| Mythologies started in 1974 as a
small dittoed fanzine designed to keep me in touch with a small
group of friends. By the fourth issue it was mimeographed, and by
the 19th and last issue in 1986 it had expanded to 100 pages per issue,
had garnered me four Hugo Award nominations, and had a circulation so
large that I had a bulk mail permit. The first three issues had
covers by David Macaulay, who went on to write The Way Things Work,
Castle, Unbuilding, and several other illustrated best sellers.
I've never been good with mechanical devices so Sheila did most of the
actual printing and other production work. The title comes from a
couplet in "The House of Wilf" by Leonard Cohen: "Let us compare
mythologies; I have learned my elaborate lie". The observation
that everything we believe is personal and relative tickled me and each
issue included a column called "Myth" which was designed to introduce a
new controversial viewpoint, sometimes from an extended book review. I
used a segmented letter column - individual letters cut up and arranged
by subject - which was certainly not original with me, but I made extensive use of it and I think I had the liveliest and most
interesting letter column in fanzines at the time. I'll be reprinting some of the contents from these issues in due course. |
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| Mythologies #1,
October 1974 Cover by David Macaulay |
Mythologies #2, November 1974 Cover by David Macaulay |
Mythologies #3, December 1974 Cover by David Macaulay |
Mythologies #4, March 1975 Cover by Bonnie Dalzell |
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| Mythologies #5, May
1975 Cover by Bonnie Dalzell |
Mythologies #6, July 1975 Cover by Al Sirois |
Mythologies #7, November 1975 Cover by Bonnie Dalzell |
Mythologies #8, February 1976 Cover by Bonnie Dalzell |
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| Mythologies #9,
June 1976 Cover by Bonnie Dalzell |
Mythologies #10, January 1977 Cover by Al Sirois |
Mythologies #11, February 1977 Cover by Bonnie Dalzell |
Mythologies #12, June 1977 Cover by James Odbert |
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| Mythologies #13,
November 1977 Cover by Bonnie Dalzell |
Mythologies #14, June 1978 Cover by Beth Cohen |
Mythologies #15, February 1984 Cover by Leonard Cohen |
Mythologies #16, September
1984 Cover by Brad Foster |
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| Mythologies #17,
December 1984 Cover by Taral |
Mythologies #18,June 1985 Cover by Brad Foster |
Mythologies #19, March 1986 Cover by Taral |
Other Fanzines
| In 1978, I started Critical Mass, an all review fanzine, because my previous reviews had been appearing in Delap's Review, SF Booklog, and other magazines that had all ceased publication. It only lasted until 1980 when Andy Porter offered me the job of reviewer for Science Fiction Chronicle, where I held that position until 2007. The first four issues had the same artwork on the cover with only the numeral changed. |
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| Cover by Bonnie Dalzell | Cover by Barry Kent Mackay | Cover by Taral | Cover by Sue Anderson | Cover by Taral |
