Menke 10/26: Cometbus

Background

Most people have not heard of Aaron Elliott, better known by his pseudonym Aaron Cometbus. Even amongst his own readers (and friends), Cometbus manages to remain a mystery. Those who he graces with his presence outside of his hometown of Berkeley, CA only get to build fleeting - but long remembered and sometimes maintained through letters - relationships with him; everyone knows that Cometbus will be back on the road before they have time to suggest a good cafe at which to partake in bottomless cups of coffee.

The most important things to know about Cometbus are: he has maintained his fanzine Cometbus since 1981, he rivals only Mikey Erg in the sheer number of bands he has played drums for, and his loves pretty much seem to start and end with coffee and books.

Most of Cometbus’ writings involve the punk scenes that he finds himself a temporary part of any given point in his travels. A semi-modern-day Kerouac (if alcohol became coffee), Cometbus travels the country and finds temporary homes in different places and amongst different friend groups. The characters that he meets along the way become the center of his writings, and they typically get their own columns in Cometbus. 

As a member of the ever-hypocritical punk scene, one thing that comes up in Cometbus every so often is the idea of selling out; fans of lesser-known bands have a tendency to get jealous when said bands start to gain recognition. Though the format of Cometbus has changed pretty drastically in the last ten or so issues, Cometbus has managed to avoid that glaring "sell out" title - an incredible feat, especially considering issue #54 is entirely about his travels with Green Day, a band who continues to face the harshest criticism from fans and foes alike. 

It may be that Cometbus is simply untouchable, or it may be that he has managed to set himself far enough apart from the punk scene that members don't feel the need to criticize him, but one thing's for sure: Cometbus is just as powerful as it always has been, change of format or no. 

"Who doesn't get sick of punks and their self-righteous attitudes? Everything is too arty for their tastes, or not arty enough. Everything is dismissed as pretentious and pseudo-intellectual (or redneck and dumb, if you're a pseudo-intellectual like me). Every place is too popular, too fancy, frequented by the wrong people - and resented for whatever old thing it replaced. Even self-righteous punks hate self-righteous punks - a bunch of elitist snobs pointing the finger at everyone else." (Issue #52, pp. 36-37)

Handwriting

One of the instantly recognizable and most memorable aspects of Cometbus is Cometbus' handwriting. Cometbus’ handwriting graces each and every page of Cometbus up to around issue #51, when it makes a very abrupt and apparent change to being typed out, with the exception of chapter headings and some subheadings. Previous issues of Cometbus weren’t completely devoid of typed lettering; many interviews and columns written by those who aren’t Cometbus himself were typed up, but the majority of the content was handwritten by Cometbus. His handwriting is so recognizable that the band Jawbreaker (who are also friends with Cometbus) had him write out the lyrics/liner notes to their album Etc.

Aside from only the handwriting, there is another immediate change in Cometbus: its layout. Whereas previously the zine had followed suit with many other zines, containing pieces of writing from many different people, issue #51 follows the story of independent Berkeley bookstores. It has similar themes as previous issues of Cometbus - place and its affect on a person, friendship, books, and love - but it reads as a story written by Cometbus himself rather than a collection of thematically similar pieces from different people. Gone is the letters to the editor section, the poems about coffee and being horribly depressed, the weird and extremely fun write-ups about smoking weed, hanging out, and getting coffee. In their place is a beautiful story penned by Cometbus.

Covers

 

Issues of Cometbus are always bookended with Cometbus' signature art style. Typically the covers will feature people Cometbus knows or who are important to some of the events found within the issue. Also typical of the issues are their signature all black-and-white covers. Issue #52 is different though: not only is there color on the cover, but it features a very vibrant red, seeming to roll into the change for the zine. Not only is it an attention-grabber, but it seems to signify something more; it shows somewhat of a bigger budget for Cometbus, even if that raise in budget is miniscule. But such a small change for anyone else is gigantic for Cometbus, whose omnibus, Despite Everything, isn't even given the luxury of a color cover. 

 It seems that Cometbus has changed his zine's format because he wants to reestablish himself as a writer, no longer only wanting to be known for his short writings spread throughout the zine. It makes sense that he would change the format of his pre-existing zine, rather than, say, releasing books on the side; people already pick up Cometbus, and those who remain avid readers will most likely welcome the change and remain fans of his writing. Because Cometbus still contains the things that people fell in love with in the first place: stories of the places that Cometbus travels to, the people he meets, the coffee he drinks, and all of the existential questions that he faces. As he gets older, it seems that Cometbus gets more introspective, naturally focusing more on his personal experiences and memories, rather than still trying to keep up the collective feel of the zine.

Aaron Cometbus is more than his zine. He is a legend and inspiration, pushing many to create their own zines, their own communities, and if nothing else showing that anyone can create something important; he is a writer and the zine happens to be his medium. Fanzines may not be typically seen as a valid or proper form of literature, but Cometbus is proving how zines can evolve and grow without losing what made them special in the first place.

Cometbus, Aaron. Cometbus #52: The Spirit of St. Louis. Berkeley, CA: n.p., 2009. Print.