With the Bristol-based small press fair extravaganza that is Zinezilla coming around again this Sunday, September 7th it’s pleasing to see the return of the event’s signature anthology as well. This time around it’s titled Zineapalooza: The Zinezilla Comics Anthology and behind a truly jubilant Ian Moore cover (maybe my favourite cover of 2025!) there are around 60 pages of comics and illustration from some of the event’s exhibitors to throw yourself into. The theme is broadly about festivals and parties which gives the collection a certain vibrancy and joyousness.
In keeping with the fair’s ethos there’s a certain kaiju-influence herein. Early on, for example, there’s Roman Macrae’s ‘Kaiju Clash’ – perhaps less a sequential narrative than a huge, rampant burst of on-page energy as giant monsters fight across a double-page spread. Fantasy and dreamy unreality also play a big part in these pages. The gorgeous black, white and grey shading of Connor Lockhart’s mostly silent ‘Every Worm Gets Its Wish’ is a strong case in point, looking very much like something that could have come from the pages of the much-missed Tiny Pencil anthology. A beautiful short exploring ideas of transformation and personal potential.
C A Strike’s work was featured multiple times at the end of last year at BF and the crammed action in the one-panel pages of ‘House Party’ takes us from suburban domestic celebrations to something altogether more unearthly in just four pages that are filled to the brim with detail. Co-editor and Zinezilla co-organiser Mereida Fajardo contributes ‘Death at the Diplomat’s Dinner’, a delightfully bizarre surrealist murder mystery soaked in her trademark use of moody colour that works its way up to a brilliant punchline.
Other highlights include the chaotic sense of movement in Robin HB Pencil’s tale of a night out in ‘Luv in the Club’; the sheer otherworldliness of Kieran Ryder-Lewis’s ‘Contagious Curiosity’; and the lyrical good-naturedness of Beastly Worlds/Beatrijs Brouwer’s ‘Festival Suggestivals’ (below) as anthropomorphised animals make an eagerly awaited festival trip in a flurry of magical light and activity. And check out Marcy Fraser’s inventive page layouts on both her strips when you pick this up. Perhaps the standout entries of the anthology, though, aren’t actually comics at all. Those perusing its interiors will no doubt be captivated by Iobinad’s two pages in Zineapalooza depicting a Zinezilla party in full swing, and Rein Lee’s quietly appealing portrayal of a party for one.
Zineapalooza isn’t just a collection of diverse approaches to comics storytelling. It’s also a consciously fun anthology. The kind of pick-me-up read we could all be doing with far more of right now.
Marcy Fraser, Roman Macrae, Thunderchair, Connor Lockhart, C A Strike, Jesse Kay, Mereida Fajardo, Harl Jones, Robin HB Pencil, Kieron Ryder-Lewis, Beastly Worlds, Iobinad, Rein Lee (W/A), Marcy Fraser & Mereida Fajardo (E) • Self-published, £5.00 (print)/£3.00 (digital)
Review by Andy Oliver
