Zine (noun | \’zēn\ ZEEN): short for magazine or fanzine

The way we read has been evolving for centuries and zines are the newest way for fine artists, writers, and photographers to express themselves. The beautiful thing about zines is that anyone can make them and there are just so many great ones to choose from. Here are the five works you’ll want to add to your reading list ASAP:

1. Future You

“Everything was working againsta us. As it always had, our entire lives.”

Feeling feelings is hard sometimes. Future You gets real about the realest human emotions that come with self-discovery, sexuality, love relationships, and friends. In their second installment, writer Nada Alic and Andrea Nakhla fuse their writing and illustration talents to bring out the beauty and awkward hilarity in the most vulnerable moments. Nada isn’t afraid to print the thoughts many are too afraid to say out loud. If you’re looking for a laugh, a cry, and some sweet drawings, we’ve found the right zine for you.

2. Suffragette City

“I am not good. I am not virtuous. I am not sympathetic. I am not generous. I am merely above all a creature of intense passionate feeling. I feel everything–it is my genius. It burns me like fire.”‘

It’s a volunteer-run and community-based zine from Brooklyn that encourages women to flex their creativity and intellect. Sometimes our world can get dominated by the man, and this is the outlet where women can show off their creativity without fear of hitting that short glass ceiling. Count us in!

3. Crybaby

This is a zine made by teens, but there’s definitely something for everyone. Founded in 2015 by 17-year-old Remi Riordan, Crybaby is a quarterly zine made up of illustrations, photography, literature, poetry, interviews. The featured artists and creative team that make up Crybaby are from all over the country and make up the young generation of the zine world.

4. Jimmy The Zine 

“Jimmy revived the form of the classic, printed fag mag to preserve and document a unique and city specific cultural movement.”

This is a queer zine that is independently published and its words are just as bold as its graphics. On the site, the work is described as “sexy and sweet,” but it feels bigger then that. Intertwined with sun-drenched California vibes, Jimmy walks you through the beauty of LA through the eyes of gay creatives and its a striking scene.

5. Love and Hats 

Andy Rementer is a man of many talents and it shows in Love And Hats. Following work stints in Northern Italy and the east coast, Andy has perfected an illustrative style that is an ode to all things nostalgic. Andy tells a tender romantic story of lovers who meet by chance with few works and effortless images, but the simplicity of it all doesn’t make it any less memorable.