The latest issue of Every Reason features a pleasing array of writers, poets, illustrators and photographers, not that we would expect any less from this bi-monthly literary zine sped to us all the way from Tennessee. Highlights this time around include Karley Bayer’s tale of obsession, related in razor-sharp dialogue over a cold beer at Smoky Joe’s, and Edaurdo Jones’ poem ‘Christmas Cookies’ — a colourful recollection of his grandmother’s house. ‘Beard Haiku’ is not to be sniffed at either.

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If you’ve got a soft spot for shoals, flocks or herds then Crowds could be the zine for you. No fuss, no messing about — just lots of large groups of animals and objects standing together, brought to you by Collemoki, a team of designers originally from Japan and now based in London. Cute as a button.

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It’s not every day you find the words “didactic” and “cartoon” lumped together, but I’m going to lump them together for you all the same. Balancing out critical theory with bright, charismatic drawings, Filmish is a serial zine exploring themes in cinema. This issue focuses on the exploitation of technology, beginning with Charlie Chaplin’s automated worker-drone in Modern Times, right through to the disaster-laden narratives of Star Wars and The Terminator. The comic is filled with sharp observations about how the advances of computing and technology have affected the way people are presented in film — whether the outlook is bleak and dystopian, or that of a brave new world.

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This fictional journey through the Canning quarter of Liverpool was sent to us by Kenn. Alongside wistful, finely-tuned drawings by Natalie Hughes, Canning presents a selection of Kenn’s poetry and prose from the last couple of years, bestowing a fresh mythology on the Georgian streets which characterise the area. Rather than a literal representation of the district, however, Kenn classes his work as “psychogeography” — evoking a sense of place, rather than reproducing it exactly. Look out for the Banksy rat at the top of Duke Street, and a sardonic exchange with the ghost of John Lennon. It’s a good approach to storytelling, and an interesting exploration of place. Forgive the odd purple tinge that crept in when I scanned the cover.

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Sheffield-based illustrator Missy Tassles sent us the colourful volume on the right, a collection of pieces from her comic That Is Your Trip. . . This Is Mine. It’s a very likeable, optimistic read about Missy’s everyday life and the things that entertain her. This edition includes the distinguishing characteristics of Missy’s grandparents, her jaunt to Margate and some musings on the mysterious Dr Shaw, a shadowy figure at Sheffield’s Showroom Cinema. There’s also a strong focus on music, with pages featuring Missy’s desert island discs, a profile of Joe Meek, and the challenge of picking out favourite songs to sing to a newborn baby. The stories flick effortlessly between recollections of being violently sick at a teenage Pulp gig, and more recent, adult rebellions — you know, bringing packed lunches to a McDonalds food court.

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Washtower, an appealingly droll collection of vignettes and one-panel cartoons, will make you look at plug sockets differently. The man behind it all is Ben Rowe, an illustrator with a taste for the mundane — brought to life by his surreal sense of humour and knack for puns. Among these pages, you’ll find the Naan On Wire (doesn’t end well) and a tray of Watercrass (parental advisory: it’s foul-mouthed). This is also Ben’s very first zine, so we’ll be keeping a keen eye out for more of his work.

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Noisy! Zine is a helpful guide to the current crop of bands laying claim to the Essex music scene. First printed in 2004, the zine’s ethos is all about encouraging people to go to more gigs by reporting on all the fun things happening in the area. Issue 7 [pictured] is a little different, however, as it sees Noisy! hit the road for Brighton, where they have been invited to put on a show as part of the city’s Fringe Festival. There’s an entertaining diary to chronicle the event, where a few vital lessons are learned about Victorian mourning customs (?!) and tucking into fish and chips while deeply stressed. It’s impressive to find such thorough music coverage for a single county, and the writers are honest about the successes and failures of trying to create a buzz when lots of people remain indifferent at best. It’s a worthy struggle, though, and the zine is a positive example of supporting the cultural output of your locality.

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And now for something a little different. We first glimpsed Steve Butler’s illustrations in The Pasty Anthology when he contributed a story about the dangers of crossing the road to Greggs. On being pressganged for more examples of his work, Steve apologised that he didn’t have any zines on him at the moment. . . then sent us a shiny new copy of his graphic novel instead. Score! Richard and Julie’s Story is a tightly-paced mystery narrative focusing on a young man whose life has suddenly begun to unravel. After his mother’s death, Richard and his partner face the challenge of sorting through all her old papers, comics and photographs — only to find out that the dates don’t add up. Richard’s father, supposedly dead since Richard was three, suddenly doesn’t seem so dead, and Richard is determined to find out why he has been lied to all this time. There follows a gripping adventure as he darts between prison cells and seedy encounters on the quest to piece together his past, the search taking a toll on his sanity. A haunting tale of betrayal and paranoia.

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As well as running his own distro, Peter Willis is pretty prolific when it comes to making zines. Crime Scenes is one example, featuring a varied assortment of topics — from the impracticality of hardbook books, to coming up with answers to children’s dead-end questions, to a handy introduction to the Guatemalan hardcore scene. Peter also includes an absorbing essay on Peckham, which examines the diversity and energy of the district against Antony Gormley’s rather patronising comments made last year. Further on, there’s also a review of a lecture given by Slavoj Zizek in July 2010, boiled down into a digestible summary of atheist hedonism, democratic welfare, and capitalism. On a lighter note, the zine concludes with a list of celebrities Peter has seen in the flesh, including, for better or worse, Tim Westwood, and the man off the Barclays advert.

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The La-La Theory is a lively appraisal of the ways we use language today — and all of the surprises it can throw at us. Issue 6 looks at the cultural limitations of vocabulary, for instance, when a particular emotion is assimilated by some languages and not others — “saudade” (Turkish) and “kaiho” (Finnish) both evoke a longing for something which is unlikely to return. There are plenty of other discussions too — Katie’s thirst for learning new snippets of language sets her on a constant trail of discovery. She describes visiting thrift stores and finding such gems as Teach Me To Read, a 1959 grammar workbook filled with an accidental poetry entirely its own: “Do you want to play with my little piano? /Take a knife and fork and eat your meat”. There’s also an interview with Rachel Manija Brown, who adapts manga and Japanese novels into English, capturing the nuances of the text rather than settling for a stiff, formal approximation. It’s her job to reassign the intended puns, honorifics and onomatopoeia to a translated text, keeping the jokes firmly in. Did you know that “niko niko” refers to the state and sound of smiling? Well, now you do. Merry Christmas!

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