CSBYS MONTHLY APRIL 2010

This is a weird one. Pictures of semi-nude women in Japanese horror films, stories about beer and - nonsensically yet predictably - coverage of Toyota's cultural marketing, "Scion Rock Fest." I don't mean coverage as in critical dissection of spectacle or treatises on resisting commodification of our lifestyles, nope, just ambivalent "I get it and don't care" coverage. Somehow the "we're still not buying one of those stupid-looking cars" refrain doesn't content me. Why is the DIY monthly printing advertising for Toyota? You know, the company which deliberately hid known safety issues from government regulators? How "Punk 101" is it to get that corporate subsumption of our cultural interests is, like, maybe not a good idea?

Ray LaHood, US Secretary of Transportation, on Toyota:
"We now have proof that Toyota failed to live up to its legal obligations," LaHood said in a statement. "Worse yet, they knowingly hid a dangerous defect for months from U.S. officials and did not take action to protect millions of drivers and their families."

Also in the issue is a drawing by Ana Humanleather, comics by Sara Drake and Reda Ashour, and a Mexico/Cuba memoir/travelogue through politics by "Jim Ride." I contributed a version of my interview with Cat and Girl's Dorothy Gambrell. I was unpleasantly surprised by the cover's lead-in headline, "James Payne Interviews Another Crush." Five words that instantly discredit Gambrell's work and my interest in it before even getting to the interview. I understand the editorial mandate is "take piss out equally," however, I don't think female comics creators need yet another layer of sexism applied to discussion of their work. (AND HELLO, I JUST MADE A ZINE ON THIS VERY TOPIC). I don't have a crush on Dorothy Gambrell - I like her work. If I interviewed a man about his work would this "joke" even be considered? Uncouth, uncalled for, not funny/interesting, actually boring, stupid and unfortunate.