Zinemaking: Flying Electric Guitar

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 With about five days left until Small Press Expo, I'm hit with inspiration (a bluesky post by a friend) that solves a problem I'd been wrestling with (I don't have anything new that's QUITE silly enough!)

Which lead to the four-day marathon completion of a zine called Flying Electric Guitar: Five anime opening theme songs that absolutely did not have to slap as hard as they do.


The premise is that it's my favorite 90s anime openings from anime that I didn't watch or think was particularly good.  The idea being...the greats from Utena, Escaflowne, Dragon Ball GT, etc. wouldn't make this list because those anime DESERVED the amazing opening themes they got.  Yeah, it's a little sassy.  A little mean.  But what better to direct some sass at than 30 year old media properties that we're all properly nostalgic for and embarrassed by?




The process went as usual, aiming for another quarter-letter saddle stitch, using my usual tools:

  • Paper: Midori MD grid pad (blue on eggshell, 5 mm)
  • Pencil: Pilot Color Eno soft blue and violet mechanical pencil (.7 mm)
  • Ink: Zebra disposable pocket brush pen


Then I scanned and cleaned the artwork, adding loose tones with the Adobe Photoshop packed-in Kyle Webster halftone bush in a medium diagonal stripe. (I don't recommend brushes for actual halftoning, but when printed large enough they add nice texture without fear of moire!)  Then I laid out the book in InDesign and tested it on a couple of paper colors to pick which I liked best.


Finally, I picked yellow and printed a whole bunch of 'em!  I love how they came out and it was definitely the bit of fun and color I needed at my table.  Everyone loves to recognize an obscure or underappreciated 90s anime!




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