The The Zine Volume 4 Issue 10

There’s Anakin Skywalker, not even ten years old, piloting a pod racer around a tight curve. Another pod is closing in on him, the other pilot (who is not human, nor a close approximation) snarls or maybe burps, when suddenly his pod bursts into flame. A small clique of Tuskan Raiders (or Sand People to the uninitiated) is perched above the bend, the one holding a still smoking rifle raises it over his head and bellows an all to familiar sound.

This sequence takes all of five or maybe seven seconds. It does not advance the plot and it does not advance character, and yet here it is. A part of film history, so to speak. It’s been ten years of Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and yet this one instance, the Raider with his gun and his immediately recognizable yawp of victory and success, how many Star Wars fans remember it happening?

While it’s hard to call this sequence “fan service,” given that the limited Tuskan Raider dialect has no word for “lewd” or “racy,” it’s not hard to draw a connection between the two.

Some readers of anime and manga, certain fans of the genre, have an appetite for titillation. The human form, as idealized by the artist’s hand, should never be censored even at the expense of narrative. Yes, Story should be God in the hearts and minds of aspiring writers, but every now and then, eye candy plays the scantily-clad emissary of His word. And comics, while being a medium to convey the tenets of Story, are first and foremost a visual medium. (They won’t be releasing a Watchmen audiobook anytime soon, or at the very least, they shouldn’t.)

There are aspects of this issue which are explicit. Young artists have bravely tackled human sexuality, homosexuality, lust and other prurient tracks often thought of as
“mature.” But this issue isn’t trying to titillate for the sake of titillation (unlike “professional” fan services). These writers aren’t composing (ahem) “dirty pictures” for the sake of being dirty. This issue is, by this writer’s estimation, a reflection of an entire culture’s current trend towards provocation. If there is a controversy at the heart of fan service, it’s this: Why be titillating for the sake of titillation? Should anyone hear such a
question posed in earnest, respond simply, “Why not?”

What you, dear reader, will find within this issue is nothing more or less than a testament to the human condition. And to the artists who bravely submitted their most personal works for this issue, you have my sincerest gratitude.

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The The Zine Volume 4 Issue 7

The topic for this issue of The The Zine is Random. What on earth were we thinking with such a random topic? That could mean anything! Flinging the doors open to such creative possibilities is overwhelming! For some of our contributors pent up objectives, an open topic, and spring break all came together to produce some serious output!

Speaking of output: Waoooweee! What a week! The Harding Comic Club is releasing two, count them, TWO publications simultaneously! First the one everyone has been expecting Issue 7 of The The Zine, but we are also releasing the first volume collecting Annie Moua’s Shine!

Shine is the story of a sophomore attending Harding High School and all the dramatic heartache and romantic intrigue that faces her. It’s full of fun and excitement set in dream locations with an astronomical costuming budget. I highly recommend finding a copy or checking it out online. You will not regret reading Shine!

We are announcing the every hive needs a queen logo design contest! The solitary queen is a matriarch and symbol of the honey bee colony. Thousands of worker bees labor tirelessly toward a common objective under her unwavering leadership. The Harding Comic Club is just like a bee colony, except we have no symbol to guide us. Nothing, but you could change all that in our logo design contest! The winner will have their logo represent The Harding Comic Club and will be featured on our publications like The The Zine and on our website www.hscclub. net. It will be seen everywhere the Harding Comic Club is seen!

As with all comic club activities everyone is welcome to submit an entry whether or not you have ever attended Comic Club.

Entries are due at the comic club meeting April 22nd immediately after school in room 1440. If you can’t get your entry to the meeting an entry can be turned into a comic club officer or Mr. Brandt before the due date.

OK, now for the meat and potatoes!

We start off with an illustration by Maxamillian Jay on (page 1) this leads us into another example of his masterful poetry (page 2). If you still haven’t caught the bug for his poetry and are scratching your head wondering “Why do so many people think this stuff is great?” Do yourself a favor and lock yourself in the bathroom. Then read it aloud to your self. Max. J’s genius really comes out when you read his work out loud. It’s meant to be performed. His sense of rhythm turns words on a page into music. While the imagery he writes will make movies in your head.

Following Max. J are two Naruto parodies the first is by Nana in which Sasuke must make a choice. Nana is experimenting with new pencil shading techniques (page 3). The second parody by Wangsta is a great example of her inking talent and a fun submission as well (page 4).

We have another exciting moment in the life of Hue Lor (page 5). He’s sorry he was unable to ink it, but this gives you a chance to see how tight his pencil work is.

