Big Johnny Foo-foo
A zine with local origins spreads its quirkiness abroad
By Neil Mulka
Thursday, January 27th, 2005
Photo Illustration by Courtney Kuhlen
The content contains a fake advice column from the rap artist Jermaine Dupri, a review of an elementary school lunch, and a persuasive essay about the benefits of drinking at work.
This is just a sample of “Johnny America,” a literary zine edited by Jonathan Holley, Topeka graduate student, and Emily Lawton, 2000 graduate. A zine is another name for a small, independent magazine. Zines are usually cut, pasted and Xeroxed, but “Johnny America” is actually printed.
What started in 1998 as a literary exchange between Holley and Lawton has grown into a Web site and a 48-page zine that distributes 200 copies throughout the upper-Midwest, New York City and Melbourne, Australia. The duo tries to publish it three times a year, but only put out two issues in 2004.
“Johnny America” evolved from a idea that Holley and Lawton started to keep “each other off their asses,” Holley said.
They gave each other assignments to write creative stories and short blurbs. Holley told Lawton to write a story about a rabbit, that lived in a hut by a crater between two rivers of wine, that came down to interact with Earth. That rabbit is Johnny America, who adorns the cover of “Johnny America.”
advertisement
The pair started the Web site for their stories and began accepting pieces from contributing writers around the nation. The zine debuted the Web site July 2003 and the print version followed in spring 2004. Holley lives in Lawrence and Lawton lives in New York City where she works as a librarian. This forces the two to make editorial decisions using e-mail and the telephone.
The Web site describes Johnny America as “a small magazine of fiction, humor, and other miscellany.”
Lawton described it as ironically self-important with a focus on content with a sense of humor.
It contains serious stories, but with twists of humor, Holley said.
“It was the funniest thing I read in a long time and I really like it.” Ian Spiridigliozzi, 2002 graduate said. “I want to say it’s quintessentially Midwestern. It’s sardonic. They play with genres very well.”
The editors are not interested in poetry. The Web site has a disclaimer that warns submitters that it will be rejected. They accept about one third of the submissions they receive.
It was the humor of “Johnny America” that inspired Spiridigliozzi to contribute his piece, “Proposal for a Michael Jackson Studies department at the University of Kansas,” to the zine. The story is posted on www.johnnyamerica.net.
The first issue of “Johnny America” was reviewed in the November/December 2004 issue of “Punk Planet,” a national counterculture art and lifestyles magazine. “Punk Planet” said that its “witty, self-referential prose is wrapped up in a beautiful aesthetic.”
The review helped to get “Johnny America” sold at Sticky, a shop in Australia devoted to zines and art books.
The people at Sticky read the review and asked Holley and Lawson to send them some copies. “Of course, we were like, ‘Whoa, that would be pretty neat,’” Holley said.
Locally, “Johnny America” is sold at The Love Garden Sound, 936 1/2 Massachusetts St., for $3, and the Olive Gallery and Art Supply, 14 E. Eighth St., for the same price.
“Johnny America” has been sold at Love Garden Sound since May 2004. It has sold 12 copies of issue one and eight copies of issue two, said Kelly Corcoran, periodicals buyer for Love Garden Sound.
“It doesn’t set any sales records or break anybody’s bank,” said Corcoran. “But people know it’s there and they come up here, buy it and people come in here asking for it.
There are also “Johnny America” stickers, matches and pins featuring the starry-eyed rabbit, Johnny America himself, for sale on the zine’s Web site.
Holley said that “Johnny America” is also part of a nonprofit organization called the Moon Rabbit Drinking Club & Benevolence Society, which was formed in Kansas for literary purposes.
He said if the zine survives for a couple more years it will qualify for money from the state and maybe put out a “Johnny America” anthology.
Lawton said he thought that Holley applied for the nonprofit status for a different reason.
“He wanted to get a discount for a book,” Lawton said. “I think it was an architecture book.”
Edited by Megan Claus
Discussion
All comments are moderated by Kansan.com staff. For our full user policy, click here.
Share your 2¢
Requires free registration.