Jeffery Kingsley

This zinester is someone I found on Etsy when trying to search for PTSD & CPTSD related zines. 

Each zine is a comic book and features a specific mental illness that Jeffery has. Each comic describes how that particular mental illness affects their life on a daily basis. How it can be hard to cope in the midst of struggle. Jeffery does a great job explaining with images and words how it feels to live with mental illnesses. I think what I enjoy most about these zines is that you can tell they are about a very dark time but each issue ends with the message that they will not let their mental health destroy them. They can survive.

To check out more of their art go to their Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter or website. To get a copy of these zines head over to their Etsy page.

Mental Health Advice - Hattie & Evie

Mental Health Advice We Wish Someone Would Have Told Us Sooner

This is a 12-page quarter sized zine. With really good advice and a title that kind of reminds me of a Fall Out Boy song. There is not much to say besides Hattie Porter & Evelyn Basch do a great job collaborating on mental health zines. You can tell they have been through a lot and they use their experiences to try to help others. If you are struggling with your mental health I always recommend their zines. They are great self-care reminders. Hattie ( dogsnotdiets ) creates zines that promote recovery and self-care, and Evie ( HumanSightings ) creates space themed zines and art that deals with living with a mental illness. Both great zinesters individually and also when they work together.

You can find Hattie / dogsnotdiets on Etsy or Instagram.

You can find Evie / HumanSightings on Etsy or Instagram.

Bethany Fortner

This is a zinester I discovered on Reddit. I am so glad I did because these zines are awesome. 

I am often fearful of the people in the world is about people who get hurt and don’t know how to handle it and become desperate. It features drawings of wild animals and does a great job of tying the images and words together without smacking you in the face about it.

This is a lamp... is about how lamps can end up being victims to themselves. It is a great mental health themed zine about choosing to actively live instead of just letting life happen to you. It is an awesome metaphor for this topic. I didn’t know what to expect going into this zine, but it definitely has become one of my favourites. 

For more art and zines you can find Bethany on Etsy and Instagram.

Bloomurder

This is a zinester I discovered on Etsy. They have a few different types of zines. They have botanical and literary-inspired zines, as well as poetry zines. If you follow me on Instagram then you already know I am really into poetry, so that’s what I have from Bloomurder.

Spring time pleasures

This one is a mini poetry zine that is spring and flower themed. The poetry is typed on a typewriter and copy and pasted onto the sheets along with images of flowers. A fun touch/bonus: inside of zine unfolds to a flower collage poster. A fun zine to look over multiple times.

Celestial

A poetry zine that features poetry by bloomurder accompanied by some of their favourite pieces of art. Poetry in this collection is celestial themed, it is second in a trilogy of poetry zines, and curated from all the poems they wrote between 1997 - 2016. I love that they included the title and artist for each of the art pieces featured so you can look into it more if you love the art as well. I think my favourite poem in this zine is Refugee. 

The Lilac Dreamer

This is a beautifully handwritten poetry zine that features a single narrative poem which includes a few photos of lilac trees, that I believe were photos taken by bloomurder. I really enjoyed this one. They did a great job with the storyline. I imagine they could write really cool short stories someday if that is a thing that is of interest to them.

Vapid

This is a poetry zine which includes poems that feel like moments of lost hope. Each poem is pasted onto a simple background that brings attention to the poem and adds to that stark feeling these poems inspire.

After seeing what a great job they did with their poetry zines it leaves me wanting more. You should definitely check them out. You can find them on Etsy, Instagram or Facebook. You can also email them at bloomurder@gmail.com.

The Common Cold

This is a zine I found off Etsy and was intrigued by. It is a 16-page booklet quarter page sized made by Kirsty. It is a perzine which talks candidly about their mental health, about being diagnosed with OCD at a young age and their relationship with their mental health over the years. It talks about feelings of guilt revolving around not “getting better,” and not making enough of an effort.

It was a great perspective on someone coming to terms with deciding to take care of themselves how they see fit instead of trying to take care of themselves to appease others. Which we should all take note of. Don’t let other people make you feel like you are not good enough because of your mental health and how they think you are managing it. Lovely zine!

If you would like a copy of this zine or want to check out their other zines then go to their Etsy page. They currently have 23 zines listed so there’s a lot of zines to look into.

