COMIC COURIER
1969-1972
COMIC COURIER
was a "little zine" with a lot of heart that gave many a young fan their first published start.
CC's 7-issue run (from 1969 to 1972) contained little in the way of ground-breaking content, but it was a gathering place (like many another small zine of its day) for boys (and a few girls) who loved comic books and the world of fantasy found there. In those fanzines (and through correspondence via mail) friendships were formed over talk about comics, and a few new and wild worlds were created in the process.
In the pages of the adzines and fanzines of the day, kids (of all ages and from every state in the nation, as well as Canada and even England and Australia) connected, bonded, and partnered with one another to create a Fandom family that subsequently birthed many a professional career in creative communications (including comic books.)
This cover by Canadian comic book fan Vince Marchesano appeared on Comic Courier #6 ("The Blackhawk issue"), 1971.
The art to the left is the splash page for an original comic story written and drawn for Comic Courier #5 by Ken Tesar (who often signed his work Miles Kente.) "The Four Horsemen" featured characters Ken had created in the early 1960s during the seminal years of Comics Fandom.
COMIC COURIER CONFAB
As we've thumbed through the Comic Courier Archives (file folders filled with art, story, and correspondence from the the years of CC's publication) we've uncovered some ancient missives, once called LOCs (Letters of Comment) but which now stand for Long Overlooked Correspondence. The following snippets of honest-to-gosh commentary give us a subjective overview of the fan-base of CC through its 7-issue run.
Panned by some:
"I received Comic Courier yesterday. Thanks for sending it. ... First off, about the art--90% of it was lousy."
--Brian Lees, whose art was very, very good (from a letter in 1970)
"Thanks for the copy of CC! I really appreciate you sending me a freebie copy, since I really don't have the money to buy it. ... [A] lot of the artwork ... was poor."
--Gary Groth, whose fanzine carried art that was fantastic, and who (accordingly and deservedly) went on to actually make money in publishing (from a letter in 1970)
Praised by some:
"I'm really proud of you, CC has improved tremendously. ... Fandom's always saying they want a Fan Fanzine, well baby, CC is it!"
--Johnny Souza, who was 23 years older than me, and whose art and zine were very, very good (from a letter in 1971)
"For a humble fanzine, C.C. is one of the best buys in fandom, provides good reading, and supplies interesting art."
--Al Hanley, who was 15 years older than me and a very, very good artist and publisher--in fact, a very, very goodguy (from a letter in 1971)
Mooned over by others:
"Comic Courier ... was the best fanzine around."
--Ken Tesar, very, very good writer and artist who was around from the very, very early days of comics fandom (from a letter in 1975)
"CC was the first real fanzine that I got involved with, and I hold a great sense of nostalgia for it."
--Paul Chadwick, who went on to very, very good and concrete accomplishments in both art and publishing (from a letter in 1975)
COMIC COURIER (1969-1972) and
The WONDERFUL WORLD of the WILD and WICKED WEST (1974)
A Retro Gallery
Top row, left to right:
Cover of Comic Courier #1 (1969, art by Mark Ammerman); cover of Comic Courier #2 (1969, art by Frank Frazetta; slight improvement over cover for CC #1); ad for Comic Courier #4 (1970, from an issue of the Rocket's Blast Comic Collector adzine); cover of Comic Courier #4 (1970, art by Rick Enloe; offset cover printed by Gary Groth)
Bottom row, left to right:
Cover of Comic Courier #5 (1971, art by Ray Cioni); cover of Comic Courier #6 (1971, art by Vince Marchesano); ad for Comic Courier #7 (1972, appeared in RBCC; art by Dave Simons and Mark Ammerman); cover of The Wonderful World of the Wild and Wicked West #2 (1975, art by Dave Simons and Mark Ammerman; never went to print--only the first edition was published, in 1974)
