Individ Fanzine
Aka Personalized Fanzine, this term has been replaced by perzine.
| From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944 |
| (Speer) -- Unlike the general or subscription fan magazine, the contents are almost entirely by on person, the editor-publisher. There were one-man fanzines at least as far back as 1936, when Dollens launched the Science Fiction Collector, but this type is really a product of the FAPA
Individ alpha are those which have the general outward appearance of a subscription fanzine, with separate articles on unrelated subjects, departments such as review of pros and the previous mailings, and artistic or controversial quotations, fillers, cover illustration, etc; but the personality of the editor is evident everywhere, and there may be cross-remarks between separate articles. Sub-type beta is very much like a conversational monolog, in which the editor talks along, moving from one subject to another as he is reminded of it, perhaps by having the previous mailing before him; a few departments may be set apart, but the greater portion of the comments is the chitchat or argumentation of the editor, directed at the persons he knows are readers, with no attempt at formal or objective, timeless style. The great advantage of the "personalized" fanzine, especially of the second sort, is that it is virtually conversation -- comparison and modification of ideas, and that reminds me, and what did you think of the last issue -- without that one-dimensional limitation of verbal conversation, that people are always interrupting, and only one subject can be discussed at a time. Disadvantages are the liability to go off on a long tangent on a misunderstanding of what another guy meant, and that the newcomer, who didn't get in on the ground floor, has a tough time finding out what they're talking about. |
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