Science Fiction and Comics Association

The SFCA was a fan club/publishing group created by G.B. Love in 1961. It was initially a science fiction club, called the "Science Fiction Club of America", and then in May 1962"IMPORTANT: We are changing the name of our club to the Science Fiction and Comics Association. As you will notice, the initials are the same." in Rocket's Blast #6, May 1962 the name (but not the acronym!) was changed to the "Science Fiction and Comics Association" to encompass the group's overlapping interests in sci-fi and comics. According to Bill Schelly in his book The Golden Age of Comic Fandom, there was another name change later, this time to "South Florida Comic Association""Love published under the aegis of the SFCA. This originally stood for Science Fiction and Comic Association, but was changed to South Florida Comic Association. In any case, it was merely the name of Love's company" - excerpt from The Golden Age of Comic Fandom by Bill Schelly, reprinted in "The RBCC Story", Alter Ego #133, June 2015.. 
Love promoted the group in a number of professional comics, including letters of comment in Julius Schwartz' Mystery in Space #72 in December 1961( (see image to the left), and Marvel's Fantastic Four #10 (January 1962)John Ellis sharing Don Price's post in "G.B. Love, Andy Warner & RBCC Memories!" on Facebook, Nov 4/18, which lead to the expansion of the group beyond its first six members. There is little information on the group's activities outside of the zine publishing, but James Cassara remembers comic gatherings hosted by the group every few monthsJames's Post to G.B. Love, Andy Warner & RBCC Memories! on Facebook, Apr 1/18. 
The first ten issues of the group's first publication, Rocket's Blast, acted as the club's newsletter, with a notice to the members and a request for material, including a planned Feature about individual members, in the first issue:
Over time, the SFCA appears to have become more a publishing group than a fan club. John Ellis describes how, as a young fan who had moved to South Florida and attended the first meeting of the South Florida Comics Council (of which Love and his friend/co-worker Andy Warner were members), he was invited to work in the SCFA offices in September 1968"Back in My Days at the RBCC - Part 3 (of many)" by John Ellis, "G.B. Love, Andy Warner & RBCC Memories! group on Facebook, Jan 14/18.. At this time Love was also running "Ye Olde Fanzine Shoppe" (est. 1968), a direct purchase outlet for reprints of the better amateur fanzines, and was using the SFCA name for correspondence and advertising"Robert's Post" by Robert Beerbohm at G.B. Love, Andy Warner & RBCC Memories! on Facebook, Jan 1/18.. This was also reflected in the change of Rocket's Blast from a newsletter zine to adzine for early comics fandom, later amalgamating with The Comicollector to become the very popular Rocket's Blast Comicollector in 1964.
John Ellis describes the situation thus:
The SFCA published a number of other mostly comics fanzines between 1961 and 1974 under the Association's imprint, culminating in The SFCA Price Guide written by Andy Warner in 1974. It was here that the group struck trouble with Bob Overstreet:
This coincided with Love's relocation from Florida to Houston and his focus shifting to Star Trek fandom. Whether a contributing factor or not, the ill-fated Price Guide was the Association's last publication. The Rocket's Blast Comicollector was sold to Jim Van Hise and continued under his name for another nine years. The SFCA appears to have faded into obscurity. It had, however, been a launchpad for a number of the "BNFs" of 1960s-1970s comic fandom as well as some of the most important zines of the period. The group also was the first experience of fandom for many who became artists, writers and editors within the industry.
== Membership ==
The names of new members were posted in each issue of Rocket's Blast in "The Rocket's Roll", up until Issue #29 when it became the Rocket's Blast Comicollector. Names are collected from images of individual issues and/or the description provided by the MyComicShop.com or Poopsheet Foundation listing. This is by no means a complete roster of members.
*December 1961
**Buddy Saunders - Texas
**Charles Donthitt - Ohio
**Bernie Bubnis Jr - New York
**Richard Weingroff - Maryland
**Jerry Snipes - Alabama
**Rusty Clapsadle - Michigan
*January 1962
**Edward Sheehy - Maryland
**Paul Seydor - Pennsylvania
*March 1962
**Dave Bibby - New Jersey
**Larry Tucker - Texas
**Doug Storer - Montana
**Dennis Budd - Missouri
*April 1962
**Michael Maginnis - Maryland
*May 1962
**George Kopp - New Jersey
**Melvin Herbers - Ohio
**Fred Bronson - California
**Tom McGeehan - California
**John McGeehan - California
**Raymond Miller - Pennsylvania
*June 1962
**Dean Newman
**Don Foote
*July 1962
**Randy Jones - Iowa
**Janet Alvey - Michigan
**Jerry Smith - Arizona
**Joseph Epstein - New York
**Howard Keltner - Texas
**Pete Wilson - Texas
*August 1962
**Paul Moslander
**plus six others unnamed
*January 1963
**John G. Fantucchio
**Larry Herndon
**Richard Durell
**Paul Gambaccini
**Margaret Gemignani
*May 1963
**Marvin Wolfman 
**Lucien Kettle
**Donald Petrone
**Dick Memorich 
**Jeremy Barry
**Sherman Howard
*December 1963
**George R.R. Martin
*January 1964
**Russ Manning
*February 1964
**new subscribers list posted, names unavailable
*March 1964
**final new subscribers list posted, names unavailable
*Other members (via the LOCs and contributions)
**Mary Bending - 1st female member (LOC in May 1962)
**Bob Harner III
**John Ferrazzano
**Greg DeZiel
**George Paul
**Steve Perrin
**Frank Lamb
**Bill Regier
**L.L. Simpson
**Dan Fleming
**Mickey Martin
**Steve Utley
**Bill Spicer
**Edwin Balmer
**Philip Wylie
**Chuck Moss
**Glen Johnson
**Walt Taylor
**Biljo White
**Alan Simons
**Alan Weiss
==Publications==
*The Rocket's Blast - G.B. Love (1961-1964)
*Fighting Hero Comics (1962-1964) [later became Fantastic Exploits]
*Rocket's Blast Comicollector (1964-1974)
*Golden Age (1965 - ?)
*The Illustrated Collector's Handbook - Raymond Miller (1966-1968)
*Fandom Annual (1967)
*Fantastic Exploits (1970-1985)
*Fandom Marketplace (1970s)
*Golden Age Collector (1971)
*Collage (1971-1972) - co-edited with James Van Hise
*Marvel Times (1971-1973)
*Newton Portfolio (1972) - art portfolio for the works of Don Newton, frequent fanart provider to RBCC, among other zines.
*Marvel Collector's Handbook (1973)
*The SFCA Price Guide (1974)
==References==
Category:1961 Fan Clubs
Category:1960s Fan Clubs
Category:1970s Fan Clubs
Category:Comics Fandom
Category:Science Fiction Fan Clubs
Category:Zine Publishers