Period of the Prepper

Free Money by Daniel McCloskey

Way behind in my zine reviews since I’ve been pretty much committed these last months to Byebye and Shlort and this movie script thing. I’ve had these five episodes of Free Money, “illustrative journalism from the future” by Cyberpunk Dan since January, which he sells for “1 gal. gas.” The interesting thing about these is that he appears to be writing and printing them while living in a “customized 95 G20 Sport” and traveling, though he seems to be based in Pittsburgh.

The stories are about underemployed working-class rebels who get into crazy messes while trying to do a job or make their own work. No corporate bottom-feeders here. The first story’s protagonist upsets the pecking order in her shithole town by doing some cleaning that no one else wanted to do until she started getting paid for it. Mayhem ensues.

Honestly I can’t tell anymore if he draws them on a computer or with mixed media, or with mixed media augmented by a computer, or whatever, but the line is loose and active, the colors well-planned and expressive. And it comes on newspaper instead of xerox, which I love.

Besides the focus on matters of survival, what I liked about the zines is how Dan generally does it like the old comics did, offering advice, spots for reader interaction, advertising space, and news about arts events. The marginal budgeting tips add to the stories’ pervading and tense feeling of “I’m sick of fuckin being broke,” with which I think many of us can identify.

I’m glad I finally got to this review since it made me look at the stuff again. I’m definitely into it. Buy Free Money and support Dan wherever you can! If you have InstaGram, he’s @cyberpunkdan.

WeedBnb

Mercury Mourns Napa Winery Profits

As enormous swathes of smoke reached the south bay, this week the Mercury News published an outcry over Napa wineries’ profits getting burnt in this latest rash of catastrophic Northern Californian fires.

It took days before they mentioned the hundreds of working families and retirees who lost everything in places like Santa Rosa, and has not countenanced the plight of the unrecognized and undocumented workers who make the whole Napa economy move. Above is a digest of what is now a series of articles by Mary Orlin, George Avalos, Paul Rogers, et al.

One of Us Has to Be Taller