This coming Sunday (19th July) our head honcho Harley R will take part in a panel discussion about Fast Fiction.

Fast Fiction 17 – cover by Glenn Dakin

Fast Fiction was one of the earliest manifestations of small press comics in the UK, active from the early 1980s. It was an anthology comic, a distribution service, and a mail order service. There’s a gallery of Fast Fiction magazine covers on Ed Pinsent’s website (from which the image above is borrowed).

The teenage Harley was a contributor to Fast Fiction magazine and for several years helped Ed Pinsent run the FF stall at the bi-monthly comic marts in Westminster Central Hall which also provided an excuse for talented small pressers to meet and socialise. Here’s a photo of Ed and Harley on the stall sometime in the late ’80s. (The photo may have been taken by cartoonist Bob Lynch).

The panel will attempt to tell the story of Fast Fiction from the people who started it and who made it happen at the time: Ed and Harley will be joined by FF’s founder Paul Gravett and fellow small presser Ed Hillyer.

This will be one of several talks at the South London Comics & Zine Fair, a celebratory day of comics and zines, bringing together fans and creators from across the UK.

SLCZF takes place from 12noon to 6pm on Sunday 19th July at Stanley Arts, 12 South Norwood Hill, London, SE25 6AB. There’s more info on the Stanley Arts website and you can follow the event on Instagram.

The ‘FAST FICTION, Fast Facts’ panel begins at 5pm. Hope to see you there.