‘Scorpio Moon‘ no. 2 ‘the moving house edition‘ is a 40-page 2016 perzine (personal zine) by Jade Mars, who self-describes on the last page as “a trans genderqueer femme witch” whose “writing focuses on gender and sexuality, radical politics, magic, travel, mental health and self-care“. This specific issue of their zine is now out-of-print. Their current work can be found on the MartianLetters Etsy store, the latest issue of ‘Scorpio Moon‘ being no. 7, which appears to be unavailable at present.

On the first page of the zine Jade writes: “content note: this zine discusses anxiety, depression, and Conservative economic policies. it makes reference to abusive relationships, transmisogyny, police brutality, alcohol use, state racism and sex. there are swear words too.”

I read this zine on a train yesterday and wondered what to say about it and what an ideal post on this blog should look like (this being my first). I decided that given that I’m not “of” zine culture, and that I’m not of the demographics that seem most potent within the space (being a cishet 30-something white-ish man), I’m not qualified to ‘review’ this zine. Neither am I particularly interested in evaluating a product that is out-of-print and likely unavailable to the reader. Is a zine even a ‘product’ anyway? A ‘work’ seems more fitting. And this work is a perzine – it reads like a diary – hardly something to be assessed and judged. So I thought to myself – what was I looking for when I started googling for autistic zines – and that would be a list (which I’m keeping here), some basic summary of the contents of specific zines, and maybe a few quotes where autism or a notable aspect of autistic experience are mentioned. Well, I’m not really clear what I mean by a “notable aspect of autistic experience”, so here’s a first attempt at the other stuff:

The first half of the zine is dedicated to an account of Jade’s 28th birthday holiday to Berlin, where they stayed with friends. This section includes some reflections on the cost of living in Berlin versus in London, going to a yoga class, eating German foods, experiencing social anxiety abroad, visiting various exhibitions and book shops, generally being with friends, and doing tarot readings about the possibility of moving house within London or from London to Brighton or Berlin. The week-long holiday concludes with Jade’s birthday celebration which involves going for brunch, to a sauna and various other activities. (This description seems bit lifeless, doesn’t it? I wonder how I’m actually supposed to do this thing I’ve started…)

The next section talks about spending Christmas with family and reflects on the tensions around heteronormative pressures to achieve coupledom, home-ownership, and to produce offspring whilst living as a “queer trans non-monogamous person with no intention of getting married, having kids, or ‘settling down’”.

In the following section Jade talks about leaving London after spending most of their adult life living there and reflects on the changes they’ve experienced over that time in employment, education, activism, and zine-making, all in the context of the election of the Conservative Party to government and the impact of their “heartless policies” and the personal precacity brought to Jade’s finances and housing as a result. Jade also reflects on gentrification and its impact on “queer, feminist and DIY venues” and services, and on state power, police oppressions, and the visibility of economic inequality in London. Jade concludes this section by reflecting on their personal feelings about their life in London and what a move to Brighton might mean for their future.

The last sections of the zine talk about Jade’s final month in London and conclude with “A love letter to Brighton” which explores Jade’s “first full flushes of New Relationship Energy” for the city, and includes comments on its small size, more relaxed vibe, queer scene, and their new house and housemates, and the sea.

So, there we go, my first actual post about an autistic zine, which doesn’t anywhere within its pages mention autism. From what I understand autism is explored more fully in later issues. I wonder if this post is actually useful to anyone. Especially given that Jade publishes their own summaries here. Well, at least it’s on the Internet now. Maybe someone will find a use for it, and if not, never mind, I enjoyed reading the zine.

Hello. This is blog dedicated to zines by autistic people. You can learn more about the history of this blog and its rationale here, and you can find a ‘master list’ of autistic zines here. If you’d like to learn more about zine culture you could start with the articles listed here, and if you’d just like to get busy shopping I’ve listed some online stores here.

Finally, I’d be very grateful for any suggestions of zines to list, or for the chance to interview autistic zine-makers (in writing!) for the blog, or if you know of any distros or online stores that carry autistic zines. For all of these things you can contact me here.

I’m brand new to ‘zine culture’ and I never know how long my enthusiasm for a subject will last so I’m hoping that this time rather than diving in to something and then abandoning it later without a trace I’ll actually leave a trace this time, here. Having a target for my interest in the form of this blog might actually keep me on task and be useful for other people, so it seems worth a try.

Enjoy.