack for cartoon exaggerations and facial expressions,
but unfortunately appears to draw a number of his strips freehand on ruled paper, giving a sloppy careless impression to much
of his work. I kinda wanted to like these, but despite my lifelong love of the comic medium I found them a bit of a chore
to plow through. *
$1.00 each from Tim Kelly - www.angelfire.com/ny4/timkelly/9/ - 105 Madison Ave., 6th Floor, New York, NY, 10016
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I WAS ELVIS PRESLEY?S BASTARD LOVE CHILD & Other Stories of Rock & Roll Excess ? By Andrew Darlington ?
The subtitle to I Was Elvis Presley?s Bastard Love-Child, & Other Stories of Rock & Roll Excess, leads potential readers to
believe that this collection of Darlington?s interviews of various musicians might be a wild tour bus ride through some of
rock & roll?s more explicit and illuminating stage, studio, and dressing room moments. But much like the claim of the title
this is not quite the case. Darlington has a formidable history of experience interviewing rock luminaries, and he handles
his subjects and his writing fairly well. Most of the pieces read not so much as a drab series of Q & A sessions, but more
like lively sounding boards for the artists to discuss their careers, inspirations, and phases, fleshed out with pertinent
biographical and historical details supplied by Darlington. Sections such as ?Joe Meek ? Death of the Telstar Man,? ?Fleetwood
Mac ? Peter Green: Splintered,? ?Jefferson Airplane ? Grace Slick: Better Living Through Chemistry,? and ?Can ? Holger Czukay
On the Way to the Peak of Hyper-Normal? provide colorful and intriguing chapters of musical history and influence. But four
truly interesting chapters out of seventeen leaves a lot of extra space to wade through. Those who own the albums and have
followed some of the innumerable press pieces on these (primarily) famous artists and are here hoping for dramatic, controversial,
exciting new accounts are bound to be somewhat disappointed. Think Robert Plant really wants to rehash some legendary exploits
of ?Rock & Roll Excess?? Hell no: ?I?ve got no Hammer of the Gods salacious tour stories. And I can?t believe that anybody
wants that shit. Tell them to fuck off!? Darlington listens to Leftfield?s Neil Barnes talk dance & techno, then tosses in
a couple of sarcastic post-interview addresses (?So tell me, O Well-Vibed One,? and ?O Dance Activist Supremo?), his piece
on Dave Davies seems to draw more from Davies? autobiography Kink than from discussion with the man himself (and there are
those who might argue Darlington?s claim that Davies ?patented all of Heavy Metal?), the interview with Siouxsie Sioux is
frankly boring, as is the artsy piece on Cabaret Voltaire, and there are definite communication breakdowns with Kraftwerk?s
Ralf Hutter and ?Mr. Hip Priest? Mark E. Smith. Bland sections on Byrd Gene Clark, Country Joe McDonald, Ian Hunter, The Stone
Roses, and the defunct Skunk Anansie seem supplied simply for name-dropping filler and promotional purposes. Another Critical
Vision book well over 200 pages, this might sit proudly on a fanatical collector?s shelf, but on my part working through I
Was Elvis . . . was much more effort than enlightenment. * *
$19.95 (+ postage?) from Headpress/Critical Vision - www.headpress.com - 40 Rossall Ave., Radcliffe, Manchester, M26 1JD,
United Kingdom
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THE LEIGHTON LOOK 5th Edition, 2002 ?
Still as much a ?letter substitute? as a review sheet, The Leighton Look continues to report on aspects of Rodney?s life as
well as whatever has passed through his mailbox in the last month or so. A jumble of reviews here, including a ?Harlequin
Intrigue? novel, Zine Project bundles, sports, books, flicks, music, publications, etc. Many of the reviews are brief, though
Urban Hermitt #13 and Off Line #20 receive lengthy paragraphs. All are infused with Rodney?s blunt honesty, which also favorably
carries over to his commentary on his personal life. One interesting thing I noticed in this 6-pager is that in a couple of
places zinester/zine scene infighting is mentioned, a curiously prevalent phenomenon in independent publishing. On a better
note, with this issue Rodney seems to have relented somewhat from his previous ?I don?t do trades? position, implying potential
growth and distribution of The Leighton Look and its covered material (funds for postage & reproduction allowing, of course).
* *
?Something interesting? from Rodney Leighton - R.R. #3, Tatamagouche, N.S., B0K 1V0, Canada
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LIVING FREE #125 ?
This issue of the eight-page newsletter is largely taken up by correspondence and response in a semi-debate type of forum,
not unlike that presented in JDMZ/Galatea Lives. Topics covered inlcude global warming, conservation, satellite defense, and
a handful of other briefly covered issues, along with a fantasy homesteading scenario for surviving the end of the world (elements
of which are also refuted by editor Stumm). There are also short book reviews, a bit of zine news, and a few classified ads.
A bit sparse for two bucks, but its longevity indicates it?s a valuable resource to some. *
$2.00 from Jim Stumm - Box 29-PR, Hiler Branch, Buffalo, NY, 14223
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tmcrites@earthlink.net
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