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Hair Zine by Allam

 Allam says!

The theme of this "zine" was "HAIR" and the first half is single pages. The latter half is a comic inspired by the works of Lynda Barry.

This zine was the result of being involved with a "Girl Power" project through PSU, as well as the new "comic studies" program. Girl Power is an ongoing project in the Portland area to give voices to teenaged girls, and talk about the modern experience of "girlhood". Every topic imaginable was open to the zine, and it was an amazing project that I was so happy to contribute to as a mentor to a group of 14 year old girls.

As part of this program, I made this zine using the experiences of myself and of women I interviewed to inspire individual pages.

I was also involved in a Theory and History of Comics class and was inspired by the DIY aspect of comics history. The Underground scene continues to be an important source to pull from as comics progress. I was particularly struck by the work of Lynda Barry and her mostly auto-biographical work in ONE HUNDRED DEMONS. I decided to address one of my own demons, and place it within the zine, seen here in the latter half.

Due to the purposeful decision to make the zine in line with the underground roots it was paying homage to, it was made with A4 printer paper and poster marker, then xeroxed in the public library. Not all the pages are included here due to them not scanning well in the more modern technology (the cruel irony of a 90s copier making better reproductions than my art scanner is not lost on me. In a way I greatly appreciate it). However, I feel the integrity of the zine remains, and I'm happy to share it here.

I highly recommend zines! Make your own, make 100, make all of them! Then consider yourself published! You've broken in, friend.

All my love,
Amanda aka Allam