---

Fanzine

For this assignment, alone or with a partner, you will produce a single issue of a fanzine. A fanzine (or zine) is “a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share their interest” (Wikipedia. “Fanzine”).

• The fanzine can be on any subject, but you are encouraged to choose a topic related to comics, pop culture, and fandom.
• The zine must have an identifiable cover, title, table of contents, and introduction.
• Apart from the introductory material (cover, title, contents, introduction), your zine must have 3 or more additional content items. A content item could be whatever fits the subject and purpose of your zine. Examples of possible content items are articles, biographies, reference lists, art galleries, puzzles, games, news, letters from readers, fiction, poetry, comics.
• Including cover, introduction, table of contents, and three or more content items, your fanzine should have at least twelve pages.
• If you work with a partner, also submit, on a separate piece of paper, a paragraph that explains each student’s contribution.

Submit your assignment materials in class.

Here are some sample ’zines created by students :

• Ahart, E., & Osabiya, A. A Journey Through LGBTQ+ Spaces @ SSU’s Campus Zine (pdf)
• Melendy, K., Brown, T., Bedard, M., Radamacher, S., & Barringer, A. Reproductive Justice (pdf)

’Zine-making resources

• “Zine Workshop Freebie File”
• Akbari, R. (2018). “How to Make a Zine.”
• @brattyxbre (2024). “How to Make a Zine the Old Fashioned Way.”

🎯 Assignment Goal

The purpose of the Fanzine project is to immerse students in an authentic fandom practice—creating a self-published, book-like artifact that demonstrates both creative and scholarly engagement with comics culture. In crafting a physical fanzine, students will gain hands-on experience with participatory fan activities and explore the materiality of fandom, understanding how tangible media—zines—serve as vessels for fan identity, community expression, and cultural production.

📌 Learning Outcomes

By completing this assignment, students will be able to:

• Design and produce a multi-page physical fanzine, including essential book-like components (e.g., cover, title page, table of contents, introduction, multiple content pieces), demonstrating understanding of material structure and narrative coherence.

• Curate meaningful content (such as fan fiction, graphic art, essays, reviews, interviews, letters) that reflects an informed engagement with a chosen comics fandom, showing thematic cohesion and alignment with fan discourse.

• Apply document design principles, integrating text and visuals in layouts that balance aesthetic appeal with readability, and incorporating proper citation of sources—both primary fan content and secondary research.

• Reflect critically on the materiality of fan artifacts, articulating how creating, circulating, and handling physical media shapes reader experience, fosters community connection, and sustains participatory culture.

• Engage with digital and print reference resources, researching fan practices and fandom history to inform the fanzine’s content and approach, thereby deepening their analytical familiarity with comics studies tools and archives.

• Plan and manage a creative project, whether working independently or collaboratively, by mapping workflow, assigning responsibilities, and delivering a cohesive finished artifact—mirroring real-world fan publishing processes.

Rubric

• 4 — Exceptional
• 3 — Good
• 2 — Acceptable
• 1 — Unacceptable

Element	Score
Required assignment components (30 pts) The required assignment components are present: cover, title, table of contents, introduction, content items, twelve pages. Material is organized clearly and precisely. Introductory content creatively captures attention and concisely explains subject and purpose of fanzine.	4    3    2    1
Design (30 pts) Creative design is apparent; different content items are distinguished headings and discrete design.	4    3    2    1
Professionalism and effort (30 pts) By definition, fanzines are not “professional” publications. They are documents produced by fans and enthusiasts who are generally amateur writers, artists, and publishers. Nonetheless, a casual observe should be able to tell that the fanzine was created with care and considerable effort, not “thrown together” in a few minutes. All the examples we looked at in class demonstrate sufficient professionalism, care, and effort.
Structure and writing (5 pts) Fanzine writing has correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Written pieces have introductory paragraphs, and paragraphs have topic sentences. Playful, satirical, comedic, creative writing (fiction, poetry), and similar content does not always have to be “correct,” but otherwise, strive for correctness.	4    3    2    1
Citations (5 pts) External sources are consistently and accurately cited. Credit your sources, including sources of images. Note: Individual components of collages and similar uses of images do not need to be cited. But if you were doing a Peanuts fanzine and and include a short biography of Charles Schultz or an article about a particular Peanuts daily strip, you should cite content and image sources for those types of pieces.	4    3    2    1