Ceejaythe630th 2024-08-14 02:21:37

This style of writing reminds me of Spamton in a way.

I downloaded these odd series of magazines (or simply "Zines" as you call it) when issue 7 was still the most recent one. I never actually read them until recently where I finally had the mental preparation and endurance to read all of issues 0-7, and I can safely say I am glad to finally witness these wonderful issues from the Chaingun Island Zine.

The first thing that really caught me with interest was how all of the magazines were made with an early internet days aesthetic in mind (most notably from the 90s-2000s era), with the overall text and images of these magazines being heavily compressed to the point where you can see the amount of pixels present. This fact is further supported with everyone in these magazines reviewing multiple forms of media that mostly originated from the 1900s (with a few exceptions where the stuff you guys review extended to the mid 2000s era at most). I was never really infatuated with old 1900s culture as I was not born at that time, but reading all of the issues gave me some insight on what that era was like, in forms of you, Odbal and Cassetta reviewing media mostly from this era and providing some interesting history and facts revolving around said media. Another thing that interested me was how the PDF for these magazines were structured (the non-digital versions), as they looked like a worksheet I would fill out during school as a kid. That has nothing to do with the rest of what I have spoken about, but that is something that just resonated with me on a personal level.

All of these magazines have segments that are reviewed by one of the three main members of the Chaingun Island crew:

What is This?: A general overview of these series of magazines explained by you (8-Track). It gives a good glimpse into the personality of this magazine series and what most readers can expect from it.

The Blurb: A random segment where you give some fun facts/talk about yourself and the Chaingun Island crew, while also talking about stories that have happened to you or to the other members that happened during a month’s time.

TeckHead’s Digs: A segment where you review any of the songs/albums that are available in the dumpster you guys live in, giving a rating out of 5 TeckHeads at the end of the segment. As of issue 6, this segment has changed to include more variety, with you talking about instruments (the Basitar), and band/musical artists (Rockbitch). This segment also includes some fun facts and nice history revolving around whatever the main topic of the segment is.

TeckHead’s Game Dujour: A segment where you review games that originated on a variety of consoles/arcade machines. This segment also provides fun facts and history around said games, and like Teckhead’s Digs, there is a rating out of 5 TeckHeads at the end of these.

Odbal’s Pick: A segment where Odbal the skull reviews some music, although this time the music here is somewhat more niche to differentiate this segment with TeckHead’s Digs, with most of these music tracks having a B-Side to them. As of Issue 6, this segment has evolved to Odbal talking about media other than music (in Issue 6 he reviews and talks about Clue, the board game turned video game), broadening the variety of this section greatly.

Cassetta’s Flick: A segment where Cassetta, mistress of the dumpster, talks about/reviews some movies she has watched, with most (not all) of them being terrible horror B-films. As of issue 6, she was forced into talking about/reviewing other genres of movies that do not fall along the lines of horror by you.

Out of all the segments, The Blurb has to be one of my personal favorites. I really enjoy the stories and fun facts about the Chaingun Island crew, like how you guys really like Halloween, your hatred for Dr. Sylvestarian, Cassetta’s somehow resistance to the cold, etc. The other segments are also intriguing to read, since a majority of the things you guys talk about/review are really niche and rare to the point no one else seems to talk about. When I first read these magazines, I thought all of the things you guys talked about were fake, so I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that some of this stuff is actually real. I was so invested with these reviews that I looked up a handful of these songs, games and movies, with one of my favorites I discovered from you guys being Crazy Taxi and Rappin’ Rodney. There was so much media being mentioned that I couldn’t be bothered looking at all of them, but I trust the members of Chaingun Island if they say something is good or bad.

One thing I missed from the pilot issue that the later ones don’t have is how every person had their own unique font whenever it was their section. It didn’t matter to me that much when I realized they were gone, but I must admit that the different fonts added to the flare of these magazines. This magazine series is an overall 8-9/10. Good in small doses, overwhelming if you read it all at once like I did.

The best word to describe the overall feeling of these magazines would be… “Eclectic”.