You can also follow them on Twitter.

Aggravated Doughnuts

This zine is made by a zinester I met at Canzine this year. I have read this zine multiple times and still it makes me chuckle. Aggravated Doughnuts is a comic explaining, in great detail, how they like to enjoy their favourite doughnut. And enjoy it they do. The artwork is great and I love the idea behind it. It’s a fun zine that you can keep coming back to or share with your friends. 

It is made by Jacqueline Huskisson, you can check out their Instagram here or head on over to their website.

Bill's Benevolent Association

So these cool cats are brothers (Evan & Josh) and I met them at this years CanZine Fest, I shared a table with them. They are both artists with their own unique styles.

Yes is an art & poetry zine made by Josh. This zine is packed with wood, plant & human bolb themed art that are accompanied by short poems. It is a very interesting zine. I’m left wondering about the inspiration behind each piece, and yet it’s a light and fun zine. I think this may be my favourite page.

Moving Parts & Local Traffic Only are zines made by Evan. Moving Parts is an interactive zine with pull tabs. It’s about the less than glorious jobs we have to deal with as adults and goofing off in those jobs. The zine features photography as well as art. Click here for an example of one of the pages and how it moves. Local Traffic Only is a photography zine with construction related drawings on top of the photo. It comes with a card featuring a poem for each of the photos. And the whole zine unfolds into a poster. 

Loved the zines from these two. Together they are Bill’s Benevolent Association and you can check out their Instagram page here.

Human Sightings

I discovered Evie from Dogs Not Diets, they are friends and made some collab zines together. Luckily they did because I absolutely love Evie’s art and zines.

The collab zine they made together currently has two volumes and is called Thanks... But No Thanks. It is filled with completely unhelpful advice they have received from people in regards to their mental health. Such as, “But think of all the people who have it so much worse.” Sigh. These zines are too real for anyone who has a mental illness.

The Guide To Self-Care features a few tips that have personally helped Evie. This is a thoughtful mini zines and it compliments the Thanks... But No Thanks zine very well.

Evie also draws a lot of comics called Humans which feature aliens experiencing similar problems to us silly humans. Sometimes in similar situations that we can go through, like trying not to be late to a party. Other times it is about experiencing and coping with a mental illness. I don’t know how else to describe it except by calling it awesome and telling you that you need these zines in your life. Her sense of humour displayed in the zines and her art is fantastic. Always puts a smile on my face. 

I also love Evie’s space and astronaut themed cards and badges. Featuring positive affirmations such as, “You deserve to take up space” and “You are not alone.”

Go to the Human Sightings Etsy page to check out all the cool items you can buy.

Follow Evie on Instagram or Facebook. You can also check out the website at http://www.evelynbasch.co.uk/ 

Hattie Porter - Dogs Not Diets

Hattie is the first person I decided to get zines from on Etsy. I was struggling with my mental health and found these zines extremely helpful. Thank you for making them, Hattie! 

She creates mental health themed zines, which are printed on pastel coloured paper (which you can choose which colour you would like) and stitched on the spine. Each zine is mostly typed with some handwritten notes throughout. She also emphasizes certain sentences or key points by hand-drawing underlines or boxes around the words. These zines are filled with facts surrounding the topic (anxiety, panic attacks, depression, etc) to inform you about what is happening to you [Knowledge is power] and adds self-care tips & coping strategies.

There are zines for certain topics and also a bigger book A Small Part Of Everything which is a summary of all the zines up to that point. Which has its own design that is different from the zines. It isn’t just a photocopy of what was already made, it’s a new version just for the book.

If you are interested in grabbing a copy for yourself then head over to Hattie’s Etsy page.

You can also follow Hattie on Instagram.

Old Aches

I found this zinester on Reddit when I was first getting into zines earlier this year. 

Old Aches is a 16-page black and white perzine. It features poetry they had written and photos they had taken while in high school that they found years later. It seems to be summer themed, almost in a nostalgic sense. A lot of the poetry in this zine is about being a lesbian, but feeling terrified because they don’t feel worthy of reciprocated love. 

If you would like to get in contact with this zinester you can email them at bsebllgrl@gmail.com