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Punk: The Original

© Ryan August

There have been underground presses and independent efforts at self publishing since the day someone decided that the written word could be produced on paper and marketed to the masses at affordable prices. Through the years mimeograph machines, ditto presses, and finally, the photocopy machine have made it possible for people with enough passion and gumption to spread their opinions and thoughts to anyone willing to shell out a spare dollar bill. Though it may have begun with the science fiction fanatics, the fanzine movement was taken over by people with an undying love and unequaled enthusiasm for music. It's no wonder that the majority of the fanzines being produced today are punk oriented. Fueled by idealism, anger, and an uncanny amount of passion, today's punk fanzines focus on everything from music to politics, anarchic utopias to everyday life, and Punk Magazine was there at the start.

Unless you were there with an interest when it happened, chances are you've never seen an original copy of Punk. If you did, it was probably sealed up in a poly bag and sporting a hefty price tag. But, thanks to John Holmstrom and crew, all of us who weren't there in the beginning can finally get a taste of the dementia that was Punk Magazine in this compilation book- Punk: The Original.

Punk: The Original shamelessly bills itself as "A collection of material from the first, best, and greatest punk zine of all time!". I imagine the boys over at Sniffin' Glue would have something to say about that, but lucky for us, in the pages of Punk: The Original, we get to read a bit of the original rivalry that sprung up between these two early punk fanzines. Of course, we're also treated to plenty of vintage photos, musings, and Holmstrom's wonderful, twisted comic interpretations of the era.

Holmstrom's art is, perhaps, the true treasure among this heap of punk nostalgia. You can't look at his cover drawings of Lou Reed or Joey Ramone without realizing that Holmstrom had truly captured something unique and specific about the personalities that lit up that early scene like a Fourth of July display. At the same time, his sense of humor always stands out, mocking and playing with these images of the era's "stars" much in the same way that the musicians themselves stabbed and poked at society and the world at large. This wasn't serious business. This was life, and life is, was, and always shall be something to be taken with a grain of salt, something to poke fun at.

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