Fast Fiction flyers and small ads

Here we have artworks and paste-ups for some flyers and small ads I put together, to help publicise the Fast Fiction distribution service for small press comics. I suppose these date from around 1986 to 1988.

One would tend to do the lettering with a computer nowadays, but at that time I didn’t have access to anything other than an Amstrad PC, and I was happy to labour away at hand-lettering like Robert Crumb (even if my results weren’t always great).

It’s evident I was trying to get away from the cliches of most comic adverts of the time; the trend was usually to create an elaborate collage of superhero drawings, to advertise the wares on sale at one’s comic shop. Instead, I went for minimal and sketchy, with not a recognisable character in sight. The phrase “Something Different?” indicates my hopes that UK small press comics would appeal to a more discerning reader at some level. The phrase “The Original and Best” was lifted from a slogan used for Bisto products.

I recycled artwork by Harley Richardson and Carol Swain for two of these handouts. Both of these artists had provided cover artworks for an issue of Fast Fiction (the magazine), and I applied a bit of cut and paste.

Please note the Fast Fiction service is no longer operational! The address given is included purely for historical purposes! Do not write to 27 Bracewell Road!