Z604/Z672 Comic Books and Their Readers
Digital and Empirical Methods for Studying Readership and Fandom
Spring 2024
12:40 - 15:15 Wednesday, Sycamore Hall (SY) 103
Instructor: Associate Professor John A. Walsh, jawalsh@indiana.edu.
Office Hours: Schedule at https://fantastical.app/jawalsh-r1Wz/office-hours.
Associate Instructor: Alex Wingate, alewinga@iu.edu
Office Hours: Thursdays, 1:30pm-2:45pm, and by appointment (click Zoom link in Alex’s profile)
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Week 11: Fanzines and maker culture
Summary
This week we will learn about the history of comics fanzines and prozines and, in small groups, create small fanzines in class.
Weekly Learning Objectives
- define the terms fanzine and prozine and list examples of each from comics and other fandoms.
- explain the origins and history of comic book fanzines and identify some of the major figures and publications.
- create a small, simple fanzine.
- design fanzine-related programming and workshops.
Before class: Readings, resources, and tasks
- O’Brien, E. (2012). Zines: A personal history. New England Review, 33(2), 89–99. Retrieved from https://muse.jhu.edu/article/484798
- Radway, J. (2020). Zines, half-lives, and afterlives: On the temporalities of social and political change. PMLA, 126, 140–150. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1632/pmla.2011.126.1.140
- Schelly, W. (2003). Fanzine Mania . The golden age of comic fandom (Rev. ed.). Seattle, WA: Hamster Press.
Fanzine production activity
- Prepare for the fanzine production activity:
- Communicate with your group about fanzine topics, features, and ideas
- Generate text and gather images for your fanzine
- Bring any crafting supplies you’d like to work with in class as you make your fanzine with your group. I will bring large sheets of blank paper, markers, crayons, scissors, and a few old comics to cut up, but feel free to bring additional supplies.
In class