Alan Austin

Fan
Name:	Alan Austin
Alias(es):
Type:	Zine Editor
Fandoms:	Comics
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Alan Austin (1955-2017) was a pioneer of UK comics fandom in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and hailed as the first full time comic dealer in the UK. He edited and published a number of notable zines, including co-publishing the very first Comics Price Guide for Great Britain. He also owned a series of comic and book stores and published two books (one posthumously) about his experiences: "The Adventures of Bernie Burrows, Bookseller" and "Comics Unlimited: My life as a Comic Collector and Dealer".

Alan passed away in 2017 after a long battle with cancer.

Tributes

“I knew Alan for 43 years and our common interests in comics, then books, then writing in general forged a growing bond of friendship. We even found common ground and were each other’s sounding-boards concerning our mutual problems with our businesses: him as a comic and book dealer; myself as the owner of an optician’s practice. It was surprising how often our common complaints matched, whether it was dealing with landlords, leases, or the Great British Public. “Alan was always a ready and sympathetic ear at the end of the telephone – for others as well as myself – and is much missed.”

 

I was saddened to hear that Alan Austin died in May after a long battle with cancer. Alan was a very active member when British comics fandom took off in the 1970s, publishing a great many fanzines and the first British comic book price guide. He was also a book dealer of note. I probably first met him at Westminster Comic Mart, but after moving to Alan's home town of Colchester, I would occasionally bump into him shopping or trawling around the charity shops. Oddly, I saw more of him than ever when I was doing research at the Family Records Centre in London, as, to get there, I had to walk through Exmouth Market, where Alan ran a shop for a few years. Alan had written a book about his experiences which I believe will be published shortly.

 

We are greatly saddened to report that Alan Austin, pioneer of UK comics fandom and a long-time friend of 30th Century Comics, passed away yesterday morning after a long struggle with cancer.

Beginning in the 1970’s, Alan published the long-running fanzine Fantasy Unlimited (later Comics Unlimited), which drew together comics enthusiasts from all over the UK, and indeed, all over the world. He also published Whiz Kids, Golden Age Fanzine, and the Marvel Super-Hero Index, as well as being a co-publisher of the very first Comics Price Guide for Great Britain. For many years, he ran the shop Heroes, in Islington, London, and in later years was a regular feature at UK comic marts.

30th Century’s Will Morgan remembers:

“In 1972, when I was a lonely delinquent, stuck in reform school in Yorkshire, writing to comics fanzines was one of the few forms of socialising I had. Alan’s letters in reply to my comments on Fantasy Unlimited were always friendly and welcoming, and he was the first person to publish my reviews and articles, and to encourage me to continue writing. To a large extent, everything I’ve ever written since then is partly his fault!

“I didn’t meet him in person until moving to London in the 1980’s, but found when I did that his superficially irascible surface demeanour concealed a well-guarded compassionate heart. He became a frequent and welcome visitor to our shop, as well as being a fixture at the Comic Marts, despite his failing health in later years.

“His influence reached further than he possibly ever realised, and he was thought of with more warmth than he would ever have believed.”

 

Zines Edited

• An Adzine / Aftermath
• Comics Unlimited
• Fantasy Unlimited
• Whiz Kids
• Golden Age Fanzine