Behind the zines: Red Hanky Panky - Rachael House
Behind the Zines is our weekly series of zine readings by queer zine makers, and our third episode featuring Rachael House is out today!
Red Hanky Panky is the legendary long running queer comic series by Rachael House which began in the 90s. Issue 10 collects work made during a residency at the Queer Zine Archive Project and explores Pride, homonormativity, bi-invisibility, and queer rage.
Red Hanky Panky was chosen by one of the Queer Zine Library collective: “Red Hanky Pank was the first queer zine I read in the 90s. It felt so special, so secret, so cool to get this through my letterbox. Growing up queer in a small town, not yet out, no friends, and badly bullied, zines were lifesavers. In lieu of what the internet would later become, zines were a physical tangible presence to hold onto. Zines said don’t worry there are more of us out there, zines said you aren’t weird. In a time of section 28 zines said this is what sex and relationships and crushes can feel like. Red Hanky Panky had comics about being bisexual, being feminist, being radical, being queer, and being punk and it felt like the most exciting thing in the world.”
Rachael House makes objects, events, performance, drawing and zines. Red Hanky Panky started in the 1990s, her autobio comics zine. It contained much sex and bisexual politics. Nowadays her work concerns include ageing and staying indoors. You can find her work at rachaelhouse.com
New readings in the Behind the Zines series will be uploaded each week. Each of these zines represents the sometimes secret and always powerful connections which queer zines create. That feeling of being connected to a stranger you’ve never met, a community which feels far away, a place, a song, a feeling, an identity. Each of these zines were selected by queer zine library volunteers and each of us at somepoint have found solace, validation, power, and reassurance from queer zines. These zines have helped us to feel seen, helped us find our way, connected us to each other, and inspired us to make our own zines.
