Xero was a fanzine edited and published by Dick Lupoff, Pat Lupoff and Bhob Stewart from 1960 to 1963, winning a Hugo Award in the latter year. With science fiction and comic books as the core subjects, Xero also featured essays, satire, articles, poetry, artwork and cartoons on a wide range of other topics, material later collected into two hardcover books.
The first issue was distributed September 3–5, 1960, at Pittcon (the 18th World Science Fiction Convention in Pittsburgh). That issue featured an article about Captain Marvel and Fawcett Comics, the first "All in Color for a Dime" installment. In 1961, Lupoff wrote an article for Comic Art about the launch of Xero and his focus on comics:
In subsequent issues, the articles and letter columns often featured well-known contributors: Dan Adkins, Otto Binder, James Blish, Anthony Boucher, Algis Budrys, Lin Carter, Avram Davidson, L. Sprague de Camp, Roger Ebert, Harlan Ellison, Ed Gorman, Ron Haydock, Roy Krenkel, Frederik Pohl, Larry Shaw, Robert Shea, Steve Stiles, Bob Tucker, Donald E. Westlake, Ted White, Paul Williams and Walt Willis.
The format of Xero imitated Ace Books' Ace Doubles (two novels bound together with cover illustrations on front and back). When Xero was flipped over, it revealed a second cover leading into an article on comic books. These articles were mostly about 1940s superheroes: "The Spawn of M.C. Gaines" by Ted White; "Me To Your Leader Take" by Richard Ellington; "The Big Red Cheese" by Dick Lupoff; "The First (arf, arf) Superhero of Them All (Popeye)" by Bill Blackbeard; "OK, Axis, Here We Come!" by Don Thompson; "One on All and All on One" by Tom Fagan; "A Swell Bunch of Guys" by Jim Harmon; "The Four-Panelled, Sock-Bang-Powie Saturday Afternoon Screen" by Chris Steinbrunner; "Captain Billy's Whiz Gang!" by Roy Thomas; "The Second Banana Superheroes" by Ron Goulart; and "Comic of the Absurd" by Harlan Ellison. These articles were later collected in the hardcover book All in Color for a Dime (Arlington House, 1970), reprinted in paperback by Ace Books in 1971 and Krause Publications in 1997. [2]
Other articles and art from Xero were reprinted in The Best of Xero, published by San Francisco's Tachyon Publications in 2004. [3] John Hertz reviewed The Best of Xero in Emerald City:
Xero won the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine in 1963. [5]
A fanzine is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest. The term was coined in an October 1940 science fiction fanzine by Russ Chauvenet and first popularized within science fiction fandom, and from there the term was adopted by other communities.
Harlan Jay Ellison was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. His published works include more than 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, comic book scripts, teleplays, essays, and a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media.
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Roy Gerald Krenkel, who often signed his work RGK, was an American illustrator who specialized in fantasy and historical drawings and paintings for books, magazines and comic books.
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Richard Allen Lupoff was an American science-fiction and mystery author, who also wrote humor, satire, nonfiction and reviews. In addition to his two dozen novels and more than 40 short stories, he also edited science-fantasy anthologies. He was an expert on the writing of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and had an equally strong interest in H. P. Lovecraft. He also co-edited the non-fiction anthology All in Color For a Dime, which has been described as "the very first published volume dedicated to comic book criticism"; as well as its sequel, The Comic-Book Book.
Danny L. Adkins was an American illustrator who worked mainly for comic books and science-fiction magazines.
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Ken Steacy is a Canadian comics artist and writer best known for his work on the NOW Comics comic book series of Astro Boy and of the Comico comic series of Jonny Quest, as well as his graphic novel collaborations with Harlan Ellison and Dean Motter. Steacy was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets 386 Comox Squadron.
The Alley Award was an American annual series of comic book fan awards, first presented in 1962 for comics published in 1961. Officially organized under the aegis of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences, the award shared close ties with the fanzine Alter Ego magazine. The Alley is the first known comic book fan award.
Charles William Rotsler was an American artist, cartoonist, pornographer and science fiction author. Rotsler was a four-time Hugo Award winner and one-time Nebula Award nominee.
Robert Marion Stewart, known as Bhob Stewart was an American writer, editor, cartoonist, filmmaker, and active fan who contributed to a variety of publications over a span of five decades. His articles and reviews appeared in TV Guide, Publishers Weekly, and other publications, along with online contributions to Allmovie, the Collecting Channel, and other sites. In 1980, he became the regular film columnist for Heavy Metal.
Michael Terry Gilbert is an American comic book artist and writer who has worked for both mainstream and underground comic book companies.
Jerry Gwin Bails was an American popular culturist. Known as the "Father of Comic Book Fandom," he was one of the first to approach the comic book field as a subject worthy of academic study, and was a primary force in establishing 1960s comics fandom.
Alter Ego is an American magazine devoted to comic books and comic-book creators of the 1930s to late-1960s periods comprising what fans and historians call the Golden Age and Silver Age of Comic Books.
George Leonard Carlson was an illustrator and artist with numerous completed works, perhaps the most famous being the dust jacket for Gone with the Wind. He is cited by Harlan Ellison as a "cartoonist of the absurd, on a par with Winsor McCay, Geo. McManus, Rube Goldberg or Bill Holman." Comic book scholar Michael Barrier called him "a kind of George Herriman for little children". In the Harlan Ellison Hornbook preface to his essay on Carlson, Ellison relates how he contacted Carlson's daughters and attempted to get the material they sent him preserved in a museum or archive, to no avail. According to Paul Tumey of Fantagraphics, Carlson's book Draw Comics! Here's How - A Complete Book on Cartooning was included in an exhibit on Art Spiegelman in the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit in 2009.
Jingle Jangle Comics was a ten-cent, bimonthly, 42-issue, 68-page children's-oriented American comic book magazine published by Eastern Color under the Famous Funnies, Inc. imprint between February 1942 and December 1949. The series featured mixes of human and cartoon animal material. The series was edited by Steven Douglas with George L. Carlson as principal artist. Additional stories were drawn by David Tendlar.
The Comic Reader (TCR) was a comics news-fanzine published from 1961 to 1984. Debuting in the pre-direct market era, TCR was the first regularly published comics industry news fanzine, and was able to secure many contacts from within the ranks of the larger publishers. As TCR increased in popularity and influence, it was able to attract professional artist to illustrate the covers. TCR also proved to be a launching pad for aspiring comic book creators, many of whom published work in the fanzine as amateurs. Contributors from the world of fandom included founding editor Jerry Bails, key editor Paul Levitz, Paul Kupperberg, Tony Isabella, Byron Preiss, Neal Pozner, Don Rosa, Carl Gafford, and Doug Hazlewood.
Patricia Enid Lupoff was an American magazine editor and event organizer. She won the 1963 Hugo Award for Best Fanzine with co-editor Richard A. Lupoff of the fanzine Xero. Additionally, she won the 2011 Inkpot Award and the 2021 First Fandom Posthumous Hall of Fame Award.