http://igg.me/at/shanezines/x/4442261
http://igg.me/at/shanezines/x/4442261
Last chance to become a supporter of my Indiegogo funding campaign, Four New Zines, and claim one of the awesome rewards. It ends at midnight PDT tonight, which is 2am here. If you miss this opportunity, don’t worry I will have copies of the zines at Zine Fest Houston (Oct. 12 at the Museum of Printing History in Houston) and at the Garland House Art Show in Little Rock on December 6. I may also have some copies available for mail order (For details email: shane.patrick.boyle@gmail.com
covers uncovered
Montage of cover images from the four new zines.
At last, I am ready to reveal the cover art for the four new zines I will be debuting at Zine Fest Houston (Oct. 12, 3-8pm at the Museum of Printing History). All of these are part of my Indiegogo funding project. The Indiegogo campaign ends in 52 hours as of this writing, so you still have time to claim the rewards including copies of the zines themselves. If you miss that deadline, look for me at Zine Fest where I will have copies for sale, and if you can’t make it to Zine Fest, email me (shane.patrick.boyle@gmail.com) for information about ordering by mail.
Cluttered Mind # 3
Offline Adventure # 1
Ouachita Journal # 1
shane # 9
A Chat with shane patrick boyle, founder of Zine Fest Houston!
Today’s spotlight is on Shane Patrick Boyle, a long time creator of zines and the founder of Zine Fest Houston, whose first event was held in 1993. That’s 20 years ago! This guy has held the helm of ZFH in the past and even from afar helps ZFH be as great as it can be in every way! Thanks Shane!
How did you become interested in zines?
When I was a kid in Beaumont, I dreamed. As many kids do, of starting my own comics publishing empire. This dream was still alive throughout most of high school. In ninth grade, our family moved to North Little Rock, and I started going to a comic shop called Collector’s Edition on a regular basis. The owner was Michael Tierney, who created and self-published a…
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coming soon: four new zines
It has been a while since I have posted on this blog, but although I have not been on this page, I have been busy. I am currently finishing up four zines that I plan to print and take to Zine Fest Houston (Oct. 12). The four zines are:
- Ouachita Journal # 1: articles about Arkansas and essays about my experiences living, here, in Mena (located in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains). This will not be a sentimental city slicker turns country boy story that romanticizes small town life. I will discuss the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful scenery. Illustrated with photos.
- Offline Adventure Zine # 1: Offline adventure is about getting out and doing stuff in the real world, regardless of how old you are or how much money you have or any other excuse that may be holding you back. In the first issue, I will talk about a couple trips I took in my twenties — hitchhiking to Austin in 93 and traveling to New York for the twentieth anniversary of Stonewall in 94, without enough money for a return ticket. I will also include an essay that reflects on the unexpected paths my life has taken.
- shane # 9: shane is my ongoing minicomic/ zine, now in its tenth year, with a different theme each issue. This issue will feature articles, essays and reviews around the theme of comics, superheroes and gender studies. In one essay, I will talk about the online Gender Through Comic Books class I took this past spring, and I will also include a one-page comic I created as an assignment for that class.
- Cluttered Mind # 3: This zine is a hodgepodge of my various writing and art projects and usually includes a mix of reprints and new material. This issue will feature essays, short fiction, comics, poems, reviews, illustrations and photos that don’t fit the themes of the other zines in this project including a new Flyin’ Man story, a poem about the apocalypse and “Kissing Ginsberg”, an essay about when I brought Allen Ginsberg to Houston in 1993.
Of course, being a zinester in Mena, Arkansas (the small town I have been living in since December) does pose challenges. Lack of jobs to finance a zine is one of those challenges and the absence of any potential local audience is another, but the greatest obstacle is that there is no decent copy shop within 80 miles. My plan is to get a good computer printer, a saddle stapler and a paper trimmer and doing everything at home, but that no job thing is also a factor, so to help with the expense, I have set up a project page on Indiegogo (a funding site similar to Kickstarter). You can help with this project by visiting my page and making a contribution or by letting others know about the project, and about the cool rewards I am offering t supporters.
Click on photo to visit my Indiegogo page and see all the rewards I am offering to project supporters.
recommended comic: “I Run” by Rachael Wells
copyright 2013 Rachel Wells
Check out this comic by Rachael Wells. She created it for the Gender Through Comic Books class.
Tier One comics
Saturday was the official Free Comic Book Day, but the most exclusive free comic in town is only available tonight. Tier One from Cougar Comics is an anthology featuring work from students of Mat Johnson’s latest graphic novel workshop, in collaboration with local artists. Free copies will be distributed to the first 100 people who attend the exhibit/ release party tonight at Alabama Song (2521 Oakdale St, 77004) from 6-8pm. This event is presented by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts.
