Fan-Atic

Fan-Atic was a science fiction zine that ran for six issues in 1941, with a seventh unnumbered issue. Assistant editor Yehudi was responsible for the copy-editing and proof-reading, per a note from Beling in Issue 2"The assistant editor of Fan-Atic is Yehudi. He is also the guy who pulls all the boners and makes all the mistakes; so if you don't like anything in here, blame it on Yehudi, not Beling. Yehudi won't mind." - Issue 2, page 8. The zine was first produced by hektograph and following the (rumoured and ultimately brief) closure of Sun Spots, Beling purchased their mimeo machine and Issues #4 onwards were produced by mimeo insteadEditorial, Fan-Atic #issue 4 July 1941.
== Controversy ==
Fan-Atic's first issue accused Robert A. W. Lowndes and Donald A. Wollheim of being Communists. The second issue contained an letter from L.R. Chauvenet admonishing them for the snipe and directing them to his longer comment in his own zine Detours. Its third issue printed a retraction and an apology based on a letter from Lowndes: "Our only excuse being that we thought that you were Communists, and we don't like anybody who is a Communist. However since you aren't comrades we wish to extend our sincere apologies."Charles A. Beling: Retraction. Fan-Atic #3 pg. 17. May 1941.
== Reviews ==
== Contents ==
=== Issue 1 ===
Issue 1 (v. 1) was released in January 1941 and contained 9 pages.
Pg 1... Front cover
Pg 2... Prices and advertising requirements.
Pg 3... "Devil's Asteroid" by Manly Wade Wellman - story.
Pg 4... "Devil's Asteroid" continued; Biographies of Famous Authors...Otto Binder
Pg 5... Art for "Devil's Asteroid" by Gerry de la Ree
Pg 6... Editorial by Charles (CAS) Beling; Book Review "They Return at Evening" by H. R. Wakefield.
Pg 7... "Feet Stanks" by HELLvin Bent (delagaetz) - story
Pg 8...Fanzine Reviews by Yehudi: Alchemist, Spaceways, Flute, Fanfare, Sun Spots, Frontier, Le Zombie, Fantascience Digest.
Pg 9... New Year's Resolutions:
=== Issue 2 ===
Issue 2 (v. 1) was released in March 1941 and contained 18 pages.
Pg 1... Front cover
Pg 3... "Thanks Depresh" by Forrest J Ackerman - article on the rise in popularity of science fiction during the Great Depression.
Pg 4... "Thanks Depresh" continued; "Too Many Fanmags" by Art Widner Jr - article on the impact of "too many fanmags" on the fandom.
Pg 5... "Too Many Fanmags" continued
Pg 6... "Too Many Fanmags" continued; Fanzine Reviews by Yehudi: Fantasite, Centaur, Southern Star, The Damn Thing, IFA Review, Voice of the Imagi-Nation, Polaris, Specula, FFF Illustrated News Weekly; Announcement: publishing date in The Comet of the short story "Devil's Asteroid", which was previewed in Issue #1.
Pg 7... Compliments and Otherwise - LOCs from Marvis Manning (editor of Pluto), L. R. Chauvenet (editor of Detours), Harry Warner Jr. (editor of Spaceways and Horizons), D.B. Thompson (well known fan and letter writer).
Pg 8... Compliments and Otherwise continued, LOCs from D.B. Thompson (well known fan and letter writer), Art Widner Jr (co-editor of Fanfare), Earl Singleton (editor of Nepthene, co-editor of Fanfare)
Pg 9... Compliments and Otherwise continued, LOCs from P.A. Schumann (editor of Centaur), Phil Bronson (editor of Fantasite), Tom Wright (editor of The Comet, co-editor of Dawn), James Laichas.
Pg 10..."Keep That Light Burning" by J. Edward Davis - poem
Pg 11... Editorial by Charles Beling
Pg 12... "As the Wind Listeth, So Wandereth My Thoughts" by D.B. Thompson - article dispelling the belief in the "good old days" being the height for sci-fi.
Pg 13... "As the Wind Listeth, So Wandereth My Thoughts" continued; Random Shots - collection of short observations, announcements, quotes from other zines and a reminder about Devention 1.
Pg 14... "Vitons, Vitamins and Vitaphones" by Clipping Bureau... H.P. Pong - reprinted with permission from Starlight Publications.
Pg 15... "Vitons, Vitamins and Vitaphones" continued; "Concentration" by Phillip A. Schumann - thoughts on the ability to concentrate and what it could mean.
Pg 16... "Concentration" continued; "Dirge for Dead Mags" by Archer Cusp - poem; "Villanelle" by Earl Singleton - poem
Pg 17... Book Review "Seven Famous Novels by H.G. Wells".
=== Issue 3 ===
Issue 3 (v. 1) was released in May 1941 and contained 26 pages. It also included, for the first time, a table of contents providing credits for each article/piece.
Pg 1... Front Cover by Yehudi
Pg 3... Table of Contents; Editorial by Charles Beling
Pg 4... Comic Strip ad for Voice of the Imagi-Nation by Moore
Pg 5... STF Quiz by Hyman Tiger and Scott Feldman.
