Vy-Zine is a blast from the past, a zine that was done four years before I even began to associate myself with the zine culture. I found this 1995-1996 (unsure of which year it is from exactly) zine in the free box at the Allied Media Conference, and needless to say, I’m surprised that the editor of this ‘zine is no other than zine royalty Jason Kucsma (Clamor Magazine). Vy-Zine is the essence of what I wanted my own zine to be , with tremendous amounts of humor and only the loosest ties on reality. The only major thing that I could deem a problem with Vy-Zine is the fact that so much of the material is dependent on individuals reading the previous issue. I have no idea where to pick up any of the other issues, so what results is a number of insider jokes that just waste space to the new readers. While it may seem cliché now, the relevance of “Achieve instant college kid status†really maintains importance, as the stereotype has not changed in any meaningful way since 1995 (although, some of the hot authors have changed – for example, I’ve never heard of Brautigan (although I think Palukhiuk would be an admirable switch-out). To go a little further, the appeal of Vy-Zine nearly a decade after this issue made it to light is the fact that everything is essentially the same – emo is still emo, death metal is still death metal. Still, there are some positive facts that come out of this zine – ska is pretty much dead (it was at a fever pitch then), and that there will be always be a market for humorous zines, whether it be Vy-Zine, Get The Strap, Mecaroni and Fleas, or anything else on the market.
Rating:7.8/10
Vy-Zine #fore / :40 / 40M / Reviewed 08 July 2005