The Thousands

Some zines make me want to tear my glasses off and spit straight-up fury into the face of their maker. "It’s HORRIBLE!" I want to cry, "Stop bruising my soul with your pseudo-anarchic, floppy, badly stapled waste!"

I don’t though. Instead, like a good citizen, I squeeze that rage right down inside and simply hope that one day the next stall along will offer salvation.

And aren’t I glad I manage my emotions like a member of the Grenadier Guards, because it turns out that one day the next stall along contained Beef Knuckles. Put together by three of Sydney’s unsung heroes, it’s nothing but a small zine full of comics and words, but it’s perfect. As always, the devil is in the detail. They print it using a thing called a Print Gocco from Japan – a thermal system that induces magic with special Gocco inks.

Then there’s the content, which creates a comfortable balance between silly, creative and inspiring. Witness Krang select his top five Girls Night Out songs, traverse the Pacific to meet the creator of Electric Ant, then come home for some short stories.