Pg 7... Quiz continued; Fanzine Review by Yehudi: Futurian War Digest, FMZ Digest, CFS Review, Eclipse, Deventioneer
Pg 8... "As the Wind Listeth, So Wandereth My Thoughts" by D.B. Thompson - regular article, thoughts on fandom
Pg 9... "Scientifun Way to Esperanto" by Forrest J. Ackerman
Pg 10... "Magic" by David G. Miller - article on magic as a plot device in sci-fi
Pg 11... "Magic" continued; "Fantasy and Science Fiction" by Donn Burtum - poem
Pg 12... "As the Wind Listeth, So Wandereth My Thoughts" continued
Pg 13... "As the Wind Listeth, So Wandereth My Thoughts" continued; Editorial continued; "A Few Feckless 'Forty Fantasy Flickers" by Bob Tucker - review of films released in 1940.
Pg 15... "Hell's Corner" by Harry Warner Jr - new regular article on editor fails. This one is on editors who don't answer their mail. 
Pg 16 - "Quick Watson, The Straight-Jacket!" by Archer Cusp - poem
Pg 17... Retraction by the Editors - retraction of comments made in Issue 1 calling Wollheim and Lowndes Communists and apologising; due to a formatting/layout error, Lowndes' letter in response to the allegations was not printed.
Pg 18... The Ultimate - Joe Gilbert - story
Pg 22... Quiz Answers by Tiger and Feldman; Publishing details and price rates.
Pg 23... Compliments and Otherwise - Letters of Comment by Joe Gilbert and Bob Tucker
Pg 24... Compliments and Otherwise - Letters of Comment by Bob Tucker and J.J. Fortier
Pg 25... Compliments and Otherwise - Letters of Comment by J.J. Fortier and D.B. Thompson; "The Ultimate" continued.
=== Issue 4 ===
Issue 4 (v. 2, n 1) was released in July 1941 and contained 16 pages. The first 40 issues contained a supplement, "The Bulletin of the Un-intellectual Brotherhood of Anti-Scientists" 
Pg 1... Front Cover by Roy Hunt
Pg 2... Table of Contents; subscription information by Charles Beling
Pg 3... Editorial by Charles Beling.
Pg 4... "Visitations to Bloomington" by Bob Tucker - article about various fan visits to Bloomington with Tucker.
Pg 6... "Visitations to Bloomington" continued; "Hell's Corner" by Robert W. Lowndes - regular article on editor fails, this one about letter writers who write long letters with unclear praise of the contents of a zine; "Can Cusp Can Cons?" by Archer Cusp - poetry
Pg 7... "CAB, Amachoor Detective" by Charles A Beling - article on the "Mystery of the Gag Letters' following Denvention 1.
Pg 8... Fanzine Review by Yehudi - Wavelength, Bonfire, Starlight, Fantaseer, Scorpio and Snide.
Pg 9... "Scientifun Way to Esperanto" by Forrest J. Ackerman
Pg 9a-9b... Added supplement "The Bulletin of the Un-intellectual Brotherhood of Anti-Scientists" - satire [TW: contains a racist slur]
Pg 10... "As the Wind Listeth, So Wandereth My Thoughts" by D.B. Thompson - regular article, thoughts on fandom
Pg 12... "Interference" by Robert A Lowndes - article in response to one written by Conway and published in FMZ.
Pg 13... "A Dissertation" by Yehudi - article on how to pronounce "Beling"; "Two Little Jingles" by Archer Cusp - poetry
Pg 14... "Dam' Yankees" by Southern Star - advertisement; "As I'm A Sinner" by Archer Cusp - poetry 
Pg 15... Compliments and Otherwise - Letters of Comment by Pogo (Mary C. Gray) and Robert W Lowndes
Pg 16... Compliments and Otherwise - Letters of Comment by D.B. Thompson and Joe Gilbert.
=== Issue 5 ===
Issue 5 (v. 2, n 2) was released in September 1941 and contained 18 pages. 
Pg 1... Front Cover by Yehudi
Pg 3... Table of Contents; subscription information by Charles Beling
Pg 4... Editorial by Charles Beling.
Pg 5... "The Life of a Sun-Spot" by Roderick Gaetz - article providing a biography and history of Sun Spots
Pg 6... "The Life of a Sun-Spot" continued; Fanzine Review by Yehudi - Fanart, Sun Spots, Pacificon News, and X (The Futurian Review)
Pg 7... "A Study in Shadows" by Philip S. Schumann - poetry
Pg 8... "The Ballad of the Three Bold Fans" by Archer Cusp - poem about Widner, Tucker and Doc; The Sentinel - advertisement
Pg 11... "The Ballad of the Three Bold Fans" continued; "Dam' Yankee" by Southern Star - advertisement
Pg 10... "Bug-Eyed Monsters for Britishers" by Harry Warner Jr - article on sci-fi resources for the benefit of countries cut-off from zines by WWII (Canada, Australia and England)
Pg 12... "As the Wind Listeth, So Wandereth My Thoughts" by D.B. Thompson - regular article, thoughts on fandom
"Interference" by Robert A Lowndes - article in response to one written by Conway and published in FMZ.
Pg 14... "The Quest That Failed" by Oscar J. Stumble - article on a stymied attempt to join a fan meeting by members of the Columbia Camp.
Pg 16... Compliments and Otherwise - Letters of Comment by Philip A. Schumann, Harry Warner Jr 
Pg 17... Compliments and Otherwise - Letters of Comment by Harry Warner Jr (continued), Harry Jenkins Jr
Pg 18... Compliments and Otherwise - Letters of Comment by Harry Jenkins Jr (continued), Gerry de la Ree.
=== Issue 6 ===
Issue 6 (v. 2, n 3) was released in November 1941. It was the final issue of the zine, although a one-page "swan song issue" was released the same month.
== References ==
Category:1941 Zines
Category:1940s Zines
Category:Science Fiction Zines