Robert Griffen and Hannah Moreno are back with another Angry Eddie comic (page 6). Pore Angry Eddie always tormented by his creators.

A I has a fun new two page story called Tazan (page 7). If you ever wanted to see Tarzan as a girl check it out something that is like Tarzan with a guy named Tazan (who isn’t a girl) check it out. She also did our beautiful cover!

Star felt very random for her submission in this issue (page 9). What does it mean!?! Then continued the senseless randominity on our back cover.

Now our editor Konoha is the heavy hitter for this issue coming in with a whopping 14 pages! Her first submission is a short autobiographical piece (page 10). She follows this with a random episode of Dragon’s Dream (page 12). Finally she closes the issue with a bit of a formatting experiment that reads Japanese manga style starting on page 28.

Wait! What’s this? Oh my, you’re going to have to sit down for this one. Are you sitting? Good because the second installment of Charles McGregor’s action story ‘Tribal’ is hitting the presses! (page 20) Ok, ok stop screaming and start reading. There are some very happy Tribal fans out there. Wow, I have a feeling we are going to be seeing some serious exposition in the next episode.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for this issue. Don’t forget to check out Shine and your logo contest designs are due in one week!

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The The Zine Volume 4 Issue 5

A quick glance at the table of contents will show you that we have 25 articles from 21 contributors! Does it get any better than this!?!

The theme for this issue is Ghosts and Rejection. Ouch! We all know a thing or two about those topics so there is plenty of great material and our contributors lost no time in exploring it’s full potential.

First Off we have a great cover by one of our star artists Star! (What an appropriate name!)

Doing the cover didn’t slow down Star either because she’s right back at it with the next installment of Shadows of Doubt (p57). Will Rhys and Kaze join Star and Biocide as they escape the city? Or will they just stay home and comb their hair? I sense were about to be set up for a big change in this one!

Mukey has created a fun ethereal piece for page 1 and then a disturbing tale of two brothers called Spirit Bond (p17). A little funny & a little creepy. Mukey is a talent worth keeping your eye on!

I’m sure you all know that Tribal is a very difficult comic to produce so it might be a while. In the mean time Charles McGregor has submitted some art for your hungry eyes (p2)!

The phlegmatic Robert Flare is back with another illustrated poem titled Fear of Rejection (p3). I’m sure you all know what he means.

Club President Maximillian Jay is tearing it up with another great poem Rejection & Aggression (p4). I had to insist that it not be type set because he has such a great hand and you would really be missing out if you didn’t get a chance to see it. Then two comics Opium Street (p5) and Spirited (p6) check them out and give yourself some time to digest and enjoy the work of this illustration virtuoso.

Robert Griffen and Hannah have made their first contribution of the year with Angry Eddie (p7) A quick little one pager that explains it all.

You don’t know it, but we’ve been holding a dark horse talent in the wings for some time and in this issue you will get your first taste of Lil Usagi Rikku. Don’t let the little name fool you behind it is some big talent. Rikku’s first effort is a one page ghost story called Rejected (p8). It’s smart & it’s funny.

Then another first time contribution Suicidal Girl by: Pen Boi (p9). If we keep pooling fresh talent this good we are going to have to start selling ads!

Cheese Cake is another first timer getting in on the fun with a quick reminder to our readers to Luff Thy Ghost (p10) which is good advice I personally take to heart.

Then Senior contributor Hue Lor is back, as promised, with the eagerly anticipated second installment of Moments in My life (p11).

Did you hear? Cocoa’s back! The Athena of comic club, born fully formed, has concocted for you the 3rd chapter in her yet untitled series (p13). Chapter 3: Steve & The Ghost is full of great twists that will shock you and may even leave you rolling with incoherent laughter. This is good stuff and if you haven’t read the first two you can find them on the club web site hscclub.net

Have you ever wondered what could cause a girl to scream “bite me” and then a boy to start crunching and gnawing on her arm relentlessly with inordinate exuberance until they eventually fall in love? Well you’re in luck because Kaname is back to answer that question and many more with a prequel called What Happened Before Alice’s First Kiss (p25).

Tangerine is making her debut (p31) with a great untitled piece full of ghosts, love, and bookworms with a twists… how appropriate. Quick Tangerine think of a title! I sense another series!

Arashi and Yura Moon have teamed up on their first effort! A feast for the eyes called Love of My Death (p34) and I can’t wait to see what they do next! Oh, and it reads Manga style so don’t forget to read right to left.

