Review: The Z.I.N.E. from U.N.C.L.E

[timemidae]

I've been collecting and reading paper fanzines for about a year now, and I've realized that, given that they can cost a bit, it's very helpful to know what you're getting into and whether you're likely to enjoy it before you go ahead and buy one. So, it seemed potentially useful for me to share my impressions. 

Without further ado: 

The Z.I.N.E from U.N.C.L.E by Jay Marchand, title page illustrations by CL Crouch. Gen. 1985. 

I'm always a little wary of single author collections, unless I know the author already, but overall, I found this zine to be totally delightful. It's on the slim side, with only three stories. The author has a clear consistent voice, and within that each story has its own feel. The author has done a great job of capturing what I think of as the tone of the show, averaged across the seasons: the writing is fun, wry, a bit sarcastic, grounded in a kind of affectionate humanism. Definitely on the lighter side of zine prose. 


Story One: The Tangled Web Affair 

 

 

 

Picks up after the end of the Fifteen Years Later Affair. I have not seen that film, and was able to follow just fine. I liked that this story leaned into the secret side of secret agents. This is honestly an element that I think some people struggle with (me too! It's hard to come up with proper twisty spy shenanigans), but I definitely appreciate it as opposed to the guns blazing approach. This story has it all: secret codes, dubious allegiances, concealed identities. Good fun!

 

Story Two: The Forget-Me-Not Affair

An amnesia caper with some very funny moments. I enjoyed this story very much, particularly the junior agent original characters, who made UNCLE NY feel nice and lived in. My one complaint is that it wrapped up very quickly. I felt the resolution could have been given a bit more time. 

 

Story Three: The Housewife Affair

The final story was my favorite of the set and is a large factor in why I definitely recommend this zine to anyone who can get their hands on it. Without spoiling anything I will say that the innocent is not who you expect, and their outsider POV is both entertaining and insightful. Gently subversive. Loved it. 

 

 

I hope to post more of these (although I do need to exercise some control over my ebay habits, lol). Hope they will be helpful. 

Comments

[dancingpony]

Interesting, thanks.

I’ve never read a print zine, although I’ve thought about it many times in the past few years. I’m sure there are some wonderful stories I’ve missed but, as you said, they’re rather expensive to take a “shot in the dark” as to whether they might (or might not) be to my taste. And I kind of wonder, if I did spend the money, what my heirs would do with them eventually. When you reach a certain age, unfortunately, you start thinking about that. I have a lot of “stuff” now that someone will have to deal with.

I’ll look forward to more of your reviews. And probably spend time wishing more of the zine stories would be posted online.

[garonne]

I have never read any paper zines, but was very interested to hear about your experience of them. How do you get hold of them? From the last line, it sounds like you mostly find secondhand copies on ebay?