Zine Review: Cabbage Town

ZINES_Cabbage-TownComic, Jason Kieffer, jasonkeiffer.com, $5

I love Cabbage Town, plain and simple. This comic excels in terms of aesthetics, content and production in a way few DIY efforts do. Creator Jason Kieffer uses a warped cast of characters as the starting point and as he details their various tra­vails and tribulations in (assumedly) Cab­bage Town, he is able to draw the reader in with lucid artwork and a sharp wit that comes off almost like satire for peo­ple who don’t care for satire. Production values shouldn’t come into a review, but fuck it: this zine is well made, using high-quality paper, even staples (!!!) and twin-tone printing to create an end product that looks as great as it reads.

In terms of characters, Kevin Clarke might be this comic’s MVP, playing the role of an erstwhile mayoral candidate (and transient type) to great effect. His rants take a vaguely spiritual tone; his earnestness will probably ring true for any hardened urban dweller. There’s also an upright coyote that gets into some bad situations but I’ve probably already told you too much. Better approach: check out Jason’s URL and arrange to have him send you Cabbage Town IRL. (Cam Gordon)