ODD

ODD
Issue 14 1966
Cover by M. Rhodes

ODD was a fanzine published by Raymond D. Fisher, Joyce Fisher (now Joyce Worley Katz) and Richard Elsberry in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, U.S.A.

The first issue appeared in 1949 and released till 1962. ODD was revived in 1966 and ran again till 1969. At least 20 issues of the fanzine were produced, of which the highlight was frequently the art work of a number of artists that contributed. ODD was nominated for a Hugo award in 1968.

In sf critic Rob Latham's article "Fanzine Research", in the April 2008 issue of el,, he wrote of ODD, along with Hank and Lesleigh Luttrell's Starling and Susan Wood's Aspidistra, that they were, "vehicles of antiestablishment attitudes virtually indistinguishable at times from the contemporary underground press.” He cites these fanzines as examples of sf fans seeking "...to bring sf into dialogue with a larger universe of discourse and action—rather than, as elitist snobs sometimes suggest, looking to “escape” from the real world into aimless fantasy."

Contributors of writing included Dave Buck, Charles Burbee, Marshall Clarke, Ed Cox (Altair, Triton), Paul Cox (Other Worlds, Worlds Apart), Richard Elsberry, Lyle Gaulding, Richard Gordon, David N. Hall, Arnie Katz, Joe Kennedy (Vampire), Jay Kinney (Nope!), Chester Malon, Clavin Marsden, Ray Nelson, Bob Tucker (Le Zombie, Science Fiction Newsletter), Tony Urie, Harry Warner, Jr. (Horizons), Ted White (Stellar), Paul Willis and Roger Zelazny.

Contributors of poetry included Marshall Clarke, Rory Faulkner (Shangri L'Affaires), Joyce Fisher, David N. Hall, Clavin Marsden, F.A. Reeds, and Becker Staus.

Artists included Vaughn Bode, Bill Bowers (Outworlds), Philip Canning, Margaret Dominick (as DEA), Joyce Fisher, Ray Fisher, Jack Gaughan, Neil Graham, Terry Jeeves (ERG), R. Edward Jennings, Kley, Chester Malon, Norman G. Markham, Ray Nelson, M. (Mickey) Rhodes, Tony Urie, Paul Willis, Ron Whittington, and Jurgen Wolff, plus comics by Dave Buck.

Letters came from Robert Bloch, John Brunner, Robert Coulson (Yandro), Avram Davidson, Lee Hoffman, Janie Lamb (The Heiskell Holler), Fred Lerner, Carol McLain, Paul C. and Rita Sue Shingleton, Mae Strelkov, and Roy Tackett.

In 1959, Joyce began working with Sue Robinson and Pam Janisch on the fanzine What About Us Grils?; she then published the fanzine Potlatch in the 1970s, and later Hard Science Tales in the 2000s.