McKay (scribbulus_ink) wrote in lupin_snape, @ 2008-09-18 12:39:00 |
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Current mood: | busy |
Fanzine Redux
I was telling lore about this, and she said I ought to share it with the community in hopes of encouraging others to do the same.
The short version:
I printed out Chocolate & Asphodel, the RL/SS 'zine, and it looks insanely cool. If you haven't printed it out or had it printed out, I strongly encourage you to do so because it looks fabulous, and it's a whole different reading experience that way.
The Long Version:
To give the 'zine some context, I'll start with a brief history lesson. As difficult as it may be for some younger fans to believe, fandom didn't originate on the internet, and fans have been writing fanfiction, drawing fan art, attending conventions, writing/drawing/editing fanzines, and squeeing over their pet obsessions for decades.
In the olden days, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and there were no personal computers, fans had to communicate via snail mail, and 'zines were mimeographed (some of you are, like me, probably old enough to remember huffing that purple ink as soon as we were given a handout in school), and later, they were photocopied. They were distributed via snail mail or sold in the Dealer's Room at conventions.
As a side note, if you've never been to a convention, watch Galaxy Quest. To paraphrase Homer Simpson, it's funny because it's true. Personally, I love 'em, but they can be intense and exhausting.
The first 'zines I ever bought were for ElfQuest back in the 1980s, and later, I both bought and contributed to Star Trek 'zines in the early 1990s. There's nothing quite like holding a 'zine in your hand, flipping through to look at the art, and then going back to read the stories, poems, and filks at a more leisurely pace. It's a totally different experience from reading fanfiction online, and 'zines are also designed with the printed page in mind, which gives them a different aesthetic.
And that brings us to Chocolate & Asphodel. If you were around when "the zine project" was in progress on the comm, then you may remember it was originally intended to be printed out, bound, and sold (not for profit) prior to the release of DH, but for various reasons, it was delayed, and it was released in November, 2007, as a free downloadable pdf instead.
The good side of that is that the 'zine was available to people who might not otherwise have been able to afford it or might have had to deal with overseas shipping costs.
The bad side of that is that karasu_hime designed it with it being printed out in mind, and while the pdf is lovely, it's not the same as seeing the text and art on the printed page.
I didn't want to shell out a lot of money for printing it at Kinko's or similar, and I was also a little reticent about taking slash material to be printed by other people, so I decided to print it out myself. I bought a huge 3-ring binder to put it in, and I already had a heavy-dury hole puncher, so I was set. I printed it out, punched the holes, and put it in the binder.
Let me tell you, it is a WHOLE different experience. The work Karasu put into the design and layout of the 'zine shows up far, far better in print than in the pdf. The graphics really "pop" on the page, the layout is clean, and the font is much easier to read. Plus, there's just something satisfying and nostalgic for me about holding printed fanfiction in my head, flipping through to look at the art, and going back to read the stories at my leisure. Some of you probably know what I'm talking about, but if you've never printed out fanfiction or bought a 'zine, it's worth printing out this 'zine for the experience.
When I first saw the completed 'zine in pdf format, I was impressed. When I looked at it printed out, I was blown away. I think we all owe Karasu another round of thanks for her hard work, and I encourage everyone to read the 'zine as it was meant to be read: in print.