It's here!! Announcing the publication of the final issue of Alan Austin's Fantasy Unlimited!

 

Alan Austin (1955-2017) was one of the most respected figures in UK comic book fandom. He published a major fanzine about American comic books throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, at first named Fantasy Unlimited (later named Comics Unlimited), and also the Golden Age Fanzine, Whiz Kids (devoted to the original Captain Marvel and other Fawcett heroes), the first Comic Book Price Guide for Great Britain. and the DC and Marvel Comics Indexes.

His fanzines gave a showcase to a number of future professionals in the comic book business, including, amongst others, Stephen Baskerville and Kevin O’Neill.

Now his Fantasy Unlimited fanzine has been revived for a final issue, re-titled Alan Austin’s Fantasy Unlimited, to include a celebration of his immense contribution to UK fandom in the 1970s and early 1980s.

“It was Will Morgan’s excellent idea to have this one-off issue, and try to involve as many of the original contributors as possible,” says Nigel Brown, who published Alan’s posthumous books. “I was doubtful it was a practical project after fifty years gone by, but I’ve been delighted at the response from names that will be familiar to regular readers of the fanzine, including Will himself (who contributed to FU/CU under his birth name of Howard Stangroom), Martin Lock, Allan J. Palmer 'the Phantom Rambler', Stephen Baskerville, Patrick Marcel, Jean-Daniel Brèque and many others."

“This has been an opportunity for previous contributors to Fantasy/Comics Unlimited to be back in the fanzine one last time, with personal memories and anecdotes about Alan,” Nigel adds. “But Alan Austin’s Fantasy Unlimited #54 will also offer its usual articles, and regular favourites like “We Want Information”, a new “Worlds of Emlock”, and even a special sequel to a comic strip first published in the fanzine forty-nine years ago!”

Alan Austin’s Fantasy Unlimited #54 is a non-profit project, published with the permission of Alan’s literary estate.

It is now available on Amazon in a printed edition only.

Amazon UK link:  Click here

Amazon US link:  Click here

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Alan also wrote two books. One was about his life in comics, Comics Unlimited: My life as a Comic Collector and Dealer, the other about his experiences as a book dealer (in fiction form, as a series of short stories), The Adventures of Bernie Burrows, Bookseller. Both of these books are still available on Amazon as paperbacks and ebooks. Follow the link at the top right of the blog to find those on Amazon.

Still here!

Just a brief post to let all of our regular readers know that we’re still here.  It is just that various projects and life has gotten in the way.

I’m currently typing this from a hotel room in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where Mrs B and myself are staying as we travel homewards to Chicagoland following our bi-annual participation in “MINI Takes The States”, a cross-country rally for MINI Coopers of every stripe. This year we rallyed in our MINI Cooper Roadster S. We had around 900 MINIs participating in the official route which started in Albuquerque, New Mexico on July 13th and finished in Seattle, Washington on July 21st 2024. We will have driven close to 6,000 miles including the time to get to the start line and finish lines, over a period of 2-3 weeks. If you’re a fan of driving 400-500 miles every day for two weeks, this is the hobby for you!

Here are a few photos from the event. I loved the Mini Roadster with the Rocketeer logo, particularly.

Love this photo of the Rocketeer MINI Cooper Roadster.

On the road from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Durango, Colorado

Our Roadster in Ouray, Colorado

Of course, taking part in such an event cuts into blogging time on the SuperStuff blog, so apologies for that.

However, things continue apace in the SuperStuff bullpen. My co-editor (and pal of fifty-plus years Nigel Brown) is busy putting the finishing touches to the print edition of Fantasy Unlimited #54, the Alan Austin memorial edition of that wonderful fanzine from the 1970s and early 1980s.  That should hopefully see print later this year.  Once it is ready, we will post an update here so that fans can buy a copy from Amazon, priced “at cost”.

I’ve (baggsey here) been continuing to research the history of the Atlas Publishing and Distributing Company Ltd, known to UK fans of American comics as the company responsible for the SuperAdventure, Superboy, Superman and Batman annuals we in the UK would see in the 1950s and 1960s.  Atlas Publishing and Distributing Company Ltd (no connection to the company which was the precursor of Marvel) was responsible for the publishing of US pulps in the UK from as early as 1915, before moving into comic reprints in the late 1950s, and the more I dig into the personalities and events behind the company, the more intriguing it gets. I’ll probably blog a summary about it here, but it really warrants a book or paper of its own to ensure that all of the research data is captured for posterity.

Of course, the big news here is Joe Biden dropping out of the Presidential race. Whatever your political affiliation, this is a time of great political upheaval in these United States. I grew up in the UK and spent half my life there (I’m hoping to get to age 80 at least :-) ). Recently, I’ve become more aware that my political views have been greatly influenced by the messages of DC and Marvel comics of the 1960s and 1970s; messages that heroes with strength have an obligation to help the weak, for example. Or the message that it is incumbent on us to not discriminate on basis of religion, or colour, or sexual orientation, or any other divisive criteria.  I fervently hope that any of us aging reprobates that revere the comic stories of the sixties and seventies embrace those values. Any thoughts on this, please respond in the comments section below.