Xero (SF Fanzine) - History

History

The first issue was distributed September 3–5, 1960, at Pittcon (the 18th World Science Fiction Convention in Pittsburgh). That issue featured an article about Captain Marvel and Fawcett Comics, the first "All in Color for a Dime" installment. In 1961, Lupoff wrote an article for Comic Art about the launch of Xero and his focus on comics:

The night of the costume ball, Pat and I showed up in our costumes: hastily devised Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel outfits. Mine was made from a set of long underwear, and hers was nothing but a man’s red T-shirt emblazoned with felt lightning, plus a yellow sash. They were extremely popular costumes. Everyone from Doc Smith on down wanted to take our pictures. Why?… The only conclusion that can be drawn is that it was not us, nor our costumes themselves, that were popular. It was Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel, momentarily embodied in us, that drew the admiration and applause... Further, "All in Color" has been the most letter-provoking feature of Xero, numerous people have requested copies, specifying that their motive is to obtain the comics articles, and if all the authors currently committed to write for the series come through with articles, the series will run well into 1962 before material runs out.

In subsequent issues, the articles and letter columns often featured well-known contributors: Dan Adkins, Otto Binder, James Blish, Anthony Boucher, Algis Budrys, Lin Carter, Avram Davidson, L. Sprague de Camp, Roger Ebert, Harlan Ellison, Ed Gorman, Ron Haydock, Roy Krenkel, Frederik Pohl, Larry Shaw, Robert Shea, Steve Stiles, Bob Tucker, Donald E. Westlake, Ted White, Paul Williams and Walt Willis.