POPsmear

#12 (648 Broadway, 2nd Fl. New York, NY 10012 www.popsmear.com) $3
by Scott Hefflon

James and the new crew of POPsmearian threats-to-society send shockwaves through the ‘zine community. It reads like a tabloid headline, but then so does POPsmear. POPsmear just made the jump (or plunge, only time will tell) to big time circulation status (50,000), yet remains true to its viciously independent editorial stance. Notorious for publishing celebrity phone numbers (now amended to celebrity home addresses and email due to offers to have their asses sued to smithereens), Asshole and Jackass of the Month (real-life cases of co-workers/industry contacts going above and beyond the call of duty in regards to lying, cheating, ignoring, overall incompetence, and/or flat out fucking over everyone they come in contact with), Male Sack (some of the most entertaining and/or ruthless letters printed in a semi-major magazine), not to mention essays and columns on some pretty hardcore topics. This issue’s gems: how the guitarist of X gave crabs to Senator Dodd, why Bloodhound Gang’s Jimmy POP Ali loves to lick girls’ bungholes, how to wiggle your way out of a D.U.I./D.W.I. charge, the diary entries of two babes’ night on the town with Guiding Light hunk Ethan Erickson, true accounts of the postal posse (including a helpful glossary and hierarchy of “the family”), not to mention the (un)usual assortment of how to pull scams, scams to watch out for, and scams that yielded interesting results. “Superheroes Whose Asses You Could Easily Kick” and “The Quintessential Sadomasochism Quiz” were swell, as was the increase in porn reviews. All this and more can be found in the newly formatted, graphically-appealing, full-glossy color format of POPsmear.