Good day, mates, and welcome to another new Fabulous Find. I’m your host, Greg Turner and this week I bring to you a fanzine published in 1970. The fanzine is Reality # 1 and it was published by Robert Gerstenhaber. I really don’t know anything about Mister Gerstenhaber, other than he published a pretty nice fanzine back almost fifty years ago.
The cover is a really nice Jeff Jones painting. Take a look:
The fanzine is a really nice example of the quality that fanzines were beginning to move towards, at the time. Besides the cover by Jones, it also features a lengthy interview with said artist. The interview took place at Jones’ apartment on July 30, 1970. I found it very interesting that when asked if he had any special art training, Jones replied saying; “I took half the Famous Artists course; the correspondence course”. He also took fine art painting at Georgia State college for “about” two years.
Here is another example of Jones’ line work from this issue:
Other work represented within Reality # 1, is the story entitled; “Quasar”, written and drawn by Steve Hickman. This comic runs seven (7) pages. The story; “Death Is The Sailor”, which is written and drawn by Mike Kaluta follows the Jones interview and it runs four (4) pages.
The third and final comic story runs five (5) pages and is entitled; Endless Chain. It is written and drawn by Frank Brunner.
The is also art sprinkled throughout by artists, such as; Roy G. Krenkel, Robert Kline, Kenneth Smith and Graham Ingels. Ingels one (1) page illustration is a reprint from 1955, entitled; “The Making Of A Knight”. This appears to be the first page of a longer story. Gerstenhaber does not mention where it was originally published.
Here is a nice one (1) page Kaluta drawing from this issue:
As I mentioned earlier, a pretty nice “art” zine. There are no articles,, but the Interview with artist, Jeff Jones is quite good. All in all, a very nice fanzine and well worth finding and adding to your collection, especially if you are a Jeff Jones fan and collector!
That’s it for this go round, but please return next week for more fun and games, with a new RETRO REVIEW or maybe another Fabulous Find. Stay tuned and we’ll all find out. be seeing you …
Peace
