Paperback Fanatic no 48

Flip Through video at bottom of the post!

The brand new issue! April 2024. Created, compiled and published by Justin Marriott in the UK.

The Paperback Fanatic is a fanzine dedicated to vintage genre fiction published whenever he feels like it though there was two in 2023 so I’m hoping we’ll get issue 49 before the year is up.

As usual we start with the latest happenings in the world of vintage paperback collecting. This section usually consists of new non-fiction writing about old smelly books and this is what is happening here though we also get a quick article about the London Paperback show. First up a short interview with Steve Holland where he talks about his upcoming non-fiction book, Beyond the Void, which is about the history of notorious UK publishing house Badger. And we also get a gallery of some of his favorite covers.

We have an interview with Chris Mikul who puts out the fanzine Biblio Curiosa which features really obscure books from the past.

We have an interview with Andrew Nette about his non-fiction book about Australian genre fiction publisher, Horwitz.

And finally in the news section we have the article by Jules Burt on the London Paperback Show. Jules Burt has a very popular Youtube channel under his own name wherein he talks about vintage paperbacks and other vintage collections such as toys. Jules Burt was one of the first people I found that dug deeper into these old books I stumbled upon at the used bookstore one day before I realized there was a whole subculture of people with the same interest. He recently posted a trio of videos with Paperback Fanatic creator Justin Marriott that are fun and entertaining with loads of cool books shown and talked about. I absolutely loved these videos and you should go check them out.

Next up is the letters section. It’s an adorable throwback in the world of immediate email and comments and texts. I mean, it’s not like he’s getting actual physical letters but it still has that feel to it.

We have an article about our man Con Sellers, that we love around here. It’s a checklist compiled by Scott Carlson of Con’s sleaze books put out by Powell Tiger Books.

An article by Tom Tesarek about paperback covers created by infamous EC Comics artist, Wally Wood.

Another article by Tesarek about the conspiracy surrounding the book, The Black Abductor and its relation to the Patty Hearst kidnapping.

Jeff Popple pops in (sorry) with a closer look at Australian series spy character Mark Hood. The spy genre is one of my favorites, so I absolutely loved this closer look and was feeling the online ordering itch. Unrelated to Paperback Fanatic but touching on the same subject there is another Youtube channel I enjoy called David Books and Comics where he showcases his collection of Mark Hood books inspired by this article.

Our first Justin Marriott article is on the Gothic Romance genre author, Phyllis Whitney.

He also types an article on historical naval fiction about two larger series, Kelso and Fox.

Another of my favorite articles is Roy Nugen’s piece about cult B-movie filmmaker Fred Olen Ray and his published works. My love for B-movies is what lead me to trashy vintage genre fiction so this was right up my alley.

John Peel writes up an article on the the James Bond movie novelizations and pastiches.

Tom Tesarek is back with a story by story review of the May 1936 issue of Weird Menace pulp mag.

Along the same horror lines we get Steve Carroll’s look at two similar vampire police-esque procedurals. Number one here, like I’m sure most people reading this, I love the two Kolchak movies and TV series. I had no idea it was a novel first. Albeit and unfinished and unpublished one. And second fun fact, the made for TV werewolf movie Moon of the Wolf was a novel also. I’ve watched that movie many times and was blown away. This is the importance of picking up magazines like this. You never know what you’re going to learn.

We have an article about the Wilderness series by Steve Myall.

Steve Carroll’s Manly Man’s Manly Book Cave article on Men’s Adventure Magazines highlighting two releases from Bob Deis, Wyatt Doyle and Bill Cunningham’s collected output of Men’s Adventure Fiction Magazines. Go to menspulpmags.com for more!

Genre fiction lord of the dark waters, sharks and their fantastical Australian fiction books makes an appearance in an article by James Doig. I’ve seen the cover of SHARK! Many times but never realized it’s a novel. I always thought it was a non-fiction book. I must have this book.

Jules Burt is back with an article on The Panther Crimeband issues of books.

Jim O’Brien recounts an amusing story of his memories of the Alistair Maclean book When Eight Bells Toll. I loved this! I’m way into more creative and different ways of talking about these books we love and this was perfect.

Bonus Maclean related article about the artist who painted the covers for Fontana Books, Jordi (Jorge Longaron.

I chuckled when I first turned the page to Justin Marriott’s look at some of his favorite DAW Books covers and saw the Stone Roses pun. The Stone Roses have a song called, I Want to be Adored. It’s a great song. I’m not too big on sci-fi but I do own some DAWS because the cover art is always incredible so this is a nice gallery.

Another interesting and original style article is Justin’s look at authors who are most well known in one genre and the rare books where they wrote outside of their genre. This was a lot of fun and got me scouring my collection. The one that most stands out to me in mine but is not mentioned here is John D Macdonald’s sci-fi book, The Wine of Dreamers.

Also by Justin is a closer look at horror author John Farris. I own a couple of these but haven’t read them yet. The praise Justin gives the book, All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By is telling me that will be my first stop on the Farris wheel. (sorry again.)

And the last article is a gallery bio of UK young adult horror books.

All around and another great issue and smashing success. I look forward to the next one. These can be ordered through Amazon so no matter where you live you won’t have to pay international shipping.