If you’ve ever needed a reminder about the joy that zines can bring, pick up a copy of “Confessions of an Ex-Zine Editor”. Having not made a zine since 2011, the Ex-Zine Editor returns to the scene with an issue in 3 acts that is heartfelt, funny, honest, and full of zine-love. Act 1 explains why the author — previously of long-running UK music fanzine Bubblegum Slut — gave up writing, zines, and music altogether. She talks about sobriety, finding both solace and obsession in yoga, replacing zines, drugs, and music with “adult pleasant activities” (mostly bingo), and a banishing spell for bad jobs. Act 2 celebrates Editor’s passions and the interests that motivated her to pick up the zine-pen again, and Act 3 spotlights what Bubblegum Slut’s many contributors are up to now — “Sexy Dave” Ashworth’s recap of all the gigs he had tickets to but didn’t attend is a highlight: it made me laugh, and I found it terribly relatable. The stand-outs for me are Act 1’s “Losing Friends and Alienating Myself”, which used the patches on Editor’s battle vest to talk about the loneliness in losing your identity, and Act 2’s “Reasons I Love Zines” which absolutely made my heart swell and swoon and shout “THIS IS WHY I LOVE OUR ZINE COMMUNITY!” with big ol’ heart-eyes. Honestly, if that page was turned into a poster, I’d hang it on my wall, a Zine Manifesto for us all.

I’ve gotta admit it: this zine surprised me. For one, it’s massive: the size of a mainstream magazine, almost a foot tall. I just don’t come across many A4-sized zines nowadays. And the cover art isn’t really the sort of illustration style I’m usually drawn to. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from it. But hot damn the writing inside drew me in and made me a fan! And the way Editor incorporates photography in their spreads is just great — I especially love the back cover, which is an “I Spy”-esque pile of items and imagery that tie into the zine’s content… and on the last page, there is a key to this photo index, explaining all the references. Genius!

This zine is personal and relatable, but still shot thru with fanzine energy (there’s a great interview with Delilah Bon, and the obligatory album review section). In the introduction, Ex-Zine Editor states that they hope this zine would be about “mourning the loss of things that are no good for you, and about figuring out who the fuck you are when you jettison your whole identity overnight… And (that) it would be a big love letter to zines and their mystical healing properties.” And I would say that’s a pretty damn great summation of this zine.