[review] [ZUM!] Honeypears #2

[reviews@lists.zumcomics.info]

Honeypears #2
review by David Birchall

I think I first saw this zine at Ladyfest Manchester and spent a 
happy few minutes trying to read as much as possible. I spent 
considerable chunks of the day looking at really cool stuff with no 
money (boo hoo). They had a really excellent comic gallery too, which 
I think some of the work from this zine was in.
Anyway, this is a mixture of beautifully drawn and inked cartoons and 
a few articles on various subjects. The stories have a pleasantly 
circular and evasive quality about them, you have a feeling they 
might be telling you everything you need to know, without ever making 
it explicit. Perhaps he answer to an important, burning question, but 
you forgot what he question was.
The story 'To Catch a Bishop' reveals to us a few snaps of someone's 
life, (maybe a secret agent of some sort, it seems to imply) but 
leaves you pondering not just what this person is actually up to, but 
maybe what we're all up to. The line, "A pawn? To catch a bishop? Is 
that all I am to you?" has echoes of relationships falling apart and 
to end, as well as the realisation of the valuation of human 
relations in a hierarchy within a spy ring.
Another story, 'After The Trial' continues the idea of writing around 
something without ever revealing what it is. It traces the life of a 
woman 'after her trial' giving you glimpses of her life, never 
telling you what she was tried and acquitted for, murder, poison and 
foul play are all hinted at, but the narrative shifts around, always 
slightly out of view.
There's a really interesting article about girls comics of the 60's 
and 70's published by DC Thomson, which follows histories of writers, 
artists and particular comics in some detail, and then the falling 
market for girls comics in the 80s. It was also interesting to hear 
that DC Thomson have archived and saved a lot work going back to the 
30's. They'll also show you round if you ask nicely as the author of 
this zine did.
The other piece of writing is an interview with Glasgow artist Kenny 
Hunter. There's some fascinating insights, Kenny works mostly as a 
sculptor, but draws on comics and music/pop culture as a strong 
influence, as well as classical high art. The piece discussed mostly 
here is a public sculpture of an anonymous fireman outside Glasgow 
train station, which actually seems to be enjoyed by people as a 
piece of public art that anyone can relate to. It makes a refreshing 
change from the horrible corporate sponsored cow sculptures in the 
centre of Manchester at the moment, which are allegedly 'public art', 
even though I still can't figure out how they could possible be 
relevant or of interest to anyone other than for a momentary, "Oh, 
how weird".
There's an awesome woodprint of two skeletons getting married on the 
back cover, which I think is by the early 20 Century Mexican woodcut 
guy whose name I can't remember right now. Anyway, he did whole 
series of these skeletons doing everyday stuff, something to do with 
the Day of The Dead I think, the prints themselves are totally 
unnerving and beautiful at the same time.
This zine is ace.

For more info see:
http://www.zumcomics.info/h/honeypears.html
discussion:
http://forums.pauljholden.com/viewtopic.php?t=303