Varioso

'Varioso was a science fiction fanzine by John L. Magnus.

Published in Silver Springs, Maryland, U.S.A., and later in Baltimore, Maryland, Varioso was originally titled SF. Under that title, it was published from 1952 till 1954, with 8 issues released. Issue 8 was retitled Vamp. With issue 10, it became Varioso. 8 more issues were released, from 1954 till 1958.

Contributors of writing included Hal Clement, Ray Schaffre, Jr., and others.

A review by Mari Wolf in the science fiction pulp magazine Imagination had this to say about Varioso; "Hal Clement has an article in this issue on "Characterizing an Alien." Clement, who perhaps is the one stf author most technically proficient at depicting completely alien physical environments now sets down some of the methods he uses in depicting his alien "people."You start with the external environment (type of sun, rotation period, gravity, atmospheric pressure and composition, temperature and a host of other factors) ; you add the biology that has arisen on this alien world (speed of nerve impulses, type of sense receptors, method of reproduction) and you extrapolate the alien psychology from these. Of course, you may have to be somewhat arbitrary in assigning emotions; some readers will accuse you of making your characters too unreal and others of making them too human . . . " An excellent article by the one person who could have written it. Tucked away near the back is a gem of a story by Ray Schaffer Jr. It's called "A Lackaj is a Jackel," and it's quite impossible to describe without doing it an in- justice. It's true satire (which 98 percent of fan satire isn't) and it really should have come out in a college humor mag or one of the more literary journals. If not sold. Slightly Thurberish, ' but without copying anyone's style. An excellent issue."

In 1953-1954, John Magnus was also editor of The National Fantasy Fan. From 1952 till 1954 he released SF, and then from 1954 till 1958 Magnus published Varioso, and in 1958, he released the title Rumble.