Old Zines & Comics! Pt. 1
I think I’m going to be running a few different “series” here in the blog section of Xochitl and Nemo. The “conversations with chris” series has already started. This is the first post in the “Old Zines & Comics!” series, and I’ll also start a “sketches and orphaned ideas” series fairly soon (more on that later).
Mari and I went home in September for a couple weeks to visit family. While we were there, Mari found for me all of the zines I had ever made (except for one, ’cause I made it before I knew her)–I had given her copies of every one, but I’d thrown away or lost my own copies years ago. It was pretty neat to see things I had made in 1996-’98. I guess after ‘98 I lost interest in self-publishing in print (till now). Also, I think my life took a melodramatic turn after ‘98 until recently that also contributed to the dearth of creative output.
At any rate, it was really neat to see those old zines, most of which contained comics made by myself or contributors. It was surprising and satisfying to see that, in some cases, I liked the layouts and drawings I’d created back then–e.g. it was surprising to me that I had an “eye” for layout or drawing back then. I guess that means I usually think of the “me” of my late teens/early twenties as naïve or incompetent, doesn’t it? 
So, what I’ll be doing with this series is posting some excerpts from those old zines that I liked upon revisiting them today. Some of the work will be mine, and some of the work will be from the contributors.
Onwards! Let’s start with Euphorious Mouth #1, published in 1996. I thought “euphorious” was a word and nobody corrected me. It sounds better than “euphoric.”
The theme of the issue was “life and death.” Mari and I collaborated on the entire issue and came up with the theme together.
Below, we have the cover. I designed and wrote/drew the title. My little brother Jeremiah (9 at the time, and I was 18) drew the picture of our little sister’s guinea pig. He drew the picture while the g.p. was still alive, and he also was the one who wrote “:( Dead now” after “Guinea” passed on. Before it graced E.P.’s cover, the drawing was also published on our refrigerator, if I remember correctly.
The last page of the issue was just a quote that I liked at the time (by Aldous Huxley from The Island) about death and life, found in and torn out of a magazine. I drew the doodles on the page, pasted the torn-out quote onto it, and wrote “Epilogue” at the top with a permanent marker.
So there you have it! Highlights from Euphorious Mouth #1, published in 1996 on a fine Xerox machine (probably in OfficeMax), with a print run of 50 copies. Stay tuned for more trips down old zine lane to come.
-Miguel
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