Martin L. Pahls. Spring, 1959. Staplebound mimeographed fanzine. 12 pp. plus covers. VG+ (4.5). Staple holes to corners (fanzine was mailed sans envelope, with corners stapled to keep it closed in transit), back cover loose at bottom staple, bottom corner of back cover chipped. Very slight hint of rust to staples. Back cover hand-addressed by Pahls to recipient (James B. Clifford), with Pahls' hand-correction to return address, and penciled notation: "around Jan. 1959." Rare.

One of the earliest EC fanzines, Fanfare was written and self-published by Robert Crumb's friend Marty Pahls, with contributions from Hoohah! publisher Ron Parker, Ed Kisch and E. Nelson Bridwell. Few were produced and distributed, and copies are scarce. This issue contains an article on Kurtzman's pre-war material, a mention of "Etaoin Shrdlu" (a nonsense name related to the early days of "hot type" publishing, that became part of the humorous byplay between Pahls and Crumb, resulting in Crumb eventually using the name for one of his Weirdo characters), and a plug for Charles and R. Crumb's Foo ("Humor in a Kurtzman vein").

A limited edition of 100 softcover and 15 hardcover catalogues are available. Over 200 pages, fully illustrated. Fun reference, great keepsake. Softcovers $40, dust-jacketed hardcover with limitation plate $200. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com or call 415-989-2665

R. Crumb says, "I found [PBA's catalogue] so interesting that I am saving it for the texts that accompany the comics which were put up for auction. This is some of the best commentary I've yet seen on the quality of the content of comic books. I especially enjoyed the reviews of the post-war horror comics. Great. Priceless."

Consignments welcome for PBA's Spring 2021 Comic Book sale. Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age and Silver Age comics, original art and ephemera sought. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com or call 415-989-2665