alt.comic.fan-fiction
| Newsgroup | |
|---|---|
| Name: | alt.comic.fan-fiction (ACFF) |
| Date(s): | January 11th, 1994 – April 18, 2020 (last message) |
| Moderator: | Andy Jones (founder) Hawk (2nd) Nute (3rd) |
| Type: | fanfic |
| Fandom: | Comics |
| URL: | alt.comics.fan-fiction at Google Groups alt.comics.fan-fiction at Usenet Archives |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
alt.comic.fan-fiction (or acff.) was newsgroup on Usenet for comic book fans to post their comic book related fan fiction as opposed the comics discussion groups. As part of the explanation as to why the group was needed:
rec.arts.comics.creative does not permit any stories featuring real comic books or their characters. WE do. Over there, you are restricted to having your stories be totally original characters, or at least LOOK a hell of a lot like they are totally original. Here, stories about the X-Men, Batman, Youngblood, Animaniacs, or whatever you like can be posted. Stories featuring events that you would also NEVER see in their respective comics can also be posted here, such asthose [sic] involving sex, and other issues tht [sic] would deemed to "adult" for the books. The FAQ shall be posted tongiht [sic], hopefully it shall answer a few quesitons [sic] about the group.[1]
History
From the Comic Fanfiction History Project: "January 11th, 1994 - Newgroup message sent out by Andy Jones, creating alt.comics.fan-fiction. Hawk became keeper in late 1994 followed by Nute in January/February 1999."[2] However it appears from Andy's announcement of the group's existence that ACFF was in fact created in 1995[3].
In Andy's own words, ACFF "spun off of RACMX many years ago in order to keep the loonies in their own bin. As to who exactly the loonies are, I'll let you draw your own conclusions.[4]" As outlined in the quote above, fan-fiction was banned on Rec.arts.comics.marvel.xbooks (aka RACMX), possibly due to copyright concerns and so a new newsgroup was created which not only allowed posting of fanfiction, it clamored for it.
The FAQ for the group was first written and posted by Andy Jones in January 1995[5]. The subsequent versions were written by and maintained by Hawk, with version .2 being posted in January 1996[6]. From there it was posted twice a month, along with a companion FAQ "Where Do I Find Comic Fan-Fiction on the WWW"? Nute took over the FAQ posting in early 1999 and it was dropped off the regular posting rotation sometime after November 1999.
The group remained active until mid-2017. Sadly, this newsgroup has pretty much been abandoned to tumbleweeds and spam.
References
- ^ Yes! We're alive! We're ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!:) acff google groups, Jan 16, 1995
- ^ "Comic Fanfiction History Project". Archived from the original on 2003-03-04.
- ^ Yes! We're alive! We're ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!:) acff google groups, Jan 16, 1995
- ^ The Fanfiction Glossary (via Wayback Machine) (Accessed Sept. 19, 2009)
- ^ alt.comcs.fan-fiction FAQ version .1 - acff googlegroups, Jan 17, 1995
- ^ acff FAQ - acff googlegroup, Jan 8, 1996