Part of what makes Marc Strömberg's zines a compelling read are his knack for focusing in on a theme and building a zine around it. It also helps that he knows some prominent musicians in the scene. Hardcore ABC offered a topic for each letter of the alphabet, as they applied to hardcore music, with essays by musicians, indie label guys, etc. The first issue of The Friendly Leg goes a similar route. This time out, Strömberg simply has musicians from bands liked Bane, Trapped Under Ice and All Pigs Must Die fill out a questionnaire. The twist? It's, uh, tattooed to his inner thigh.

The Friendly Leg is a quick read. You could take your time and still finish it in about five minutes. But that's not necessarily the point. It's more about seeing who's on board with this silly, simple idea. Not everyone gets into it. Scott Vogel from Terror kind of phones it in (Favorite movies: "You tell me." Unknown talent: "You tell me." And so on). Kevin Baker from All Pigs Must Die writes like a doctor, so I honestly have no idea what he wrote.

But some people are good sports about the project. David Wood (Terror, Down to Nothing) gets points for humor (Unknown talent: "Poop monster"). Carl Schwartz (First Blood) talks about loving Thriller, because fuck yeah Thriller.

The best of the pollsters, though, is Dennis Lyxzén (Refused, the (International) Noise Conspiracy). Anyone who has read the liner notes to Shape of Punk to Come or Survival Sickness knows the guy is a talker, and he just fills Strömberg's leg with black marker. Turns out he really likes soccer (sorry, "real football"), which I did not know.

The Friendly Leg is brief, but it also has the potential to go on seemingly forever as long as Strömberg doesn't get that tattoo covered up. Here's hoping for future issues.