< zines >
THERE'S NOTHING TO DO HERE! #5/6 (double issue flip book) & 8
edited by Mason Adams
(Distributed free locally or $1.00 by mail, $3.00 for 5/6 flip. Web:
www.theresnothingtodohere.com)
Review by Tim O'Neil
This is quite frankly one of the best zines I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. The magazine’s ostensible subject matter – “the changing face of New Appalachia” – is one that I didn’t think I would find interesting, and yet somehow I found myself endlessly fascinated by the extremely diverse array of topics and opinions, all expressed in an impressively cogent diction.
These two issues (actually three, since 5/6 are a flip-book) represented a long evening’s read. I learned a lot that I would absolutely never have seen anywhere else about the changing economic, political and social face of one our country’s poorest and least-understood regions. The title belies the fact that there are some extremely interesting things going on in the area. It's slightly ironic, because it's pretty obvious just from reading these zines that Appalachia is as culturally rich and interesting a place to live as just about anywhere else in the United States. This would be a great example to give to any frustrated high-school or Jr. College-aged kid who was frustrated by the lack of variety in his small town: there’s something to do
everywhere, you just have to look a little.
Adams’ other main focus besides the issues specific to Appalachia is hardcore punk. He focuses on the Appalachian music scene when he can, but he gives himself a lot of leeway to interview and feature groups who may have nothing to do with the region other than having played a few shows there. I hadn’t heard of any of the punk bands featured herein, but that didn’t hinder my enjoyment: every article made a point of highlighting just why I should be interested in these strangers in the first place, by focusing on whatever interesting attributes made them worth interviewing. (It may seem like an obvious thing, but how many pointless and dumb interviews have you read wherein plainly fascinating people have been rendered positively boring by brainless interviewers?) One of the more interesting features was a multi-article forensic examination of a fascinatingly disastrous Yo La Tengo concert that featured bad comedy skits and surly audience members. This kind of eclectic and singularly enlightening coverage is the kind of thing that you simply can’t get anywhere else besides a zine; not even blogs have quite figured it out yet.
I don’t live in Appalachia, and a little bit of hardcore goes a long way with me, but
There’s Nothing To Do Here! approaches both of these subjects with enough wit, expertise and flair to draw in even a casual reader such as myself.
Of special note for any comic fans, there is a very good Nick Bertozzi interview in the 5/6 flipbook. It doesn’t have a whole lot to do with Appalachia, but its as good a Q&A session with Bertozzi as you’re likely to see anywhere until he sits down with
The Comics Journal.
[ Link to this review ]
