nake

A colorful, handcrafted zine for all ages.

The cover of the Flight Issue, with large images of the four characters superimposed, like on a movie poster, into a scene of a teal airplane flying through clouds. The whole page is colored in yellow, orange, pink, purple, and blue hues. The top of the page says “SNAKE” in block letters and the bottom of the page says “the Flight Issue” in teal cursive.

The Flight Issue

20 pages | $10

Our newest issue is full-to-bursting with plane mechanics, flight history, exhilarating flight stories, and more! Join the guinea pigs as they take to the skies in their homemade monoplane, explore both mechanical and natural flight, and learn how to bake cloud-like meringues.

The cover of the Growth Issue, depicting two guinea pigs standing on a fallen log in a lush forest. Tucked into the trees’ leaves is the word “SNAKE” in large green block letters, and brown block letters covering the roots underground spell out “the Growth Issue.”

The Growth Issue

20 pages | $10

In this issue, you can read about Rumple and Granola’s beanstalk adventure, what food justice is, and how Rumple and Granola met. This issue also includes an interview with Lucy Park and a gardening tutorial for Parisian carrots (seeds included).

The cover of the Outer Space Issue, showing two guinea pigs silhouetted on a hill with a telescope. Behind the guinea pigs is a starry blue night sky. At the top of the page is the word “SNAKE” in large white block letters, and on the hill are words in white bubble letters that say “the Outer Space Issue.”

The Outer Space Issue

20 pages | $7

This issue has pages and pages of dazzling space scenes, with features like star charts, space myths, and a secret code (not to mention an intergalactic guinea pig motorbike race). Need we say more?

The cover of the Imagination Issue, showing two guinea pigs floating in an imaginary cloudy realm of pink, purple, and blue hues. At the top of the page is the word “SNAKE” in large block letters, and beneath the guinea pigs is script that says, “the Imagination Issue.”

The Imagination Issue

20 pages | SOLD OUT

This issue includes pirates (and treasure!), mythological creatures, a brain infographic, and so much more. This issue also wraps up the comic “the Adventures of Detective Fern.”

The cover of the Watercolor Issue, showing a guinea pig painting a picture of another guinea pig. Behind the guinea pigs are a stone column and maroon velvet curtains. Beneath the guinea pigs is a yellow banner, curling around, which says in script, “the Watercolor Issue.” Beneath the banner is purple text saying, “A QUARANZINE!”

The Watercolor Issue

24 pages | SOLD OUT

This issue is full of dragons, games, magic, recipes, and an interview with author Kat Vellos. Done entirely in watercolor paints, it makes a great quarantine read!

The cover of the Music Issue, showing two guinea pigs, a dachshund, and a snake crossing Abbey Road. All the animals are in suits. Beneath the picture are the words “The Maker Issue” on a background with a gradient from light green to blue.

The Music Issue

20 pages | $7

This jam-packed issue (literally—find the jam recipe on page 16!) includes sabotages, poetry, puzzles, and an interview with artists Jon Fischer and Danny Clay.

The cover of the Maker Issue, showing two guinea pigs in a Rube Goldberg-type machine.

The Maker Issue

20 pages | $7

In this issue’s comic, Rumple invents a fabulous machine—the Carrot Zapper 3000. This issue also features Snake’s first interview, with author extraordinaire Carter Higgins.

The cover of the Top Secret Issue, showing two guinea pigs saying, “Turn the page, if you dare.” The guinea pigs are in front of written documents, stamped with a red stamp that says “the TOP SECRET issue.” The rest of the page is a light purple background.

The Top Secret Issue

12 pages | $5

In which Rumple and Granola escape from a top secret building! Join in on the fun with the lemonade recipe, secret code, top-secret Snake files, and more.

The cover of the Summer Issue, showing two guinea pigs lounging on a beach under a colorful umbrella.

The Summer Issue

16 pages | SOLD OUT

In this issue, Rumple and Granola explore San Francisco, and Granola gets lost. This issue also includes Granola and Rumple’s Map to Success—a guide to their favorite places in San Francisco.

A circular sticker saying “SNAKE” in large white letters. Rumple and Granola, two guinea pigs, are in astronaut suits floating above a blue background.

