Best Zine

The Book Your Own Fuckin' Life zine is a 1993 DIY resource created by Maximum Rocknroll. It provided a comprehensive directory of independent music venues, record labels, distribution companies, and contacts for touring punk bands. This publication was particularly valuable for artists seeking to or...

The Science Fiction Review was a 1967 zine edited by Richard E. Geis. It gained significant recognition within the science fiction community through its detailed and often controversial critical analyses of science fiction literature. The publication won multiple Hugo Awards for Best Fanzine, reflec...

Drawn & Quarterly is a Montreal-based comics publisher founded in 1989 by Chris Oliveros. It began as a quarterly comics anthology and developed into a publishing house for alternative and literary comics, graphic novels, and translated work. Its catalog has included books by creators such as Chris...

Homocore was a DIY zine originating in San Francisco circa 1988. Co-created by Tom Jennings and Deke Nihilson, it significantly contributed to early queer punk culture. The publication is notable for popularizing the term "homocore," reflecting a specific aesthetic and political focus within the bro...

The Comics Journal is an American magazine devoted to criticism, interviews, news, and commentary about comics and cartooning. First published in 1976 and associated with Fantagraphics, it became known for long-form discussions of comics as an art form, as well as reviews that assess drawing, storyt...

Wimmen’s Comix was a zine series launched in 1972 offering a vital platform for female artists working within the underground comics movement. Published until 1992, it showcased diverse feminist perspectives and experimental art styles. The project represents a last gasp of independent, DIY publicat...

This 1997 zine, edited by Mimi Nguyen, documents a critical moment in feminist and punk subcultures. It compiles writings from diverse racialized individuals exploring race, identity, and power dynamics within the music scene. The project directly confronts the historical marginalization of people o...

Video Watchdog was an American magazine devoted to horror, science fiction, fantasy, and other cult films on home video. Tim Lucas founded it in 1990, and the publication became known for detailed reviews that considered a film's history, editing, image quality, sound, and differences among video re...

Outpunk was a San Francisco-based zine and record label established in 1991 by Matt Wobensmith. It became significant as a key component of the early queercore movement, providing a platform for queer punk music and fostering community. The publication focused on showcasing emerging artists within t...

Cinefantastique was an American magazine founded in 1970 by Frederick S. Clarke and focused on science-fiction, fantasy, and horror cinema. It treated genre films as subjects for serious criticism and production reporting, publishing interviews, reviews, and detailed behind-the-scenes accounts. The...

Ripped & Torn is a significant early British punk zine originating in Glasgow during 1976. Founded by Tony Drayton, it provided vital documentation of the burgeoning UK punk scene through personal accounts and observations. The zine captured the energy and attitudes of this formative period within p...

Phrack is an electronic magazine created in 1985 for readers interested in computer security, hacking, phreaking, and related technical subjects. Early issues circulated through bulletin-board systems and other online networks, while later issues were published on the web. Its articles include techn...

Prison Legal News is an American magazine and information project focused on prisons, jails, criminal justice, and the rights of incarcerated people. Founded in 1990 by Paul Wright and Ed Mead, it reports on prison litigation, court decisions, correctional policy, and conditions of confinement, and...

Sniffin’ Glue is a zine produced by Mark Perry in the UK between 1976 and 1977. It documented the burgeoning British punk scene through its distinctive collage style. The publication offered an unfiltered glimpse into the music, fashion, and attitudes of early punk bands and fans. Primarily intended...

Slayer Magazine was a Norwegian extreme-metal fanzine founded in 1985 by Jon Kristiansen, who wrote under the name Metalion. It documented underground heavy metal through interviews, reviews, photographs, and correspondence, with particular importance for the early black-metal scene in Norway and el...

Ugly Things was a 1983 zine established by Mike Stax. It became a highly influential publication focused exclusively on 1960s garage rock and psychedelic music. The zine provided detailed coverage of bands, recordings, and cultural trends within this revival scene. It remains notable for its compreh...

Doris is a personal feminist zine written and edited by Cindy Crabb, who began publishing it in 1991. Its essays and reflections address sexuality, sexual violence, trauma, mental health, recovery, and feminist politics in an intimate first-person style, while also engaging with wider DIY and punk c...

Touch and Go began in 1979 as a Michigan punk fanzine created by Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson. Its early issues documented the emerging hardcore scene through interviews, reviews, and local reporting, and the name later became Touch and Go Records, an independent label associated with punk, noise rock...

Bomp! was a zine dedicated to American rock music, primarily focusing on the vibrant sounds of the 1970s. Founded by Greg Shaw in 1970, it became renowned for its passionate advocacy of power pop and early punk movements alongside comprehensive coverage of rock’s broader history. The publication cat...

Maximum Rocknroll is a zine dedicated to documenting and promoting independent rock music, primarily focusing on punk and related genres. Established in 1982 by Tim Yohannan, it became renowned for its critical reviews and commitment to DIY aesthetics. The publication’s influence extended globally,...

The New Musical Express, usually known as NME, is a British music publication founded in 1952. It began as a weekly music newspaper and became known for its reporting, criticism, interviews, charts, and cover features on popular and alternative music, while its writers helped frame debates around ro...

Subterranean Pop was an independent-music fanzine created by Bruce Pavitt in 1980 in Washington State. It focused on underground artists and small-label releases, giving Pavitt a publishing platform for regional and international music that later informed his work as a record-label founder. The titl...

NME, originally titled New Musical Express, is a British music publication founded in 1952. It is credited with publishing the first UK singles chart in November 1952 and became associated with reporting on rock, pop, punk, indie, and other popular music. Its articles, reviews, interviews, and lists...

Giant Robot was a Los Angeles-based zine established in 1994 by Eric Nakamura and Martin Wong. It documented significant trends within Asian and Asian American culture, encompassing art, music, film, and food. The publication offered a crucial platform for showcasing the diverse creative expressions...

Wax Poetics is a zine exploring American music—specifically soul, funk, hip-hop, and jazz—since 2001. Based in Brooklyn, it provides in-depth historical analysis and visual content centered around the culture of vinyl records. The publication’s focus appeals to audiophiles, musicians, historians, an...

RE/Search is a San Francisco publishing project founded in 1980 by V. Vale. It produced a magazine and a series of interview-based books on subjects including punk, industrial music, body modification, avant-garde art, unusual films, and other forms of counterculture. The publication is for readers...

Jimbo is an underground comic character and series created by American artist Gary Panter. Emerging from the late-1970s punk and underground-comics milieu, Jimbo appears in stories that combine dystopian California, science-fiction imagery, absurd humor, and dense graphic design. The series is for r...

Trouser Press was an American music magazine founded in 1974 by Ira Robbins and associated with coverage of emerging rock music. It began with an emphasis on progressive rock and later became known for reporting on punk, new wave, and alternative music, while the related Trouser Press Record Guide c...

Sideburns was a British punk fanzine associated with the first wave of the United Kingdom punk scene in 1977. It is recognized for a page showing three basic guitar chord shapes alongside the instruction to form a band, a compact expression of punk's do-it-yourself musical ethic. The publication is...