Dez Skinn's website is always worth a look as he's constantly uploading more material and memories from his many years as a comics editor. Now he's expanded his section on fanzines to cover the early days of UK conventions! It's fascinating stuff, and as far as comics are concerned it's historically important as there's some vintage work there by the likes of Dave Gibbons and Brian Bolland and Dez's first hand accounts of those bygone days.
It's hard to imagine now, with huge events like the MCM Expo and regular annual comic shows in Bristol, Birmingham, and Leeds, but once upon a time a UK comic con was a new and rare thing. Long before the age of the Internet, irregularly produced fanzines were often the only communication between fans and were the only source for advance comics news.
I discovered fanzines around 1976. Fandom was getting more organized by then and zines were getting a bit slicker, but it was still a world away from how things are today. A few years before then, things were even more raw, but we wouldn't be where we are today without the enthusiasm and drive of those pioneers. Take a look into the history of UK fandom...
http://dezskinn.com/fanzines/
That's wonderful stuff. I remember brief throwaway mentions of fanzines in the letters pages and Floor of 64 columns in Odhams weeklies. Wish I'd responded but I was a cynical child, dubious of sending away stamped addressed envelopes. It's interesting to see what I missed.
ReplyDeleteOf course in those days Birmingham was so far away that that convention may as well have been in New York.
Some of the artwork in those fanzines look so lush and slick! :D Hence the reason why I sometimes prefer fan-made stuff to the real thing...
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