Received and noted: Westercon Progress Report, DINKY BIRD #5 (Berman), STARSPINKLE 5 & 6 (Ellik), NEBULOUS 5 (Harrell -- I'll comment, I'll comment). Anyone else whose mag was sent but not reviewed here can wait until the next issue of DOUBLE BILL, for which I am readying a column - or for the next YANDRO. (Or you can get mad and refuse to send me any more issues, if you want to .....)
JACK HIGH #10, 11 (Phil Roberts, 283 Hoopingarner Rd., RR #1, Bronson, Mich. - 25¢ - quarterly - the fastest quarterly in fandom ....) I got something to tell you, Phil; the postman don't like you. I'm used to staples falling out, but JH always arrives with half the back cover missing. (A note suggests that for 30¢ one can receive copies in manila envelopes; considering the way my copy looks after a mere 100-mile trip, I'd say envelopes were advisable.) Of course, there is the question of whether or not you want to receive it at all ... JACK HIGH is a comics fanzine. It is not a good comics fanzine like COMIC ART or SMUDGE; it is not a bad comics fanzine like WILD or various others whose names mercifully escape me. It is sort of a mediocre comics fanzine. It is funny in spots, it is interesting in spots, and it is deadly dull in spots. (It is, in short, much like the average stf fanzine.) It is improving steadily, and if I was really an enthusiastic admirer of MAD, or Harve Kurtzman, or stuff like that, I'd probably consider JACK HIGH to be an excellent publication. So gamble a quarter. Rating .......................................................................................................... 5
RADIOHERO #1 (Jim Harmon, 1822½ W. 4th. St., Los Angeles 57, Calif. - bimonthly - 50¢) I thought everyone was kidding about the $1 price on Harmon's projected professional mag, but if he's got the gall to charge 50¢ for this, I dunno ..... As the name implies, this is concerned with radio drama, and this issue contains articles on "The Shadow" and that program's recent reruns on WGN; "Johnny Dollar", the last original radio drama (though there were reruns of "Gunsmoke" up to at least a couple of years ago and maybe longer, and of course "The Shadow" reruns are still going, as far as I know); "The Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen", "Captain Midnight", and one general-purpose treatment of other aerial heroes. The material is well done, though the proof-reading is pretty sloppy (two errors on the cover, and plenty more inside). It's an excellent fanzine if you dig the old radio shows, but I certainly wouldn't pay 50¢ for it. (Of course, I don't have much radionostalgia, either.) Rating ................................................................................................. 6
NOSTALGIA #1 (Ernesto Mascaro, Hochfeldstr. 98, 41 Duisburg, West Germany - no price or schedule that I can read) A good place to practice your German. If you're like me, you'll have to be content to enjoy the beautiful Barr multilithed cover and some really fine interior artwork. (Reminiscent of the art in GALAXY, but better.)
THE TWILIGHT ZINE #9 (Bernard Morris, 420 Memorial Drive, Cambridge 39, Mass. - quarterly - 25¢) Here's one for the serious stf fan. The two best features are the long article by the editor on "The Lord Of The Rings" and similar myths and tales, and Ed Olsen's article on Lovecraft. (Maybe it's more of a mag for serious fantasy fans, come to think of it). The humor is too often Broad Neofannish, and one promising bit on Pyramidology quit abruptly in the middle of page 2, after I'd been gleefully expecting several hilarious pages. Reproduction is either multilith or some excellent electronic stencils; some of the artwork is fascinating. All in all, a pretty good magazine. Rating ................................. 6
LUNAR LOOK #1 (Al Kracalik, 1660 Ash St., Des Plaines, Illinois - irregular - 25¢) Every so often a new fanzine domes out with the editor loudly proclaiming that fans don't pay any attention to science fiction any more and he is going to remedy the situation. The usual remedy is several badly-duplicated pages of abominable amateur fiction. Kracalik does a bit better; he puts out several averagely-reproduced pages of mediocre amateur fiction. It isn't good; but for a first issue it isn't too bad, either. With time and more material about science fiction as opposed to imitations of the real stuff, it could develop into a first-class fanzine. Seth Johnson provides a boost with his article about utopias; now the question is whether the readers will take the bait and produce an interesting discussion. Rating ...................... 2
KNOWABLE #2 (John Boardman, Box 22, New York 33, N. Y. - irregular? - 5 for $1) Now here is a rare item; a fanzine devoted to stf, science, and speculation which is good reading. The "Science Made Too Easy" column is lovely. (The sentence, "A spectrum is a tame rainbow" is probabaly the best single line I've read in a fanzine for three or four years.) George Cowgill manages to come up with questions that are not only interesting but are new (at least to me; possibly Avram has encountered them before). There is also a story, notable mainly in that Boardman starts off with the old joke that ends "God dammit," said the duchess, 'take your hand off my knee!" and goes on from there. For several pages. (The continuance isn't incredibly enchanting, but I'm fascinated by the idea that anyone thought of continuing that story, in any manner. It's the sort of inspiration that I admire and never seem to acquire.) Rating ...... 7
