Ben Is Dead - Evolution

Evolution

As the zine continued, its tone became increasingly erratic as Romeo mixed the dark, confessional material with more light-hearted pop culture commentary, including articles about her fascination with Beverly Hills, 90210. Romeo's 90210 obsession eventually resulted in her and Morataya creating The I Hate Brenda Newsletter, a one-shot publication which was widely covered by the mainstream press. They also co-wrote the 1993 Pinnacle publication, The 'I Hate Brenda' Book and even formed their own band, Rump, which released a novelty compact disc entitled Hating Brenda.

In the mid to late 1990s, Romeo was often interviewed by the mainstream media, serving as a rather ambivalent spokesperson for the zine movement; she once joked that unless she found a way to make her zine pay off, she was soon going to be doing CNN interviews from a cardboard box. Romeo was constantly embroiled in feuds with other zinesters, and her last known publishing project was Socially Fucking Retarded, a 2000 one-shot zine chronicling the KillZine tour she went on with various other zinesters and the controversies along the way.

Romeo regularly interviewed her cantankerous father in Ben Is Dead, and in one interview she told him she couldn't imagine publishing a zine after she turned 30. And indeed, not long into her 30s, Romeo announced she was ceasing publication. The last issue of Ben is Dead featured the theme of "Celebrity." Actor/artist/noted eccentric Crispin Glover appeared on the cover and was the subject of a lengthy and very peculiar interview.