Review: Zineapalooza - The Zinezilla Comics Anthology

by Joe Thompson

2nd September, 2025

6 minutes

How about an eclectic psychedelic mix of underground art of festival antics, party shenanigans and artful expression to put your soul in a party mood? Then you're in for an experience, so turn on, tune in and drop out to Zineapalooza, the zine that comes with its own festival.

Zineapalooza cover by Ian Moore

On Sunday, 7th September, you'll really want to be in Bristol for something special. Celebrating its fourth year, the Zinezilla illustration and zine festival will also include animation courtesy of Animinspo. This will mean that, alongside the large market featuring sixty artists from Bristol, the South West, and beyond, with a host of zines and comics, there'll be a top-floor animation festival and various workshops to get involved with, all for the incredibly reasonable price of £3 entry.

Zinezilla is organised by the awesomely ridiculously talented Mereida Fajardo, who graced us with the stupendous continuous scroll comic The Keluarga Cable Ship Company. As part of Zinezilla, some of the artists involved have created an anthology which will be available at the event or for pre-order here. Thanks to Mereida, we've got a lovely early look at Zineapalooza. And I'll tell you now, based on this alone, this is an event not to be missed.

There's a lot of talent to get through here, so for a change, I'll skip the creative introductions and instead just add all the links at the end, as I feel this one should be as much about the event as it is this damn fine anthology. So without further ado, let's get into it.

So, let's start with the art, and well, actually the story as well, because there are sixty-odd glorious pages of art to get to, with fourteen very different artists offering food for the soul, feeding the art.

It's best to go chronologically, so first up, it's Ian Moore on cover duties to entice you in with eye-grabbing art that sets the party tone for things to come. An excellent choice. At breakneck speed, let's jump to the first page bonus, single page delight "Zinapalooza" by Marcy Fraser, with a fun underground style full of colour and expert economical panel layout to present Zinezilla pals Gordon, Meg and Kong attempting to perform their first Kaiju band gig but getting distracted by the awesome power of zines, a very relatable tale. It's incredibly economical storytelling and a great way to kick things off.

Next up is Roman Macrae with a face-melting explosion of bold art and colour with "Kaiju Klash" that presents an arresting moment of pop art pin-up before the first technically traditional mini story, "CJ & Slug" courtesy of Thunderchair. Thunderchair has a really cool underground style of "ugly" art I see more as unconventional beauty but it's something I really dig. The story is a real trip in all its meanings and metaphors, and an awesome psychedelic presentation of bold colour and style that puts a smile on my face.

"CJ & Slug" courtesy of Thunderchair

From "ugly" art to pretty art, then, that's no less psychedelic and esoteric in delivery with Connor Lockhart's "Every Worm Gets Its Wish". This is a beautiful pencil black & white story that is extremely captivating. The fine line and the shading of the pencil work adds an ethereal atmosphere to proceedings with the mythical creatures and art, giving a true quality steeped in the otherworldly feeling of things. There's a lovely opportunity for personal interpretation with this one. I found a very literal striving for the light of acceptance and joining the party of life, only to be left behind, perhaps.

Next, it's back to the unconventional art with the very busy "House Party" by C.A. Strike, who captures the chaos of the house party beautifully with colour-filled art that feels noisy in a great way.

Now we're going black & white again and back to psychodelia with the sublime "Gig" by Jesse Kay. This one's powerful ink work presents a picture of the safety of music as escapism, full of beautiful symbolism and depictions as poetic as it is lyrical, and a smashing interlude.

After that, it's event organiser and super talent Mereida Fajardo with "Death At The Diplomats Dinner". I really love the creativity in this one, taking the framing of a classical dinner party who-dunnit, complete with investigating plod, but adding the clever insert that all the characters are inhabitants of the human body, and the death in question is that of the host. The writing of this one is as brilliant as its art, delivering a complete package of delight. It's an incredibly impressive, inspired and inspiring piece of work in so many respects.

Mereida Fajardo with "Death At The Diplomats Dinner"

On to the next, and it's Hal Jones with "You're late", another wordless entry that's very pretty and delivers the narrative of a star late for the night's bonfire. Again, there's a beautiful interpretation for minds better than mine, but a really pretty narrative showcase of style, regardless.

Then it's back to black & white with a plethora of screentone and some style that straddles the underground and mainstream with a graffiti edge in "Luv In The Club" by Robin HB Pencil. This one's as close to a traditional or atypical comic as one can be, if such a thing exists, that presents a delightful romance story without speech. It's endearing, stylish, and a polished affair.

Something very different next with "Contagious Curiosity" by Kieran Ryder-Lewis. A visually beautiful, narratively perplexing entry. I know it stars a camel; I can share that much with confidence. And I really like it, but what it is about and what it is trying to say is beyond me, I'm afraid.

Back to the underground with "Shroomie Doomies" by Marcy Fraser, with bold colour and simple ink lines, the story of three friends attending a party under the influence. Cue shame-induced headstands, Paddington Bear and the dreaded self-reflection moment. It's very enjoyable.

Final story "Festival Suggestivals" comes from Beastly Worlds with a particularly pretty watercolour palette presented with a tale of festival rules or suggestions for fun times. It's sage advice presented beautifully with a huge adorability factor. This one has a massive feel-good quality to it.

"Festival Suggestivals" comes from Beastly Worlds

Penultimate duties fall to Iobinad, who presents two prints of either the front and back of a party house or two parties titled "Zinezilla party", using bold colours and a flowing organic ink line approach that creates eye candy to be poured over.

Finally, it's a pin-up by Rein Lee which, for me, depicts the perfect party: a well-stocked bookcase, a cuppa, and a cake - what more could you want? Maybe it's my age, although it's always been my preference. Anyway, it's a charming and beautiful pin-up to put a perfect punctuation to a wonderful anthology. A truly heady mix of fantastic talent to delight the senses. A hugely enjoyable experience.

Interrupting Italic of impending embarrassment to say firstly and without shame, you should go to Bristol. This is definitely an event for comic lovers and animation admirers. Secondly, with much more self-assigned guilt and shame, please consider donating to our Ko-fi to support CBNUK. It would mean a lot. Thanks, loves. Back to the curated content.

For fans of Zines, parties, festivals, art, comics, anthologies leaning on the psychedelic side of life with an underground feel perplexing camels and loads of heart and talent, who dunnits, few words, art because it's so jam packed with it it bares repeating and comics that come with an experience you want Zineapalooza and by extension the Zinezilla and Animinspo festival extravaganza.

To get your copy of Zineapalooza - a Zinezilla Comics Anthology, the best place would be Zinezilla & Animinspo Comic, Zine, Illustration & Animation festival. It will be at Bristol Trinity Centre on Sunday 7th September from 11am-6pm, featuring a Comic, Illustration and Zine market, Animation screenings, talks and workshops. It really will be a joy peddling extravaganza of the highest order. For more info, check out https://zinezilla.co.uk/, where you will also find a comprehensive list of creators and their social links. For now, we'll include the anthology contributors in a list below. Apologies for the lack of intro, but I do feel the star of this one is the festival as much as these excellent talents.