Zine Library Highlight

Stories Told in Words and Pictures 

Two hands hold three comics above a wooden shelf which holds dozens of small publications.

Stories Told in Words and Pictures 

The zines pulled for this collection embrace the power of visual storytelling, crafting unusual, unsettling, and intimate narratives through words, drawings and collage. While some follow the conventions of traditional comic formats, others push their narratives beyond the panels to another place entirely. Highlighting the wealth of ways that stories can be told within independently published comic and zine formats, these zines open the reader to new worlds of graphic possibilities.

—Emma Neilson (’27), Community Engagement and Access Assistant

Printed on green paper, the cover of a zine features a combination of geometric shapes, bold text, and abstract line drawings. The word "FROG" is incorporated four times. In the bottom left corner, a green illustration of a creature is enclosed in a rectangle with the words "SPECIAL EDITION" in green.

Patrick Kyle
2016

In Frog, geometric shapes and free flowing drawings come together to form an abstract exploration of just, and perhaps unjust, consequences. As the titular character, Frog, faces down evildoers like jailbroken beavers, graffiti artists (and their parents), a tragic fable—sharply written and peppered with artistic allusions—emerges.

On the cover of this book is a black and white drawing of a mountainous landscape. Bold, white, uppercase letters in the centre spell "LAMB." and below "ADAM WAITO."

Adam Waito
2014

The terrifying nature of human cruelty is unmasked in this mini comic by Adam Waito. A man runs through the woods, haunted by the past and his pursuers. What did he do? Where will he go? Why is he chased? Told only in drawings, this gothic story will chill you to the bones.

The cover of a zine is mostly white, with a dark spiral and the words "SYNCHRONIZE" and "Ellie 2014" in the lower right corner.

Elle
2014

Alternating illustration and lyrical prose, Synchronize brings us to a quiet moment in bed. Eloquently capturing the intimacy of breath, it wonders if two people can ever truly become one.

Two pink zine covers with drawings and text. On the left, "Part 1," features a simple line drawing of a record player. Below text reads: "When you know they're coming" and "A Zine by Ava Thomas," with “PART 1” in the bottom right. The right "Part 2," includes the phrase “Who are they?” above a sketched face of a person with short, curly hair and a questioning expression. Underneath, it says "A Zine by Ava Thomas".

Ava Thomas
2022

A taughtly woven omen emerges from the pages of this two-part zine as Ava Thomas’s simple linework and collage combine to form an unsettling warning.

Printed in blue and black on yellow paper, the cover of a zine features a person sitting on a couch surrounded by clouds.

Noah Van Scriver
2013

When Harvey’s long estranged son comes to meet him in New Mexico, he is reminded of a life left long ago. For Nathan, Harvey represents everything that went wrong with his childhood. For a day, the two attempt to reconnect, but can the past ever truly be let go? With simple crosshatch drawing techniques, Noah Van Sciver illustrates just how hard it is to forgive our fathers.