Tempe Zine Convention III -- It's Like Comic-Con Plus an Open Mic

By Heather Hoch Thu., Feb. 14 2013 at 2:30 PM

Categories: Comics, Literary

Continued from page 1

Heather Hoch

Besides, hearing Gay Kiss' Roger Calamaio read from his zine, "Sour," rather than just buying it, added another layer of emotion and intensity to his work. A supportive crowd encircled local artist Kristen Doty as she read a story about a funeral and got teary-eyed, though it wasn't clear who the person was to her and it didn't really matter. They laughed, cross-legged and chain smoking to the deepened, sarcastic tone of Up on the Sun's Chase Kamp's voice while he shared an old short fiction piece.

Aside from literary content, the zines were full of odd, funny and beautiful illustrations, uniquely presenting messages without words and accompanying the messages more conventionally conveyed.

Heather Hoch

One of the best visual zines of the evening was host Abigail Lynch's photographic journal called "Residue," which featured images of pretty much anything from a window AC unit to a pretty girl's flowing blonde hair in the summertime.

In the end, if you weren't clever enough to follow the posters that have been plastered all over Cartel recently, you can hope they do a Tempe Zine Convention IV or ask around to see if you can borrow someone's copy of William Cody Watson and Garrett Crowe's "Boyfriend Girlfriend."

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