FREE RADICAL #2 (Judi and Dick Sephton, c/o Beatty, 2486 Elm Place, Bronx 58, New York - irregular - 15¢) A one-sheet titled ELECTRO-VALENCE BONDING #1 arrived with this. The whole thing provides a feeling of pleasant incoherence (possibly because Judi is addicted to referring to things that "most of you know about", and I don't. I did get at least one previous publication from her, but she was doing the same thing there, so it wasn't much help; I suppose eventually I'll have received enough of her fanzines so that I will know.) Anyway, aside from very poor reproduction of the artwork it's a pleasant fanzine, and I must say that Dick Sephton's review of DOCTOR PLANTAGANET was far superior to the play itself. And more intelligible. Rating ..................................................... 3
AXE #33 (Larry & Noreen Shaw, 1235 Oak Avenue, Evanston, Illinois - irregular - 20¢) They say monthly publication, but I calls 'em the way I sees 'em. In addition to fan news, this mag now carries columns by such fannish names as Walt Willis, William Atheling, and Sid Coleman, as well as Lupoff's fanzine reviews and Bhob Stewart's movie column. Plus a rider of fanzine reviews by Terry Carr. Now if they will just keep publishing .... Rating ............8
ERRR #1 (Red Avery, Maupin 4, Frederick Military Academy, Portsmouth, Virginia - probably irregular - 15¢) A beautiful Bjo cover almost but not quite makes up for some very poor reproduction inside. And by poor, I mean eye-straining; the show-thru on most pages is terrible. Fiction by David Travis isn't bad; fiction by Rod Frye is. Harry Warner's article on the possibility of fan records (mentioning the low prices charged by small custom-pressing outfits) is one of the most interesting items of the month. Not that I'd buy the type of fan-chatter disc he mentions, but I do have a personal interest in this sort of semi-professional record. (Now all I need is the finances ....) And certainly any fans who can afford to start a book-publishing house can afford to become lp-publishers ..... how did you boys at Advent work it, anyway? Rating ....................................................................................................................................... 3
CADENZA #7 (Charles & Jane Wells, 200 Atlas, Apt. #1, Durham, N.C. - irregular - 20¢) The main interest here is the lettercolumn, which is excellent. The editorial is mostly personal events (like unto certain other editorials which shall be nameless) and comments on future possibilities for the mag. Chuck also writes a 5½ page article on "Axiomatic Systems", but since the third page in my copy was blank I'm a little hard put to rate it; cutting the precise middle out of an article has its drawbacks as far as understanding goes. I think it's a clear explanation of the value of axiomatic systems in philosophic discussions, but I wouldn't guarantee it. Rating ........................................................ 5
GARDEN GHOUL'S GAZETTE #14 (Dave Keil, 38 Slocum Crescent, Forest Hills 75, N.Y. - monthly - 10¢) Nice depiction of old Fu Manchu on the cover. Interior is beautifully duplicated except, oddly enough, for the colophon, which is almost completely illegible. What happened there, Dave? "Lead" item is a reprint of an old story by Brian Aldiss from a 1958 INFINITY. (Why?) This illustrates a problem encountered in fanzine fiction; the Aldiss story only took up 9 pages (plus one for an illustration) in INFINITY, yet Keil has had to serialize it. Proponents of fan fiction often don't seem to realize that fanzines are restricted to the publication of vignettes -- one of the hardest types of fiction to write well. This mag is primarily devoted to horror -- specifically horror movies -- rather than science fiction. Rating ................................................................................................................................................................................ 4
DOUBLE-BILL #3 (Bill Bowers, 3271 Shelhart Road, Barberton, Ohio - 20¢ - bi-monthly? - co-editor, Bill Mallardi) A big letter-column, but since most of it consists of attacks on Mallardi for some ill-chosen comments on the "race question" in the last issue it may not be too interesting for newcomers. (Very ill-chosen, since according to Bill, they completely failed to communicate his meaning.) Don Anderson has an excellently-written story which was spoiled somewhat for me by a topographical inaccuracy. I review fanzines, in case you don't have enough of my reviews by now. Good artwork and reproduction. Rating ................................................................................................................. 6
ENCLAVE #1 (Joe Pilati, 111 So. Highland Ave., Pearl River, N.Y. - 20¢ - bi-monthly) A BNF of comics fandom tries his hand at a political journal. I think maybe it will turn into a general-type fanzine, but this issue is largely political. (Liberal political at that ... feh!) "Jim Warren Answers His Critics" -- mostly by saying he's just out to earn an honest dollar. Well, he's earning it, and nobody begrudges it to him, but I'm damned if I think it puts him above criticism. Joe has a talent for getting good material from big names; I suspect ENCLAVE is one to watch. Rating ......................4
