The Unique Magazine
(Oxymoronically, we have other Uniques.)
The Unique Magazine was a fanzine dedicated to short fiction produced by Arthur F. Williams of London, UK in 1941–2. He noted "subscribers to the ill-fated Science Fantasy Fan will have their subscriptions filled out by this magazine".
J. Michael Rosenblum in Futurian War Digest 14 (November 1941) mentioned it as "devoted … to well-written fan fiction" and a part of "twin productions Fantasy Post and UNIQUE, put out by the Ken Bulmer–Art Williams team" apparently from the same slan shack (avant la lettre) on Faringdon Rd, though Bulmer was not actually mentioned in the zine, except for promotion: "until next time, why not try a copy of FANTASY POST?" They seemed to alternate bi-monthly, but Bulmer was called up immediately afterwards and published no further issue.
Futurian War Digest #17 (February 1942) described the second issue:
With the exception of a poem, editorial and drawing of a spaceship, the contents consist of fiction by Duane Rimel, J. E. Rennison, Joe Gilbert, and Doc Lowndes. It's a nice little magazine with quite an atmosphere about it, though one reason why it appeals to me, I feel sure, is because of its resemblance to the format of Novae Terrae; making you think of the dear departed days.
It was succeeded by Trends, a fanzine that ironically was "unique" in having a single well-produced exemplar, gradually circulated amongst British fans.
| Issue | Date | Pp | -Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 1941 | 18 | 'A "Wombat" Publication'. Science-fiction: The Last Scientist (Part One) by Duane W. Rimel; Fantasy: Alas – Eternal! by Robert W. Lowndes; Weird: The Mantle of Graag by Paul Dennis Lavond. "entire contents of this issue consists of reprints; for the science-fiction & fantasy stories we are indepted to Polaris, and to Spaceways for the wierd..." |
| 2 | December 1941 | 20 | see above; #1 announced "Repetition" by John Edward Rennison |
| 3 | February 1942 | 20 | |
| #4 apparently never published | |||
| 5 | May 1944 | 20 | retitled Trends, which see for complicated history |
- The Unique Magazine online at fanac.org (#1 only as of 2024)
| Publication | 1941—1944 |
| This is a publication page. Please extend it by adding information about when and by whom it was published, how many issues it has had, (including adding a partial or complete checklist), its contents (including perhaps a ToC listing), its size and repro method, regular columnists, its impact on fandom, or by adding scans or links to scans. See Standards for Publications. |
