SWORD SUMMER SPECIAL: Pssst! Wanna Buy a Fanzine? by Richard Farrell of Andersonic

The idea of doing a Gerry Anderson-based fanzine had been kicking around for a while before we actually got round to backing up all the talk with some action. The main impetus was the nagging feeling that there was a gap in the coverage of the Anderson series in print and online. We wanted to look into the metaphor of the episodes and the influences on the writers, directors and designers who contributed so much to the longevity of these series; for example, what was on Keith Wilson’s mind when he designed Guardian of Piri, or David Tomblin’s when he was directing The Cat With Ten Lives, to make them such stand out instalments? Prior to our first issue, I’d been cajoled into writing for the Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History website and realised both that there was still much to be explored, and also that the subject matter could be covered in a more humorous way.

Andersonic’s approach is very much influenced by the Doctor Who fanzines of the 80s and 90s which often featured some very incisive discussions on the classic series which led me to re-evaluate several stories I’d previously dismissed - the likes of Faze, Matrix and Skaro featured some of the best criticisms I’ve ever read. It occurred to us that the likes of Space: 1999 would benefit from such discussion - so we take a functional approach, comparing and contrasting the Anderson series with their contemporaries; it’s not so much about our personal opinions as attempting to put the episodes in context with the way the world was at the time, because good SF has a lot to say once you’ve decoded the message. Understanding the direction Johnny Byrne and Christopher Penfold took Space: 1999, or the metaphor of the aliens in UFO is the key to a greater appreciation of these series as a whole.

Our other main influence is the irreverence of the music press back in the days when NME, Melody Maker et al were essential reading - the way they’d relentlessly mock groups or individuals they deemed absurd or no longer cool (I remember a particularly funny assassination of Kevin Rowland from Dexys Midnight Runners taking an innocent trip to the barbers that still makes me laugh). So how can you not take the mickey out of Victor Bergman’s lack of answers or the second series of Space: 1999 in general?

Starting the fanzine is the easy part; you have years of enthusiam built up and this can fuel the first couple of issues while the much-needed offers of assistance from like-minded souls start to trickle in. Despite the influence of photocopied Doctor Who fanzines, modern DTP applications mean there’s no excuse for shoddy presentation so it was back to the text books to learn about laying out a document, text boxes, pdfs and all that modern stuff. Good to keep the old grey cells working! Other important ingredients include a graphic designer friend who’s good with logos, a local printer who knows one end of a pdf from another and whose price is right, plus a friend in convenient possession of a database of readers from a previous Anderson fanzine - so it’s all systems go!

One of our first articles that ‘clicked’ covered the Starcruiser comic strip from Look-In, which benefitted so much from the input of artist David Jefferis and modelmaker Martin Bower, featuring hitherto unseen artwork and photos of prototype versions of the Starcruiser model. Articles on exploring the links between Space:1999 and its distant cousin 2001: A Space Odyssey followed, along with discussing female role models in the Anderson series (from a female perspective, of course), reinforcing the direction we wanted to go. Several fans have written fascinating accounts of their first-hand experiences of visiting the studios during production, something the rest of us could only dream about. We have also covered the enormous influence of concept aircraft and the X-Planes on the designers at Century 21, something of which I’m particularly proud, as I’m not aware it had been covered in Anderson circles previously, along with charting the reappearance of numerous Century 21 miniatures in early 70s Doctor Who after the studios closed and flogged their props. Finding that the Shadair jet from UFO was based so closely on the XB-70 Valkyrie or that the UFO spacesuits ended up in The Goodies of all places was as big a revelation to us as some of the stuff Paul has featured on his Project Sword site (particularly discovering the use of commercially available toys as Brains’ Thunderbird 6 prototypes), underlining that there’s still much to be unearthed and discussed about these classic series. Coverage of the use of toys and kits in the Anderson series is a fascinating area to explore, but as I haven’t touched an Airfix kit in decades, I’m on the lookout for a volunteer!

Apart from such revelations, being able to run interviews in the more recent issues has given Andersonic a new impetus - it’s a chance to get it from the horse’s mouth. What’s more, all the interviewees have been enthusiastic and helpful and happily no illusions have been shattered: Gerry Anderson casually invited us to ring back if we wanted anything else, Mike Trim liked the more humorous approach and Mike Noble even wrote to say he liked the cartoons - so it’s become quite a love-in! And as for Captain Scarlet director Leo Eaton... well, there’s someone who should be writing his autobiography; you’ll just have to wait for the next issue to see what he had to say! The fact that their interest and enthusiasm remains undinned after the intervening decades says a lot about them and their work.

I think the most daunting part of doing a paper fanzine is selling the finished item - when you’re no kind of salesman it’s downright scary. Admittedly it was something I didn’t even think about until I had the first issue back from the printers. Then panic! - it would be easy to fall at the final hurdle and end up shoving most of the print run into the back of the wardrobe! However word of mouth is a wonderful thing and with the support of kind souls like David Nightingale of Startrader and Anthony Taylor at Fabgear USA, Andersonic has spread like a germ, though that’s probably not the most flattering analogy I could use. Once the mindnumbingly obvious revelation struck us that a website would give Andersonic a better profile, the fanzine has been in rude health ever since. I hope regular readers will associate a certain freshness with our coverage of what is now quite old subject matter. After all, as Bananarama always said, it ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it. I also hope they laugh at some of the jokes. We’ve learned a lot about putting together a fanzine as we’ve gone along, and I hope readers have learned something about these series along the way that has increased their appreciation of the Andersons’ work. That way, we know we’re heading in the right direction.

As for the future of Andersonic, I think a fanzine is (like a blog I expect) very much like a shark, to paraphrase Woody Allen - it needs to keep moving in order to survive. We’re always on the look-out for new angles and any help with art or articles because now we’re approaching double figures, the last thing we want on our hands just now is a dead shark!

Richard Farrell

Andersonic

Wonderful insight into Fanzinedom Richard! Thanks ever so much! Wonder if there's such a thing as a Blogzine? I see that the next issue of Andersonic includes Century 21 Merchandising - I'll be ordering my copy soon during the long SWORD summer! Woodsy