Joe Biel

A comprehensive guide to all the questions you never knew you had about boyfriends. If you're looking for a boyfriend or already have one, this zine - written in a Q & A style - can provide some context and some answers as to why he behaves the way he does, and fill you in on the 411 for questions you may feel too shy or uncomfortable to ask him yourself. How do I know if someone likes me? What's a red flag in someone I'm considering dating? Is a guy lying if he says he prefers smaller breasts? Men can be frustrating, and the way our society has conditioned them to act in intimate relationships can be difficult terrain to navigate. This zine acts as a roadmap and a guide for all your frequently asked questions, and may help you develop a better rapport and communication style with your partner.

The R-word has been used against us as hate speech for decades. Neurotypicals have tried to dictate our motives, experiences, and words without stepping back to look at how taking the word away does nothing to take away their attitudes behind it. While leftist culture has abandoned the word "retarded," we are still treated with the same hatefulness and discrimination implicit in that word. In the third installment of this zine series, contributors muse over the interactions between autistic people and authority.

Anecdotal skillshares to understand the lives of autistics and the nonsensical world we all share The R-word has been used against us as hate speech for decades. Neurotypicals have tried to dictate our motives, experiences, and words without stepping back to look at how taking the word away does nothing to take away their attitudes behind it. While leftist culture has abandoned the word "retarded," we are still treated with the same hatefulness and discrimination implicit in that word. It's time to own this word for ourselves. Queer punks were told that they would be accepted as soon as they acted like straight people. Autism now occupies a similar place in the public consciousness at this moment: no one understands it and The Borg demand our assimilation! Don't Be Retarded offers exposition on neurotypicals' neurophobia and the frequent claim that they are supportive of #ActuallyAutistic people...as long as we act like they do. These stories of overcoming and disputing myths will become the roots of the new autistic pride movement and the people who have suffered under the R-word should own it. Featuring work by Temple Grandin and others. One Good Trouble reviewer mentioned that she couldn't believe that there wasn't a radical zine community on the forefront of Autistic theory...so I decided to start one! The inspiration for the title lies in the homocore roots of punk and Don't Be Gay in the 1980s.

The first time that I met my favorite autistic mentee, she walked right up to me, declaring “You don’t look like prey!” We discussed at length how we are both consistently perceived as vulnerable from our appearances, body language, and mannerisms. I had never thought about this as a trait of autism until I began to research the relationships of crime statistics and autism to find that we are frequently victims. When I looked up the meaning of “getting taken advantage of,” I had a startling discovery. The phrase has two components, someone using you unfairly for their own benefit and you being complicit and accepting in this dynamic. According to this definition, being robbed on the street is not being “taken advantage of.” While everyone experiences these types of encounters, it seems that so many neurodiverse people are taken advantage of because they are easily fooled into being complicit in these exchanges. This zine is a forum of advice and stories to explain the neurodiverse experience so that we can be seen as real, whole people. One theme that kept coming up in conversations with neurodiverse people as "being taken advantage of." Every neurodiverse person seems to be a survivor of abuse, whether that be emotional, financial, sexual, physical, or mental. These stories humanize those experiences and provide context, humor, and real solutions for how to overcome them. Ultimately, living in our society it becomes difficult not to internalize ableism and see ourselves as lesser, rather than just different.

In Microcosm’s DIY guide to zine-making, editors Bill Brent, Joe Biel, and a cast of contributors take you from the dreaming and scheming stages onto printing, publication and beyond! Covering all the bases for beginners, Make a Zine! hits on more advanced topics like Creative Commons licenses, legality, and sustainability. Says Feminist Review, “Make a Zine! is an inspiring, easy, and digestible read for anyone, whether you’re already immersed in a cut-and-paste world, a graphic designer with a penchant for radical thought, or a newbie trying to find the best way to make yourself and your ideas known.” Illustrated by an army of notable and soon-to-be-notable artists and cartoonists, Make a Zine! also takes a look at the burgeoning indie comix scene, with a solid and comprehensive chapter by punk illustrator Fly (Slug and Lettuce, Peops). Part history lesson, part how-to guide, Make a Zine! is a call to arms, an ecstatic, positive rally cry in the face of TV show book clubs and bestsellers by celebrity chefs. As says Biel in the book’s intro, “Let’s go!”

As the first wave of pioneers travel westward to settle the American frontier, two women discover their inner strength when their lives are irrevocably changed by the hardship of the wild west in The Removes , a historical novel from New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Tatjana Soli. Spanning the years of the first great settlement of the West, The Removes tells the intertwining stories of fifteen-year-old Anne Cummins, frontierswoman Libbie Custer, and Libbie's husband, the Civil War hero George Armstrong Custer. When Anne survives a surprise attack on her family's homestead, she is thrust into a difficult life she never anticipated--living among the Cheyenne as both a captive and, eventually, a member of the tribe. Libbie, too, is thrown into a brutal, unexpected life when she marries Custer. They move to the territories with the U.S.Army, where Libbie is challenged daily and her worldview expanded: the pampered daughter of a small-town judge, she transforms into a daring camp follower. But when what Anne and Libbie have come to know--self-reliance, freedom, danger--is suddenly altered through tragedy and loss, they realize how indelibly shaped they are by life on the treacherous, extraordinary American plains. With taut, suspenseful writing, Tatjana Soli tells the exhilarating stories of Libbie and Anne, who have grown like weeds into women unwilling to be restrained by the strictures governing nineteenth-century society. The Removes is a powerful, transporting novel about the addictive intensity and freedom of the American frontier.

The third installment of this zine series about what it means to be neurodiverse, and what the neurodiverse experience is like for the real, whole people who live it everyday. Enlightening stories abound! Who are you? How do you present in this world? Do you even give a shit about 'presenting'? Show your real face, unapologetically, and learn from others in this zine.

Neurodiversity occupies a similar place in the public consciousness as gay rights did in the 1970s: most people on the outside don't understand it and The Borg demand our assimilation! A necessary contribution to the dialogue around neurology, this zine features advice and exploratory narratives about how to accept the neurodiverse experience. Even the less divergent can understand us and see us as real, whole people. Featuring comics, narrative, advice, and origin stories that all teach how to better interact/collaborate/interface with us, this zine is the beginning of a social movement towards a future where people can be treated like, well, people. We find neuroatypical people inspiring and we think you could learn from our stories too!

The power of autistic pride in a neurophobic world The life expectancy of autistic people is 36 years old. The most likely cause of this is suicide. Autistic people are being killed in massive numbers by the disability of how society treats us. This zine collects stories of people who have defied these odds and lived past 36. It shares wisdom for how we did it and offers narrative about both what that process was like as well as tips and important things to understand if you care about one of us. More importantly and perhaps surprisingly, the most effective way to reduce suicide is to talk about it. This way people who are having suicidal feelings can normalize talking about it with you instead of the fear of bringing it up. Talking about suicide does not increase risk or efforts. It's the one true way to save lives.