It’s Raining Outside / 1 stamp / Eighth-Sized / 36 Pages / Melanie, 6270 ST Rt 113, Bellevue, OH 44811 / Reviewed 01 February 2004
In what is probably the most honest title for a zine, “It’s Raining Outside†is a very stream-of-consciousness rant about the titular event and the separation of the zine writer and eir significant other. While the even is physically very small, there is simply a lot of emotion packed into such a tiny ‘zine. This narrative is as vivid as any movie, and with a personality just not to be found in anything besides a zine of this nature. The backgrounds on each page, while not detracting from the narrative in any way, still really don’t make much sense in the greater scheme of things, seemingly being not tied to anything in the zine. Simply put, Melanie’s devotion to eir’s significant other is so intense, just the fact that this zine is being made, that I don’t understand why any individual wouldn’t be flattered to death by “It’s Raining Outsideâ€. There is nothing in the way of jadedness, nothing in the way of hatred or paranoia – Melanie truly loves this individual, and even being able to talk to eir on the phone is something to really rejoice about. In a time where zines are almost never happy or jubilant, Melanie puts out “It’s Raining Outside†and really cuts out a lot of the posturing and bullshit that plagues many a zine and zinesters, zinesters who feel afraid to show positive emotions because they may be “sappyâ€. Let’s hope that some other individuals read this zine, and take Melanie’s emotion as a blueprint for a number of future zines.
John Sargeant, writing on NeuFutur as Sargeant, is the founder and editor-in-chief of NeuFutur Magazine, where he has covered independent music, PC hardware, consumer tech, and gaming culture since 1998. With over 25 years of continuous digital publishing experience, he has written thousands of hands-on game and record reviews, conducted in-depth hardware field testing, and analyzed digital media monetization trends. His work prioritizes first-hand evaluation and long-term product testing.
Beats: Independent Music, PC Gaming & Peripherals, Consumer Tech, Webmaster Tools
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