• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Fanzine and Convention Program Book Appreciation Thread
4 4

100 posts in this topic

4 hours ago, boomtown said:

Picked up a copy of The Eagle #1 from the Texas Trio. It was while Starlin was still in the Navy in 1971. I always thought they didn't do the book any favors with the cover image, as opposed to using the splash page art.

20190714_145900_resized.thumb.jpg.dc35b33ac897a7cb10e11d854b0b19ad.jpg20190714_145954_resized.thumb.jpg.fc878cd44892210c40a4ffc4739790ee.jpg

that's cool

Edited by thehumantorch
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry I'm so late to this thread. Here's Amateur Komix #3, a side-stapled ditto-printed stripzine from 1966. It features the first published comic strip of Jim Starlin (signing his name as "Jim Star") and starring amateur superhero Dolfin in "The Big Man". This one's pretty rare since ditto reproduction (aka "spirit duplicator") could only produce a maximum of 200 copies.

Amateur_Komix_3.jpg

AmateurKomix3-Starlin.png

Edited by fugtussey
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's another key fanzine, Batmania #1 from July 1964 published by big name fan artist and Batmaniac Biljo White. Billy Joe White, almost always referred to as "Biljo", was a pioneering legend of early comic fandom, and one of the earliest creators of amateur (e.g. "small press") comics. A prolific publisher/editor, he also produced such classic fanzines as The Eye, The Stripper, Comicollector (before the merge with Rocket's Blast), Captain Biljo Comics and Capt Biljo Presents. Under the editorship of Roy Thomas, Biljo became the Art Editor of the original Alter Ego with issue #7 (Fall 1964), and served as such for Roy's three fan-produced issues.

Batmania-1_cover.jpg

Batmania-1_pg18-19.jpg

Batmania-1_pgs10-11.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's John G. Fantucchio's oft-reprinted & iconic cover to The Buyer's Guide for Comic Fandom (TBG) #1 from Feb/Mar 1971. When 17 year old Alan Light launched his adzine, he provided a venue to sell comics for years to come. Despite a 3600 circulation, TBG #1 is surprisingly scarce. TBG morphed into The Comic Buyer's Guide when Alan Light sold it to Krause Publications in the early 80's.

25-The_Buyers_Guide_1.jpg

Edited by fugtussey
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, fugtussey said:

Sorry I'm so late to this thread. Here's Amateur Komix #3, a side-stapled ditto-printed stripzine from 1966. It features the first published comic strip of Jim Starlin (signing his name as "Jim Star") and starring amateur superhero Dolfin in "The Big Man". This one's pretty rare since ditto reproduction (aka "spirit duplicator") could only produce a maximum of 200 copies.

Amateur_Komix_3.jpg

AmateurKomix3-Starlin.png

Thanks for posting this.  Jim Star/Starlin's first published work.

I have a few ditto printed fanzines.  Will try to get one up this weekend.  In the mid to late 70s the Sci Fi  club I belonged to published fanzines, Apas, cookbooks, Con program books and updates.  If I remember correctly we experimented with ditto and then picked up a couple Gestetner presses.  We had a lot of fun at our collating parties lol 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Picked this up a local comic show last weekend. Jim "Howard" Johnson was a "freelance journalist" when he met the cast of Monty Python in the late '70s and hit it off with them. He published this rather idiosyncratically-spelled, if unusually high production quality, fanzine in 1978. He also published a #2 and #3; however, those were only made available through mail order, and so most surviving copies are beaters (if you've got them, go see my WTB thread...).

In any case, it all worked out pretty well for Johnson. He went on to study improv with Del Close, and has written several books on comedy improvisation... as well as several historical retrospectives of the Monty Python cast, having graduated to be something akin to their official group biographer.

PXL_20211028_183104988.thumb.jpg.9e39a6d70055769671675363ab0dbac0.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/28/2021 at 12:39 PM, Qalyar said:

Picked this up a local comic show last weekend. Jim "Howard" Johnson was a "freelance journalist" when he met the cast of Monty Python in the late '70s and hit it off with them. He published this rather idiosyncratically-spelled, if unusually high production quality, fanzine in 1978. He also published a #2 and #3; however, those were only made available through mail order, and so most surviving copies are beaters (if you've got them, go see my WTB thread...).

In any case, it all worked out pretty well for Johnson. He went on to study improv with Del Close, and has written several books on comedy improvisation... as well as several historical retrospectives of the Monty Python cast, having graduated to be something akin to their official group biographer.

PXL_20211028_183104988.thumb.jpg.9e39a6d70055769671675363ab0dbac0.jpg

Very cool.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/8/2022 at 5:59 PM, gunsmokin said:

Some early Rockets Blast 14,16 and 18C829BA49-6F51-47DB-A6F0-157E850FBFBC.thumb.jpeg.290a97dae1ddf5acb4aa35b28343ad65.jpeg

Love RBCC!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
4 4