Where Did The Zine Come From?

There are few things as personal, passionate or interesting as homemade zines. These self-published journals, pamphlets and magazines have been a staple of so many counterculture and radical movements over the last two centuries.

Whilst often connected to science fiction, or the punk scene or more niche topics, the only limit to a zine is the imagination of the editor and everyone involved with it.

Whilst historically zines were handwritten or at least hand prepared via carbon copy, zine print services offer a much easier path to production and distribution.

But where did zines come from? When did independent publishing go from a distant fantasy to a common and incredibly personal reality?

The First-Ever Zine

If we define a zine as an independent, self-published work with no backing, then there are a few candidates for the first zine ever.

The first is 1775-6’s Common Sense, a polemic by Thomas Paine which advocated for American independence from Great Britain. It was clear, rational and highly persuasive, eventually becoming the highest-selling American book ever made.

It was self-published and independent, but later prototypical zines were closer to the spirit of what zines became. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller’s 1840-44 literary zine, The Dial, was both highly regarded and highly controversial due to its transcendentalist beliefs.

It was never successful at the time, but it left a lasting impact and would see two further revivals, finally publishing its last issue in 1929.

The Etymology Of Zine

The name zine has a fascinating history dating back to the early days of science fiction and the birth of the concept of fandom.

In the golden age of pulp science fiction in the 1920s and 1930s, a wave of magazines would be published that would not only find an avid audience of kids but also another audience of enthusiastic young adults.

They were enthralled but also highly critical of the impossibilities of these stories about aliens and distant planets, writing lengthy scrutinising letters criticising works published in these magazines.

Eventually, the solution the editors found was to publish these letters, complete with editors responses and, rather shockingly now, their full return addresses.

This new wave of fans would start skipping the magazine itself and start writing to each other, compiling a mailing list of like-minded individuals to create and send fanzines to each other.

The name itself came from Russ Chauvenet in October 1940, eventually catching on as the catch-all term for fan-magazine.

Zine culture became incredibly influential very quickly, both in and out of science fiction. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster published a story called The Reign of the Superman, which would eventually lead to one of the most famous fictional characters in history.

As zines became more popular, they moved from being critiques of science fiction and reports on conventions and short stories to allowing marginalised groups the chance to have a voice. Vice Versa and ONE were two incredibly influential LGBT zines, which spawned from these early science fiction zines.