Pervert’s Library

Self Published in 2008

Before I had my sweaty little palms on the Porn Project’s inaugural issue, I happened upon the second issue.

I read a lot of zines.Typically, the first issue is the least polished. The writing lacks a tight focus and struggles to find a voice or tries to hard to be all things to all people. As a zine grows legs and finds a voice, its writing grows sharper and more focused making for much better reading.

From a visual perspective, a zine’s first issue often has a better and more interesting layout as the publisher, not knowing what he is doing breaks the established “rules” for graphic design and comes out with something that is breaks the visual mold.Sometimes that isn’t the case though and the visual quality rises along with the production values.

Knowing that, I waited until I had read the first issue of the Porn Project to delve into the second. While I wasn’t overwhelmed with issue one, I had hopes for this issue. Disappointingly, those hopes were misplaced.

Clocking in with the annoying rubber band binding and outrageous cover price of $5, I figured that the girls (those of you with a bent for political correctness or inclusiveness can substitute women, bitches, or womyn as suits your fancy.) would give me a much better product than the first issue had for the same greenbacks. For a zine titled “The Porn Project” saying that things were only going down would seem to connote a good thing. Too bad that isn’t the case here.Compared to the first issue, this thing went down like a like a $2 whore whose trick just gave her a shine new Benjamin.

Rather than becoming clearer or more focused, the writing here seems to ramble more and astonishingly got less sexy.Not only that, the illustrations went from nondescript to eyewatering.If this is what passes for interesting insightful erotica from a woman’s point of view, I’ll stick with good old fashioned smut.

If a third issue of the Porn Project comes out, I will likely buy it. But don’t worry about me suffering by reading it. I have a plan. Instead of torturing myself with what will likely be a terrible read, I will make my girl read it first and have her tell me if it is any good. If it turns out to be as awful as I imagine it could be, I can claim it was a really intense scene.If by some miracle she reports the Porn Project rights its sinking ship, I’ll give it yet one more chance.

Self Published in 2007

While some people are put off by any hint of amateurishness in a zine, I typically find it endearing. There is something a little annoying about a zine that’s too slick or perfect. No one is likely to accuse The Porn Project’s inaugural issue of being too slick. For one thing, unlike most zines which are saddle-stitched (stapled in the middle) each issue of The Porn Project is lovingly hand assembled and bound with a rubber band.

Usually I appreciate that sort of personal attention to each issue of a zine, but that amateurishness makes the cover price of $5 seem a bit stiff. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the fine ladies of The Porn Project are profiteering. Doubtless the writers and publishers of this would be fortunate if they broke even financially. Still $5 bucks is a hefty price tag for a publication of this type.

If that were the only thing wrong with The Porn Project, I would give it my hearty endorsement. Alas, despite its name, The Porn Project is devoid of anything approaching porn. Instead, you get bad poetry and some ho-hum “herotica.” It’s a shame really since girl porn tends to be much better than boy porn; I expected a much better offering from an all woman porn product.

That said, the first issue did show promise and the women of The Porn Project do deserve some praise for getting off their asses and making the sort of porn they like instead of griping about the sort that other people make (yes, I am fully aware of the irony here).

If you want to get a copy in your own sweaty palms, you can contact The Porn Project via MySpace at www.myspace.com/thepornproject. (Maybe you’ll have better luck than I did.)

by various
Self-published in 2008

I had never given much thought to drag kings prior to coming across this little DIY cut and paste zine. If you aren’t familiar with drag kings think of drag queens only vice versa.

The inaugural issue of Genderbent has articles focusing on the first International Drag King Extravaganza, a drag king conference, reminiscences of people’s first experience as a king, and tips on how to be a better king.

A fanzine shouldn’t be judged by the slickness of its layout or binding. Instead, for a fanzine to be good, it should have a level of enthusiasm for its subject that is contagious. By that standard, Genderbent is a wonderful little gem and I look forward to reading future issues.

Unfortunately, Genderbent doesn’t have a website of its own per se, but you can contact them on them via MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/genderbentzine.