A quick enquiry for those of you who have UK fanzines (Visionsasia, Beasterbrook, Harami).

I have a couple of issues of the UK fanzine The Wanderer, produced in Liverpool circa 1980. I have issues 1 and 2 (digest size) and issue 3 (fullsize A4). Now Issue 3 is a reprint of issue 2, exact content end everything bar a few words in the intro. But I know for a fact that my issue 3 is genuine. This leads me to believe that Issues 1 and 2 are fakes that have been assembed by someone along the way.

So if anyone reading this has issues 1, 2 or 3 of The Wanderer, I'd be most interested in swapping notes.

Hi Brette,

My copies of issues 1 and 2 are in near mint condition. They are digest sized with issue 1 being blue with a sketch of a viking longboat on the cover, and issue 2 being yellow with a drawing of a guy sitting amidst the ruin of a town.

The paper is smooth white and the printing and setout are done on a computer. This does not tally with the likes of Dragon Lords, News From The Bree, Beholder etc. of the same era, all of which were typewritten and photocopied.

My issue 3 on the other hand is full size A4. It has a blue cover with a drawing of a dreadnaught spacecraft on it. It is a typewritten and photocopied fanzine.

The thing that put me onto the fake/reprint Issue 1 and 2 is that the content of issue 2 is identical to that of issue 3. The same adventures, articles, magic items, etc.

So either someone retyped Issue 2 on their home typewriter, way back in the 80s, and our boys in Liverpool had access to tabloid level DTP of that time, or someone reprinted The Wanderer using DTP when it became widely available to the masses.

It seems real odd. I'd be curious to know if your issues are digest sized, and whether issue 2 or issue 3 (or both) have Secret Chamber of Zordak Foul-face and The Secret of Filp's Farm in.

There's nothing quite like fanzines for tacky names.