DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Spacewarp, v. 5, issue 4, whole no. 28, July 1949

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Spacewarp, v. 5, issue 4, whole no. 28, July 1949

Page 18

The choices were so scattered that only two names appear twice: Margaret St.Clair and EESmith. There are a couple of interesting features -- Shaver received one vote in the "best" category and one in the "worst" category. And one fan voted van Vogt both best and worst, saying that when he was good he was wonderful, but when he was bad he was lousy.

The "best story of all time" answers surprised me. The only story on which two fen agreed was Hamilton's "The Star Kings." The others mentioned were: The Null-A series; the Green Man series; So Shall Ye Reap; Alice in Wonderland; First Contact; Dwellers In The Mirage; Gray Lensman; The Ship of Ishtar; and Ark of Fire. (Which last would have been my own choice, also, if I'd answered the questions.)

(3) Artwork. This category, frankly, is a mess. So many of the answers were qualified that it's hard to draw any conclusion. About the best way to sum it up is to quote one fan's answer about which mag has the best cover art: "None consistently." All these mags drew votes: aSF, AMZ, AFR, FFM, FN, SS, WT. And don't ask me what happened to TWS and Planet.

On interiors, some fans voted for artists, some for mags. TWS and SS seemed to be the favorites, with Bok and Finlay mentioned most often by name. Since Bok and Finlay appear mostly in other mags, you can try drawing your own conclusions. 

On covers, Finlay, and Jones win.

Worst artists: One vote apiece for St. John, Paul, and Lee Brown Coye. 

From the wide divergence of opinion this question has revealed, I expect countless articles to be written on this topic. C'mon, sound off!

(4) Now we come to fandom. # Most of the answerers collect all prozines -- or at least, those they read. The average collection, according to this highly inadequate sampling, is around 600 mags. This is mostly accounted for by CosWal's whopping 1785-zine stack. Without him, the average drops to about 400.

The average book collector has 110 volumes, although several fen don't collect books at all because it costs too much. This seems to support Redd Bogg's contention that the outflux of hardcover stf is too much of a good thing.

Four of the six replies to the question: "Do you save fanzines?" were affirmative. CosWal adds that he has a 20-foot stack of 'em. A truly horrible thought, is it not?

(5) Two fen answering the poll do not belong to the NFFF. Only one belongs to a regional fanclub -- mainly because of the scarcity of regional fanclubs. Three belong to local clubs; most of the others would like to, but are isolated.

Five repliers have met other fen, and none express violent repulsion. Comments ranged from "surprisingly human" to "Some seem like all around good guys, but many are rather odd personalities, no two alike." Which seems to define Mr. Average Fan pretty well, at that.
(18)
- END -

Saving...

The choices were so scattered that only two names appear twice: Margaret St.Clair and EESmith. There are a couple of interesting features -- Shaver received one vote in the "best" category and one in the "worst" category. And one fan voted van Vogt both best and worst, saying that when he was good he was wonderful, but when he was bad he was lousy. The "best story of all time" answers surprised me. The only story on which two fen agreed was Hamilton's "The Star Kings." The others mentioned were: The Null-A series; the Green Man series; So Shall Ye Reap; Alice in Wonderland; First Contact; Dwellers In The Mirage; Gray Lensman; The Ship of Ishtar; and Ark of Fire. (Which last would have been my own choice, also, if I'd answered the questions.) (3) Artwork. This category, frankly, is a mess. So many of the answers were qualified that it's hard to draw any conclusion. About the best way to sum it up is to quote one fan's answer about which mag has the best cover art: "None consistently." All these mags drew votes: aSF, AMZ, AFR, FFM, FN, SS, WT. And don't ask me what happened to TWS and Planet. On interiors, some fans voted for artists, some for mags. TWS and SS seemed to be the favorites, with Bok and Finlay mentioned most often by name. Since Bok and Finlay appear mostly in other mags, you can try drawing your own conclusions. On covers, Finlay, and Jones win. Worst artists: One vote apiece for St. John, Paul, and Lee Brown Coye. From the wide divergence of opinion this question has revealed, I expect countless articles to be written on this topic. C'mon, sound off! (4) Now we come to fandom. # Most of the answerers collect all prozines -- or at least, those they read. The average collection, according to this highly inadequate sampling, is around 600 mags. This is mostly accounted for by CosWal's whopping 1785-zine stack. Without him, the average drops to about 400. The average book collector has 110 volumes, although several fen don't collect books at all because it costs too much. This seems to support Redd Bogg's contention that the outflux of hardcover stf is too much of a good thing. Four of the six replies to the question: "Do you save fanzines?" were affirmative. CosWal adds that he has a 20-foot stack of 'em. A truly horrible thought, is it not? (5) Two fen answering the poll do not belong to the NFFF. Only one belongs to a regional fanclub -- mainly because of the scarcity of regional fanclubs. Three belong to local clubs; most of the others would like to, but are isolated. Five repliers have met other fen, and none express violent repulsion. Comments ranged from "surprisingly human" to "Some seem like all around good guys, but many are rather odd personalities, no two alike." Which seems to define Mr. Average Fan pretty well, at that. (18) - END -