Four Mexican Fanzines

1989-1999

Four Mexican Fanzines, 1989-1999.

Four appealing examples of Mexican self-publishing, documenting aspects of the thriving hardcore/metal scene in Mexico; its international scope (especially as related to the Mexican diaspora); and the overlap of the musical and countercultural movements in the 1980s and 1990s.

Comprised of:

Mutilador Zine. No. 5 (First Anniversary issue). Mexico, D.F.: np, 1989. 27.5 cm, 22 pp.; b/w illustrations mostly reproducing photographs and band art; in stapled pictorial wrappers. VG.

Definitive and ambitious bilingual Mexican metal/thrash and counterculture fanzine with contributing authors in Mexico, USA, and Panama. Many interviews with Mexican bands and international bands playing in Mexico. “If there is a fanzine that defines the metal spirit of the 80s, it is ‘Mutilador’. .. it was made with rudimentary elements: paper intervened with a typewriter, markers, scissors, Pritt adhesive pencil and, that yes, a lot of creativity. Announcements of gigs, letters, boxes and more boxes, memories…” Eight issues were published between 1987 and 1989.

Tumba Vacia Zine. No. 12. Mexico, D.F.: np, 1999. 28 cm, 19 pp.; profusely illus. with b/w reproductions of orig. graphic art, and many examples of 1990s PC clipart and fonts; stapled pictorial wrappers. Bilingual. VG-.

Christian metal zine edited by Iram Gomez Torres, with contributions from authors/bands in Malaysia, Argentina, Cuba, and the USA. Focused on the Christian scene and its relationship to the larger metal world, but also on equity and racism. “Una vez más levantamos nuestra voz hacia un fin de siglo por los pueblos olvidados por la modernidad y el racismo. No terminando de entender porque unos billetes valen más que la propia vida humana, o como el color de nuestra piel puede cambiar el curso de una vida, siendo que Jesus derramo su sangre por todos nosotros como humanidad, dándonos así el valor de su sangre.”

Raza Viva: Fanzine Tampico – Madero. No. 7. Tampico, Tamaulipas: np, nd (ca. 1997-1998). 22 cm, (34) pp.; b/w illustrations throughout; in stapled pictorial wrappers.

Metal and goth fanzine. With reviews but also poems, articles, an homage to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and a note on the participation of women in the Mexican metal scene.

Cultura Callejera Colectivo. Fanzine. No. 2. Mexico, D.F.: np, nd (ca. 1996). 21 cm. 32 pp.; reproducing orig. comix and art; in stapled dual color pictorial wrappers with folding leaf, opening to reproduction of a photograph of El Tri frontman Alex Lora, wrappers worn and bumped.

Counterculture fanzine, focused on street culture and Mexican rock. Articles on various subjects: indigenous rights, music, feminism, child abuse, and other general anti-establishment topics.

Cited:

Israel Morales. ‘Mutilador’: libro que capta el espíritu del fanzine metalero de los años. 2022. https://www.milenio.com/cultura/literatura/fanzine-mutilador-resena-del-libro-sobre-metal

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