Are you ready for something funny? I know I am and here comes Na Na’s debut story Passion of Kai just in time (p37)! Na Na’s inventive humor is infectious so it’s going to be hard not to share this one with your friends!

Didn’t you love the piece by Annie Moua in the last issue! I think everyone did! Well she is back to continue the story and now it has a name. So get in line because there are all ready many fans of the new series Shine (p41).

Ok So we are all on edge for the next episode of Sin (p51). (I don’t know why I keep typing since everyone has already turned to page 51… I must go on! My integrity is at stake!) We all want to know if Envy and Vanity stay together, but also is Wrath going to have his way with the princess? And how does the princess feel about that? I have a strange feeling someone new is going to enter the scene. Oh and don’t forget to checkout the nice back cover also by AI.

Konoha has told me that Dragon’s Dream’s adventures in The Land of Muse are going to come to an end soon (p62). No worries though because we are finally going to get back to figuring out what is going on with the writer 122.13.7. I for one have been in suspense for months.

This is followed up by a beautiful drawing by our art director; Kage (p67).

Finally we have a stunning finish to this unprecedented issue of The The Zine. I am very excited to tell you A powerhouse creative team of Kage and Konoha have joined their creative talents to bring a new story to our pages called Bonded (p68). I’m glad to say it is nothing less than what you would expect from this talented and prolific team!

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The The Zine Volume 4 Issue 4

First Kiss

How do they do it!?! Quality work keeps rolling in!

Did you see the cover by Cocoa? Isn’t it great! She’s taking a break from contributing a story this issue, but she did turn in some art to tide you over! (p1) Genius!

Max J’s at it again busy with another great back cover and poem with illustrations! (p2) Don’t forget
to check out his other pieces First Class (p3) and Soul Relaxation (p5) I’m sure you will agree he’s the king… er president of style!

We also have a poem by Robert Folayan! (p4) Just as I promised in issue 2. He’s throwing in some graphic stylings of his own just to keep up the visual interest. You will not be disappointed!

Jack Ferobruesse is making his debut contribution on (p5) with a great little character sketch he did in his notebook! He’s a hard guy to track, but when he stops long enough to put pen to paper craziness is quick to follow!

There is so much to be excited about in this issue of The The Zine. Like the return of Flying Ninja! (p6) I love Flying Ninja! I want the shirt, the lunch box, the plushy! Most of all I want more Flying Ninja Comics! I can not gush enough! You must read Flying Ninja! … Flying Ninja!!!

Then Pa San cracks open our minds with her unique collage of kissing culture and some tongue in cheek commentary at the end (p8). Continuing to blow comic making conventions out the window Pa San’s work is exciting both for it’s content and it’s form.

This is Wangsta’s debut issue and what a piece to come in on! Already a master of pacing 1st Kiss (p10) is a 5 page roller coaster of love! You’ll feel like you’ve lived a whole life when you’re done.

Then the stuff that keeps bringing me back, Sin! (that sounded bad) (p15). Wrath seemed pretty determined to put the moves on the royal hostage. What’s this!?! Where is Baka Ranger Red and who is this A. I. impostor? Has the author of Sin been taken hostage too? No worries folks; I did some investigative work and found out that B.R.R. is just changing her name. Different name same great work. Enjoy!

Then the trials of Star and Biocide continue in Shadows of Doubt (p21). The tension is so thick you could cut it with an axe, but I prefer a chainsaw. It’s a real hand wringing nail biter and frankly it’s giving me an ulcer. Star is doing an excellent job at keeping everyone even the Zine crew on the edge of their seats!

I am so happy to say that Konoha is continuing to reveal more about the land of Muse in Dragon’s Dream. (p24) including some exciting back story on Cia Siab aka Emajin8: 122.13.7’s muse. I’m really enjoying this one. With subtle and deep back-story behind every character the more I read the better it gets!

Then Hue Lor is back with “Moments in My Life” (p28) his tell all biography of what he’s been doing in the years since he published last. This time I know he’s here to stay because he’s got the next two issues canned and ready to go.

Remember that piece by Charles McGregor I promised you back in issue 1? Well he is finally presenting the first installment of Tribal. (p29) If you’ve been waiting for an action story it’s here

Then if you’re looking for something short funny and sweet we’ve got Alice’s First Kiss by first time contributor Kaname (p36).

Finally we end on the dark side of love with this amazing first time contribution by the talented storyteller Annie Moua (p37)

Where does all this amazing talent come from???

Harding Comic Club of course!

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