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Secrets of Ireland’s first-ever comics fanzine, featuring art by young Paul Neary, revealed

By John Freeman on January 3, 2017

The cover of Journey Planet #31 features art for Heroes Unlimited – the Merry Marvel Fanzine #2 by a young Paul Neary

In December 1966, 50 years ago now, a 15-year-old Irish teenager called Tony Roche did a remarkable thing. He published the first issue of a comics fanzine called The Merry Marvel Fanzine.

What was remarkable about this was that this was the first comics ‘zine on this side of the Atlantic. They had already existed in the US, but it would be over six months before the first British comics fanzine, Ka-Pow, produced by Phil Clarke and the late Steve Moore, would appear, in July 1967.

By producing The Merry Marvel Fanzine, and subsequently Heroes Unlimited, Tony, all unbeknownst to himself, helped set in motion a tradition of ‘zines and communication between comics fans that continues, unbroken, to this day.

Tony went AWOL in the summer of 1969 – like many another – leaving the fan community to pursue an international academic career, culminating in a Professorship in Irish Literature in UCD. But he has now reappeared, and had opened a treasure chest full of unbelievable goodies, some of which he has allowed us to share, including artwork, articles, his Merry Marvel Marching Society membership card, and a previously unpublished Letter of Comment written by Alan Moore, shortly after his fifteenth birthday.

The origins of this ground-breaking fanzine are detailed in the latest issue of the award-winning, free to download magazine Journey Planet (#31 – December 2016), edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia, and Pádraig Ó Méalóid, which includes

An oral history of the time from Tony, which traces his adventures, including trips to a New York comic con and the very first British comic con
Fan artwork by legendary comics artist Paul Neary
An unpublished Alan Moore letter, sent to Heroes Unlimited in late 1968
Articles on Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent, and The Avengers by Tony Roche from Heroes Unlimited
Unpublished correspondence from BBC presenter John Peel to Heroes Unlimited

And more!

• Journey Planet #31 can be found online here and the full Journey Planet site is at ourneyplanet.weebly.com

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.