''Xero'' was a

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

edited and published by Dick Lupoff, Pat Lupoff and Bhob Stewart from 1960 to 1963, winning a

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

in the latter year. With science fiction and

comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

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.

History

The first issue was distributed September 3–5, 1960, at Pittcon (the

18th World Science Fiction Convention The 18th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Pittcon, was held on 3–5 September 1960 at the Penn-Sheraton Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The convention was chaired by Dirce Archer. Participants A ...

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: :The night of the costume ball, Pat and I showed up in our costumes: hastily devised Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel outfits. Mine was made from a set of long underwear, and hers was nothing but a man’s red T-shirt emblazoned with felt lightning, plus a yellow sash. They were extremely popular costumes. Everyone from Doc Smith on down wanted to take our pictures. Why?… The only conclusion that can be drawn is that it was not us, nor our costumes themselves, that were popular. It was Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel, momentarily embodied in us, that drew the admiration and applause... Further, "All in Color" has been the most letter-provoking feature of ''Xero'', numerous people have requested copies, specifying that their motive is to obtain the comics articles, and if all the authors currently committed to write for the series come through with articles, the series will run well into 1962 before material runs out. 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 Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...

, Ed Gorman,

Ron Haydock Ron Haydock (April 17, 1940 – August 14, 1977) was an American actor, screenwriter, novelist and rock musician. Career Haydock's band, Ron Haydock and the Boppers, were heavily influenced by Gene Vincent. In August 1959, Cha Cha Records rele ...

, Roy Krenkel,

Frederik Pohl Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American science-fiction writer, editor, and fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first published work, the 1937 poem "Elegy to a Dead Satelli ...

, Larry Shaw, Robert Shea,

Steve Stiles Stephen Willis Stiles (July 16, 1943 – January 11, 2020) was an American cartoonist and writer, coming out of the science fiction fanzine tradition. He won the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist. Early life and education Steven Willis Stil ...

, Bob Tucker,

Donald E. Westlake Donald Edwin Westlake (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) was an American writer, with more than a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into ...

, Ted White,

Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul O. Williams (1935–2009), American science-fiction author and poet * Paul L. Williams (author) (born 1944), FBI consultant, journalist * Paul Williams (journalist) (1948–2013), American founder of mu ...

and Walt Willis.

Books

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 Peter Christian Steinbrunner (1934 – 7 July 1993) was an American author, broadcaster and historian specializing in detective film and fiction.

; "Captain Billy's Whiz Gang!" by

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...

; "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. Other articles and art from ''Xero'' were reprinted in ''The Best of Xero'', published by San Francisco's Tachyon Publications in 2004. John Hertz reviewed ''The Best of Xero'' in ''Emerald City'': :Davidson, Carter, and Stiles all contributed to ''Xero''; Stiles, who in 2004 was on the Best Fanartist ballot, then drew with a stylus on mimeograph stencils, the technology of the day. Pat & Dick Lupoff typed stencils in their Manhattan apartment, printed them on a machine in Noreen & Larry Shaw’s basement, collated by hand, and lugged the results to SF cons or stuffed them in mailboxes. The machine had not been given by Damon Knight, A. J. Budrys explained in a letter after a while, but lent. Eventually drawings could be scanned by electro-stencil, a higher tech. Colored ink joined colored paper, sometimes wildly colored. ''Xero'' could be spectacular. Knight later founded the Science Fiction Writers of America; he and Budrys were each later Writer Guest of Honor at a Worldcon. James Blish won two Retrospective Hugos in 2004; in ''Xero'' he reviewed Budrys’ ''Rogue Moon'' (not reprinted by Tachyon), and Kingsley Amis’ ''New Maps of Hell''. You’ll also see Anthony Boucher, Harlan Ellison, Ethel Lindsay, Fred Pohl, Rick Sneary, Bob Tucker as "Hoy Ping Pong", Harry Warner—fans and pros mixing it up. Roger Ebert, later a movie critic, contributed poetry, often free-style, or formal and funny in his fanziner’s version of Browning’s "Last Duchess": ::''This crud'' ::''I print for you disgusts me; the thud'' ::''Is of your fanzine dully falling.''

Awards

''Xero'' won the

for Best Fanzine in 1963.Best Fanzine Hugo Nominees and Winners
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References

{{Reflist

External links

Artwork from ''Xero''

* Hertz, John
"Distilled Spirit of a Classic Fanzine"
Defunct literary magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1960 Magazines disestablished in 1963 Hugo Award-winning works Science fiction fanzines Comics zines