Speaking as someone who has struggled to produce a
fanzine on a regular basis, I have nothing but respect and admiration for those who attempted to do so in the days before computers and the Internet made it a far more complex and onerous proposition. Take, for example,
First Encounter, a Canadian fanzine whose eight issues were published between June 1982 and August 1983. Of particular note is that the 'zines feature the artwork of
Eric Hotz, best known for his iconic work on
Hârn. I love seeing "before they were famous" work of this sort. It's a useful reminder of the remarkable talents that our hobby has fostered over the decades.
Man, where did you find that?
ReplyDeleteReaders send me all sorts of things.
DeleteThere is a very good interview with the creator Kelly Villemaire and artist Eric Hotz on Grogtalk: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vWsArmQMVvU
ReplyDeleteFirst Encounter is quite rare and hard to find. I only have a few of the 8 issues. The advertised annual was never released.
That's great. Thanks for sharing that.
Delete
ReplyDeleteThe mag was originally intended to advertise the Dragons Lair retail store focused on d&d and was givin away for free.
Everyone donated their time and worked for fun, free ads went to stores that carried the mag.
Eric received well deserved exposure.
When it went for sale the number of copies dropped dramatically and #8 was the last issue.
The annual was never done, there was simply not enough interest to make the mag financially viable, but its advertising goal was achieved.
The magazine lead to the dragons lair being interviewed on multiple tv programs and a large demonstration of d&d at the arts science and technology centre in vancouver b.c.
about 24 DMs ran multiple groups thru d&d scenarios.
It was Kellys advertising idea and he made it all happen, everyone involved had alot of fun.