An Asian ‘Zine is Still Playing it Cool

In the indie magazine world, headquarters may be the editor’s garage, but the creative freedom can’t be beat--and for Giant Robot, following the do-it-yourself muse has also meant publishing success. Hatched seven years ago by a newly minted UCLA grad with no publishing background, the punchy guide to “Asian Pop Culture and Beyond” now has international distribution and devoted followers among academics and hipsters, Asians and non-Asians alike.

Giant Robot’s evolution from stapled ‘zine to full-color glossy is being celebrated at a seventh anniversary exhibit in a second-floor anteroom at Venice poetry center Beyond Baroque. Low-tech? Sure, but no less so than the magazine’s editorial space in, yes, a converted two-car garage behind founder Eric Nakamura’s home in West L.A. That’s where a dedicated staff of three (sometimes four, depending on the season) improvises each 88-page issue, blending sass with substance and mainstream with underground in a mix that Nakamura describes as “totally random and very organic.”

The magazine’s editorial strategy basically amounts to covering whatever editors Nakamura, 31, and Martin Wong, 32, find cool. “Right now, I’ve been really into art and photography,” says Nakamura. “But there are things we think are always cool, like sumo wrestling, comics, skateboarding food and films.” Giant Robot’s 22-issue archive includes pieces on martial arts, cartoon anime and computer games along with tongue-in-cheek exposes such as “I Was Hello Kitty--the Story!”; a humorous chart on Asian male hairstyles; and a consumer review of Asian canned “mock meat” varieties. It may be the very lack of formula--along with luck and a dose of punk attitude--that has increased Giant Robot’s circulation from 250 to 40,000 and landed it in chain bookstores across the country. “We never had a plan,” Nakamura says with a shrug. “We do what we think is interesting, and hopefully other people will think it’s cool, too.”

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“Giant Robot: the First Seven Years,” through September at the Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice; (310) 822-3006.