So...Metz does this ad at the end of Squa Tront #2, then he does the figures in the middle of this great splash in Squa Tront #3, and we get his amaz'n wordless Continuity story in Squa Tront #4 (up in the wayback on here), which makes me wonder about the other Squa Tronts (I only have 3 and 4). Some folks say Squa Tront #3 is the greatest fanzine of all time. I'm no authority, so I dunnae, but I definitely wouldn't take the opposite side in a debate (although I do love a good debate, and even agree with Winston Churchill, that it's often great fun to switch sides in mid-stream)
I have almost all of them. Number 4 is the last one edited by Jerry Weist, who was still pretty much a kid. If you have it, you can see he put together a pretty lavish package with the four covers and all. I don't think Metzger appeared after that. John Benson's issues were generally more intellectual (in a good way); he was older and one of the best essayists in fandom, and published some great interviews, like the big Krigstein issue 6. I'm partial to # 7, because it has the first appearane of lot of Krenkel cover roughs for Creepy. All of them are worth having for some of us fanatics. Benson's last issue, 9,(before the later Fantagraphics comeback), was really incredible in many ways. Squarebound, 96 pages, long interviews with Feldstein, Kurtzman, Gaines and Elder, a color section with Wood cover roughs and lots of vintage ephemera. The letters pages in Benson's zines are particularly good discussions with some of the great fan commentators like Bhob Stewart and Landon Chesney. I don't know if there's a "best" issue for me. There were so many great fanzines back then, Heritage, Phantasmagoria, Infinity, Phase...sigh.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's kinda where I was com'n from, that it's almost impossible to pick one (you left Hot Stuf and those Fantastic Fanzines off your list, but I know, you started a list and did ... for more). Thanks so much for all the great Squa Tront history (Yeah, I have #s 3 and 4, and yer right, 4 is incredible also)
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