Number 285

Bang!

This is another of my favorite fanzines, even if I can't read it. Bang!#7/8 (double issue) was published in Barcelona, Spain in 1972. The cover features a character called Grogui. The bulk of the issue is a retrospective on science fiction comics, mostly Spanish, but with the clear influence of Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon.

The top illustration and this entire 4-page strip are by Emilio Freixas. "'Grap', El Pirata Subterraneo" is from the 1949 publication, Chicos, done with a strong Raymond style.

From what I could find out from the Internet, in English, Freixas went from comics into illustration, which is why when looking for information I found this picture on a photo hosting website.

Freixas died in 1976. You can see more of his work, and the work of other Spanish comic artists, at this amazing blog, viñetas.

This page from the daily comic strip "El Planeta Del Horror" is written by V. Mora and drawn by J. Remeu, published originally in 1954.

The Al Williamson page is from the Spanish translation of Williamson's greatest (to me) version of the Flash Gordon strip, done for King Comics in the mid-1960s.

Bang! is a great looking magazine, 112 pages, professional all the way. It's probably not even fair to call it a fanzine.