So many "aha!" and "I relate!" moments in this zine, and also flat-out interesting, compelling writing.
I like stories that contain other stories within them--like Jonas's opener about traveling to the Chattanooga Zine Fest with three other Chicago zine makers. He writes about the road trip and the zine fest, but he also shares his associations with the place. I like that it's longish, but because it's broken into numbered paragraphs it doesn't feel long. I like that there are feelings in it, a window into Jonas's concerns about how he is in the world, and how he might be perceived. I like that he ends the piece, and many of the essays in this zine, with a hand drawn heart.
In my review of Cheer the Eff Up #6 I commented on Jonas's aesthetic, the white squares of text on a black background. That style is striking in FEv1, too. This time I wonder if the detached squares signal that Jonas is floating, that he is distant from the text or that the text is distant from itself. There's a thing about zine makers. A lot of us are introverts, socially awkward, shy, etc., but we want to communicate with people, to see and be seen. We just require a certain distance, which makes me think the floating text is consciously or unconsciously about these little bursts in the dark and how it wouldn't be possible to make one sustained volley into daylight.
In "Some Boots" I admire how Jonas can be of two minds about the life wisdom he receives from a barfly, and of the barfly himself.
"Burning Houses, Everybody's Faults" about whether men can be feminist slayed me. It articulated things I've been thinking about white anti-racism, but was unable to get out with any finesse. He goes back and forth between an "of course I'm a feminist; anyone who isn't is an asshole" sentiment and recognizing that to claim feminism as a man is to, in some way, take it over. As a Black man, Jonas thinks white people at an all-white Black Lives Matter demo are "adorable." He finishes up with his take on an analogy likening the patriarchy to a burning house and his own, lingering contradictory feelings on the matter. Again.
I'd write about all the essays and everything I loved and/or related to in each, but you need to acquire this zine ASAP (from Portland Button Works or wherever) and read them all for yourself.
One last thing--zine makers who pull their hair out over layout will snicker at the last few pages. Why didn't I ever think to do that?!?