Snake Space Sticker

3" x 3" vinyl sticker | $2

This is a matte vinyl sticker that is both waterproof and scratch-resistant, and you can stick it to any smooth surface.

A circular sticker of Rumple and Granola, two guinea pigs. Rumple is wearing a hat and Granola is wearing boots. There is text accompanied by carrot drawings surrounding the guinea pigs, which says, “EAT CARROTS - WEAR A MASK - STAY SAFE.”

"Stay Safe" Sticker

3" x 3" vinyl sticker | SOLD OUT

This is a matte vinyl sticker that is both waterproof and scratch-resistant, and you can stick it to any smooth surface.

Subscribe/Back Issues

For a subscription to Snake, go to paypal.com/paypalme/snakezine/40 and send us $40, as well as the subscriber name, mailing address, and email address. We’ll send you/the subscriber the latest issue, all back issues in stock (one issue each month), and any future issues!

To buy specific back issues or swag, send the necessary amount of money to paypal.com/paypalme/snakezine with the product(s) you would like and the customer name, mailing address, and email address.

Examples/Preview

A comic page from the Outer Space Issue with a small panel of Rumple the guinea pig, with a beard, saying, “Yes. But it won't be easy.” The background of the entire page is Rumple and Granola wearing helmets on a motorbike driving through outer space. Other panels surrounding them depict scenes of the guinea pigs on a journey.
A page from the Flight Issue titled “Flight by the Numbers” has many different numbers and descriptions of aspects of flight, such as the fastest speed of a plane and the number of airports in the United States. The page is colored in various pastel and bright colors.
A comic page from the Growth Issue with panels showing a potion being poured on a small plant. The plant trembles and then suddenly shoots upward into a giant plant. Rumple and Granola, the guinea pigs, are carried with the plant into a kitchen where everything is giant.
A page from the Growth Issue, titled “Granola’s Guide to Houseplants,” with drawings and descriptions of Pothos, Snake Plant, ZZ Plant, and Aloe Vera. Granola the guinea pig stands in the center of the page, arms akimbo.
A page from the Outer Space Issue, showing Rumple the guinea pig standing on a stack of books, explaining constellations and star charts. There is an example illustration of star charts showing the Northern and Southern Hemispheres over the whole year.
A page from the Outer Space Issue, titled “Space Stories.” The page has a dark starry background, and several informational blurbs written in white text explaining different legends and stories about the night sky from different cultures and religions.

About the zine

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It was a sunny day in the Bay Area. Summer, 2015. Eight-year-old James said to his twin sister, Frances, “You know all these kids’ magazines we get in the mail? We should make our own!” Frances said, “Great idea! Let’s do it!” And with that, the magazine Snake was born.
Although Snake had humble, visible-pencil-and-rough-sketch beginnings, it has grown into a colorful, captivating, and magical zine over the past decade. We’ve evolved to a professionally-bound format, but still make every 20-page issue by hand. Each issue is chock-full of comics, games, recipes, interviews, infographics, and more, all centered around a specific theme. It’s a kids magazine, but enjoyed by people of all ages!
You can order back issues online or visit Snake at the annual SF Zine Fest. Or, keep an eye out for James and Frances in the crowds at Mountain Goats concerts, wandering San Francisco streets looking for cool stuff, or walking their amazing dog Fern.

About the creators

Frances (as described by James): Frances is skilled in not only color theory, fantastic guinea pig drawings, and design advice, but she is also an adept birder and entomologist. She writes songs and plays the guitar so beautifully that the birds flit in through her windows to perch atop her guitar like in Disney princess movies. You may find her in Safeway parking lots at 4am before grand adventures somewhere in nature.

James (as described by Frances): You may know James as the designer of Snake’s lush, intricate infographics and double-page spreads, or as the creator of the wild storyboards that form the basis of the comics… but it might surprise you to learn he is also a woodworker, bassist, ceramicist, and textile artist. At this very moment, he’s probably listening to Modern Baseball while throwing a pot on the wheel or moving to the next sandpaper grit for his latest woodworking project.

Frances, a white girl with brown hair, is lying on a couch with her arm draped around James, a white boy with blond hair leaning against the couch