cover image SCORCHED ART: The Incendiary Aesthetic of Flame Rite Zippos

SCORCHED ART: The Incendiary Aesthetic of Flame Rite Zippos

Barbara Ulrich, . . Feral House, $18.95 (110pp) ISBN 978-0-922915-76-7

Founder of the noise rock label Amphetamine Reptile back when "indie" actually meant something, Hazelmyer was a Zippo collector who was tired of designs that were no more challenging than "your average greeting card." The famed lighters have been icons of smoker cool since the 1930s, and were first logo-ed 20 years later, but by the early '90s they had, in Hazelmyer's view, become staid. He thus "scoured the art underworld for all that was amazing and started slapping it on a Zippo"—drawing heavily on the burgeoning indie comics scene for talent. Under the name Flame Rite (after being sued as "Smoke King"), designs from Peter Bagge, Shepard Fairy (creator of the ubiquitous "Andre the Giant has a posse" tags) and R. Crumb appeared in the early years; altogether, Hazelmyer has gathered 35 artists from the last decade. The smooth page design has a 1950s-tinged, slickly lurid feel. Shades of blue, orange and yellow are the backdrop for each Zippo, annotated with the name of its artist and date of creation. No artist bios are included, but there is a bibliography of Web sites for each designer. (Apr. 1)