Fanzines in the NLA (Added 10 July 1998 From NLA Gateways, no 33, June 1998.) A fanzine is an amateur non-profit publication, originally produced by and for fans of written science fiction, though now the genre includes comics, film and television science fiction, and fantasy. In recent years the term has been more loosely applied to underground publications of the music industry and even to mainstream publications seen to serve the interests of fans of any persuasion. Fanzines, in the original sense, were first published in the United States in the early years of this century as an alternative to writing multiple letters to fellow readers of science fiction, and to provide a means of communication among those readers that was less formal and more frequent than the letter pages of the various pulp science fiction magazines of the time. The earliest fanzines were produced on hectographs, later on mimeographs, later still on photocopiers. Until recently, with the advent of desktop publishing, they retained a home-made look. Traditionally they were made available in return for contributions, traded for donations of stamps, or through a nominal subscription to cover the cost of production and postage only. With a few notable exceptions, they do not have very long lives as economics or other interests force the editor to cease publication after as little as two or three issues. The National Library has a fairly extensive collection of fanzines, most of which have been received on legal deposit. Many fanzine editors are happy to send their publications to the library and are assiduous in doing so. There are various reason for this. Firstly it means that the fanzine can be made available to many more people than its immediate circulation would allow; secondly it will be held secure and in perpetuity; thirdly, having the publication catalogued on ABN lets a much wider audience know that the fanzine title exists. For this reason, too, many fanzines have ISSNs. Fanzines are all about communication with as many people of like interests as possible. Just recently, the library's collection benefited from the donation of a large collection of Star Trek and similar fanzines from Susan Smith-Clarke, a prominent Sydney-based science fiction fan. The earliest fanzines held in the library are publications devoted to the review and discussion of written science fiction dating from the early 1950s. Titles inlcude SF Review and Woomera from 1952, Etherline, Perhaps, Questionmark, and others. None of these lasted until the 1960s. That decade is represented by the Mentor, begun in 1965 and still being published, the New Millennial Harbinger and the Australian Science Fiction Review. The 1970s saw a burst of fanzine publication, partly inspired by the 1975 World Science Fiction Convention which was held in Australia for the first time in its history. From that decade came such titles as Gegenschein (still being published), New Forerunner, the Bionic Rabbit, the Cygnus Chronicler, Grundoon, Crux, A.D.1, Gobstopper, WAHF Full, and Turn Left at Thursday . From the 1980s came Space Wastrel, Ornithopter, Australian SF Bullsheet, Crabapple, Nemesis, Xenophilia, the Notional, and Tigger. A few of these consist of amateur short stories and poetry, in amongst those filled with reviews and discussions. Meanwhile, from the mid-1970s, another type of fanzine, devoted to a science fiction television program or programs, was being published. The first such fanzines, and by far the most numerous in the library’s collection, are Star Trek fanzines. The oldest is Terran Times which appeared in 1969 and ran until the early 1970s. This was followed closely by Thrall, and Beyond Antares in the early 1970s. The publication of Star Trek fanzines was boosted by a number of successful conventions featuring the actors from the series, and the advent of new series of the show. They include, Spock, Constellation, the Rum Rebellion, Captain’s Log, Captain’s Briefs, Genesis, Prime Directive, the McCoy Tapes, Truffles, Sons of Kiron, Ultrawarp and Locutus. In contrast with literary science fiction fanzines, Star Trek fanzines consist mainly of amateur stories, poetry and art about the characters of Star Trek. However, club newsletters, which are well featured in the collection, contain discussion, reviews and news. Building on the tradition created by Star Trek fans, fans of other science fiction television programs started producing their own fanzines. The library has good collections of fanzines for Blake’s 7 and Doctor Who. As the field diversifies, the library’s collection has grown to include fanzines devoted to Sherlock Holmes and the Australian television program Prisoner. Titles from comic collectors such as John Ryan are held, as well as those fanzines devoted to amateur horror fiction such as Skintomb. Further information: >>NLA Gateways (NLA website) >>Susan Smith-Clarke Fanzine Collection (NLA website) >>Star Trek Fandom in Australia (NLA website)

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