Al Burian

"Al Burian is my favourite zinester, hands down. If you haven’t read any of the Burn Collector books and zines then it's about time you started. If you’ve ever been unemployed, travelled around in the cheapest way possible or lived in a ridiculous rented house, then you’ll love it. If you haven’t done any of those things then Al Burian will make living a transient penniless creative life sound the the most awesome thing ever.

Now living in Berlin, BC #15 starts with a woe-filled and show more hilarious tale on the issues of toothache when you have no money and continues to entertain with stories of Berlin and its residents. It also includes an interview with fellow Berliner Liam Warfield and an essay on the Berlin Wall by Anne Elizabeth Moore, plus book, music and airport reviews."

- http://www.pushpinzines.co.uk/products/burn-collector-15 show less

Al Burian is known by many for both his personal zine Burn Collector and his band Milemarker. What some people might not know is that Al is also a talented comix artist. Between 1997 and 1998, he drew a series of comix and Ian Lynam published them in several books under the Migraine Comics label. Recently, Microcosm Publishing released this perfectbound paperback compilation of all of the comix Al did during this time period. I have a couple of the original books, so I had seen most of show more these, but it was still nice to sit down and read this cover-to-cover. Al wrote these while living in Portland, OR, Providence, RI, and Chapel Hill, NC. Each little story more or less reflects how Al was feeling while he was living in each of these places. Reading these after already being familiar with Al’s writing is a treat, as it adds a whole new (visual) dimension to Al’s obsessive self-examination and his ruminations on the people he interacts with and the places he finds himself in. Fans of Burn Collector should enjoy this book, as will most folks with a penchant for autobiographical comix. show less

In any collection of stories such as this some are going to be better than others. However, for the most part I found Al's writings to be well written (even if they weren't edited), funny (see his Greyhound trips), but most of all *honest*.

Al's life isn't brilliant, and as one of his stories points out such a situation shouldn't be romanticised, but I found this insight into his typical activities very enjoyable reading. It no doubt helps that I share some of Al's cynical outlook on life and show more enjoy some of the bands he has played in. show less

3 different comics, the first one shows the sheer aimlessness of being a teenager, called “The Metal Years”. The second part is called First Girlfriend and the third is the author wandering his neighborhood and
thinking to himself about the town and the times gone by, as he’s 26 and completely aimless, like the rest of the world.