Fantasy Unlimited, the fanzine created by British comics fandom legend Alan Austin, has been revived for a final issue, available now. This final issue has been re-titled Alan Austin’s Fantasy Unlimited, to include a celebration of his immense contribution to UK fandom in the 1970s and early 1980s.
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, initially titled Fantasy Unlimited, but, later, Comics Unlimited. Alan also published the Golden Age Fanzine, Whiz Kids, devoted to the original Captain Marvel and other Fawcett heroes, 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.
When it came to the prices commanded for back issues of comic books, Alan was always on the side of the comic collector, and with this in mind, he published the first Comic Book Price Guide for Great Britain. The Price Guide was an attempt to stabilise the market and give ammunition to the unwary fan against the odd rogue profiteering comic dealer.
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.
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”, “The 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 under the title Alan Austin’s Fantasy Unlimited, available here on the AmazonUK store here (Affiliate Link), in a printed softcover edition only.
• Many of Alan Austin’s zines are documented as part of the FANSCENE archive, a digital only repository of over 50 years of British fandom, available to access here
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.
Categories: British Comics, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Magazines, Other Worlds
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