VORPAL GLASS #5 (Karen Anderson, 3 Las Palomas, Orinda, Calif. - quarterly - 25¢) Well, what can you say about a fanzine that shows up with stuff by Poul Anderson, Fritz Leiber, Betsy Curtis, Tony Boucher, John Myers Myers and Margaret St. Clair, among others? All I can say is that I got gypped; the first two pages of Poul's column (always the high spot of the issue) were missing. Even without them, though, it's a great fanzine. Rating .......................................8
SCRIBBLE #11 (Colin Freeman, 41 Mornington Crescent, Harrowgate, Yorkshire, England - irregular but frequent - 10¢ - USAgent, Bob Pavlat, 6001 43rd. Ave., Hyattsville, Md.) This is sort of the British edition of PANIC BUTTON, except it doesn't cover as much, it doesn't have as much circulation, and this issue at least is funnier. Which reminds me; Colin freely admits that he's been taking my advice on how to improve his fanzine. And it's really worked; I like the latest issues much better than I did the old ones. The only small drawback seems to be that the old cruddy SCRIBBLE had a circulation of 500, while the new improved model has a circulation of about 150. It sort of makes one wonder if fandom is ready for my ideas ....... Rating ................................................................................................ 7
Another one noted but not reviewed: COGNATE, by the Hickeys. Mainly because I'm not sure how general its circulation is meant to be.
DYNATRON #15 (Roy and Chrystal Tackett, 915 Green Valley Road NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico - bi-monthly - 15¢) A sort of mild-mannered general purpose fanzine. Nothing special in this issue; just general chatter. But pleasant. One thing that bothers me, though, Roy mentions that Norm Metcalf stopped by while hitchhiking to Florida to gather material for NEW FRONTIERS. Now, I've heard of would-be authors wandering around the country in order to gather material, but fanzine editors? I keep getting this impression of Metcalf wearing a stubbled beard and an old jacket, with a blanket roll over one shoulder and a multilith over the other ..... (and I don't think his shoulders are quite big enough, from the multiliths I've seen). Rating ............................................................................................................5
LES SPINGE #10 (Dave Hale, 12 Belmont Road, Wollescote, Stourbridge, Worcestershire, England - no schedule - 1 shilling, but make it 20¢ for the added postage) Dave has certainly renovated LES SPINGE. Not only is the duplicating a bit more legible than it used to be, but the layout is neater, the artwork is improved, and there are fancy touches like color mimeography. The material hasn't improved, but then the material was always pretty fair. This issue is a little overloaded on faan fiction, but the lettercolumn is good, and Alan Burns' article on subjective reality is good, though I don't much agree with it. Rating ............................................................................................................. 5
THE PINK PLATYPUS, THE GREEN GIRAFFE, and the POLKA-DOTTED PANDA #2 (Tom Armistead, Quarters 3202, Carswell AFB, Ft. Worth, Texas - free for comment) This is mostly for SAPS, but he claims that outsiders can sometimes get copies, too (and since we did, he must be right). All editor-written, there is fiction, an essay, mailing comments, and a poem that now I note is not editor-written. The most valuable item, though, comes in a mailing comment; an apt appraisal of one value of fandom, and a reason why neofans often get discouraged. (So many of them fail to realize that it takes time to build friendships in fandom, just as it takes time to build them outside fandom.) Just a couple of paragraphs, but I know some fans who could benefit from reading them. Rating ........................................ 3
FEMALES (drawn and written by John Rackham, published by Alan Dodd, 77 Stanstead Road, Hoddesdon, Herts., England - one-shot - no price listed) Here's one for you fans who want more nudes; 13 full-page illustrations and numerous small cuts. The writing provides a rather tenuous link to fantasy by depicting each female as a character in fantasy, myth, history, or Rackham's imagination. (The latter being a crack at an idealized Miss Cro-Magnon.) Generally, though, the writing does manage to create the proper effect, and while many of the illustrations pander to the present-day breast fetish there is considerable variety shown. (I was particularly struck by the resemblance of Rackham's "Weena" to Emsh's depiction of "Odd John" on the first Galaxy Novel edition of the book.) Offhand, this is the first fanzine I can think of that is even moderately successful as anything but a picture book for the emotionally immature; Rackham manages to provide a coherent theme and a reason for his girls. (The first fanzine of this type, I meant to say up there.)
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I think that big RED STAR YEAST sign in Milwaukee should be investigated; they're probably fermenting insurrection. RSC
Data entry by Judy Bemis
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