Laura Leach Collection of “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” Fanzines and Related Materials

Archive
Name:	Laura Leach Collection of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Fanzines and Related Materials
Date(s):	2010–present
Archivist:	University of Iowa Libraries
Founder:	Laura Leach
Type:	zine collection and miscellaneous materials
Fandom:	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
URL:	Laura Leach Collection of “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” Fanzines and Related Materials
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The Laura Leach Collection of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." Fanzines and Related Materials is a collection of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. fanzines and other materials spanning the years 1964-2006 that were donated to the University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections by Laura Leach via the Organization for Transformative Works.

From the Collection Overview on the University of Iowa Libraries website:

This collection, assembled by Delaware-based fan Laura Leach, contains a large number of fanzines devoted to the cult spy television show The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1964-1968). Most of the items are pieces of fan fiction. (Fan fiction is defined as stories, novellas, novels, or poems written by fans about the characters, situations or general universe of the original work.)

Much of the fan fiction in the Leach Collection is of the "slash" variety."Slash" refers to fan fiction that is sexually explicit, and same-sex in nature. In slash sex and sexuality are often the centers of the story, rather than the more conventional adventures featured in more traditional fan fiction. The close professional relationship between U.N.C.L.E. agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin is often mirrored in Man From U.N.C.L.E. slash stories by an romantic and/or explicitly sexual relationship.

The collection also contains a subseries of fanzines that are not simply new adventures set in the U.N.C.L.E. universe. Some are Multimedia; that is, anthologies of stories from many different creative universes that include U.N.C.L.E. stories among their contents. Others are Crossover zines; that is, stories in which the characters from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. intersect with those from other television shows or movies (i.e. Star Trek).

There are a number of non-fanzine items in the collection as well. These include copies of scripts from various Man From U.N.C.L.E. episodes, and a few other U.N.C.L.E.-related items.

Similar Archives

For similar archives at Iowa, see University of Iowa Fanzine Archives.

For similar archives at TAMU, see Texas A&M Cushing Library Fanzine Collection.