The anthology includes work by students: Olga Feliciano, Will Wilkinson, Dickson Lam, Zachary Martin, Thomas Frey, Laura Fletcher, Diego Vicent, Sebastian Montes, and Bryan Owens, and artists: Alex Riegel, Maria-Elisa Heg, AnnaMaria Bryant, Ted Closson, Jarrod Perez, and Brett Owens.
heroes i have been
copyright 2013 shane patrick boyle
Heroes I have Been is one page comic I did for my Gender Through Comics Class. It depicts just a few of the female super heroes and adventure characters I have taken inspiration from and shows me , at various ages from 4 to 23, pretending to be Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Dazzler and Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton).
hallucinating houston
“… who lounged hungry and lonesome through Houston seeking jazz or sex or soup,” (from Howl by Allen Ginsberg)
Before I left Houston, someone asked me what my favorite memory of Houston was. I said I would have to think about it. After all, I had been living in the Bayou City off and on for more than a quarter of a century, well over half of my life. Besides, I hate having to pick a favorite anything.
Certainly, if I did pick a favorite memory, I would have to include Zine Fest Houston in my top three, but which Zine Fest Houston? Again, there is the challenge of choosing a favorite. My three favorite Zine Fests were probably 2006, 2008 and 2012.
I guess the 2012 Zine Fest Houston holds the most special place in my heart. One reason I enjoyed that one so much was because it was my first year not being involved on the organizing end, which meant that I was able to sit back and enjoy it more. But another thing that made it special was seeing how much the festival had grown under Lindsey Simard’s tenure as main organizer, which made me really happy to know that Zine Fest Houston will be around for a long time to come.
What could be cooler than knowing that an event you started will continue even when you are gone?
I suppose kissing Allen Ginsberg would be cooler.
That’s a good answer to give when someone asks what my favorite memory of Houston is. “The time I kissed Allen Ginsberg. Oh, and we also pissed together.” Hell, that’s a good way to answer to any question. That’s a better answer than 42.
Yes, even if I had never done anything else with my life, it would seem that bringing Allen Ginsberg to Houston back in 1992, kissing him and also pissing with him would be enough of a resume to qualify me for induction into the ranks of those who were cool once.
But was that moment – the kissing and/or the pissing with Allen Ginsberg my single most awesome memory of my time in Houston? Was that even the best moment I had during the time I spent with Ginsberg?
I think I can top that. The coolest part of Allen Ginsberg’s visit to Houston in 1992 (which I organized – Did I mention that?)was when Katherine Moore and I were in the car with Ginsberg and we asked him about the line from Howl, “lounged hungry and lonesome through Houston seeking jazz or sex or soup,”
He told us about the time he visited William Burroughs’ pot farm in New Waverly, Texas and about the Greyhound trip to get supplies in Houston and how there was not a bus coming back until the following morning. (And also, about how Houston was famous for its jazz and blues clubs back then.)
His story left out some of the juicy details I would one day go back and read about later, but he confirmed what we wanted to hear – that the reference in the poem was to Houston, Texas and not New York’s Houston (pronounced house-ton) Ave.
Ginsberg’s story and the success of his reading, signing and workshop (which we put together with only three weeks to raise all the money and generate publicity)helped solidify my faith in Houston.
Since then so much has happened. I have met so many talented people in Houston and been to so many cool events. Seen so much and done much. Moved away and been drawn back.
I am still not sure what my one favorite memory of Houston is, but I do know that Houston is awesome. And the longer I stay in Arkansas, the more intensely I believe this.
“… who passed through universities with radiant cool eyes hallucinating Arkansas and Blake-light tragedy among the scholars of war,” (ibid)
This is a piece I wrote for Zine Fest Houston’s 2013 compilation. I will probably expand on this topic more in the future. In the meantime, be sure to pick up your own copy of the compilation this Saturday from the Zine Fest Houston table at the Houston Indie Book Fest. In addition to my own work, the compilation features the talents of Anstacia Kirages, Chris Engelsma, Chris Tebow Smith, FUNWUNCE, Gabriel Dieter, Jarrod Perez, Jason Poland, John Forse, Lee Steiner, Lindsey Simard, Mari-Elisa Heg, Monte Hayward, and more. Proceeds from sale of the compilation benefit Zine Fest Houston.
back from winter break
The year started off okay for this blog, but it looks as if I may have jinxed myself by blogging about blogging and making a resolution to blog more. Well, anyway, I’m back, and I hope I am not jinxing myself by saying that.
shanepatrickboyle 