Do you like stories about failed pirates, mysterious books, have you ever wanted to own a German car, do you like wandering aimlessly in airports, or recalling painful childhood memories — but most of all, do you like folding paper? Then, this zine collection is made especially for you! Fan(te)zine: povești împachetate is a DIY, fold it yourself, fanzine anthology that collects short comics from eleven authors of Comics Club Cluj, published with support from the German Cultural Center and Illustrart.
Buy yours here.
This zine collection was the big project of 2024 for Comics Club Cluj. I was one of the coordinators, together with Maria Surducan. We kickstarted the project with an intense, two-day workshop focused on storytelling and scriptwriting, led by Marie Pohl. As everyone was working on their stories, Maria and I were prospecting print houses that could print, cut and fold the zines, within our budget. The cutting and folding part turned out to be very much outside our budget, so we pivoted: zine kits! This presented a dilemma: would an average reader know how to fold a zine? Unlikely. So we added a blank zine as a bonus. It carried all assembly instructions complete with cut and fold marks, and our hopes that people with scissors would still enjoy our product.
The zine launch was connected to the 30 year anniversary of the German Cultural Center in Cluj-Napoca, coupled with an art exhibition showcasing the works in the collection, and a drawn concert. More about the concert here.
This was the most intense project of 2024 and my neck cracked in several spots under the weight of all the hats I was wearing, while carrying several other projects as well. I made this drawing during a particularly stressful evening.
Photo by Marius Șumlea
Photo by Marius Șumlea
Photo by Marius Șumlea
Photo by Marius Șumlea
Photo by Marius Șumlea
