''Psychopia'' is a

small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. Independent press is general ...

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very s ...

featuring reviews and articles on British comic books and small press comics and interviews with

cartoonists A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

. Unusually for comix zines it focussed almost entirely on British comics such as ''

The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'', also known as ''Beano'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it became the world's longest-runn ...

'' and ''

The Dandy ''The Dandy'' was a British children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after '' Il Giornalino'' (cover dated 1 ...

'' ignoring American superhero comics.

History and profile

Issue #0 was the first published in 1994. ''Psychopia'' was created by cartoonist/writer

B. Patston B is the second letter of the Latin alphabet. B may also refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Astronomy * Astronomical objects in the Barnard list of dark nebulae (abbreviation B) * Latitude (''b'') in the galactic coordinate syst ...

. The

fanzine A fanzine (blend of '' fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share t ...

evolved out of his small press comic ''Oy Mister!!'' published in 1992. Like ''

Escape Magazine ''Escape'' magazine was a British comic strip magazine founded and edited by Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury. Nineteen issues were published between 1983 and 1989. Eddie Campbell, Phil Elliott and Glenn Dakin were amongst the many cartoonis ...

'' it printed

comic strips A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

. Patston drew comics in his bedroom in

Linslade Linslade is a town in the Central Bedfordshire unitary authority area of Bedfordshire, England. It borders the town of Leighton Buzzard, with which it forms the civil parish of Leighton-Linslade (where the 2011 Census population was included). ...

typing up articles on his manual typewriter. He pasted up the final pages on his card table. The zine had a very downbeat amateurish look to it due to the underground sensibilities of the editor. The misspelling Psycopia for the magazine originated with the reputation for text mangling, technical typesetting failures and typographical errors, and once misspelled its own name on the cover as "Psycopia". ''Psychopia'' has printed comics by

artists including "The Slap Of Doom" by Joe Berger, Ben Hunt, Lee Kennedy and "The People Under The Bed" by Vic Pratt. In addition ''Psychopia'' reprinted artwork by

Darryl Cunningham Darryl Cunningham (born 1960) is a British author and cartoonist who has written the books ''Science Tales'' (also known, in the US, as ''How to Fake a Moon Landing''), ''Psychiatric Tales'', ''The Age of Selfishness'' and ''Billionaires: The Liv ...

and Marc Baines. Also from issue #3 ''Psychopia'' featured

jam comic strips Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and entert ...

with many artists including Vic Pratt,

Victor Ambrus Victor Ambrus (born László Győző Ambrus, 19 August 1935 – 10 February 2021) was a Hungarian-born British illustrator of history, folk tales, and animal story books. He also became known from his appearances on the Channel 4 television ...

Caspar Williams Caspar is a masculine given name. It may refer to: People * Caspar (magus), a name traditionally given to one of the Three Magi in the Bible who brought the baby Jesus gifts * Caspar Austa (born 1982), Estonian cyclist * Caspar Badrutt (1848–190 ...

and

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ( ...

cartoonists

Pete Loveday Pete Loveday is a British underground cartoonist. He is best known for his series of comics charting the adventures of hippie character Russell, including ''Big Bang Comics'', ''Big Trip Travel Agency'' and ''Plain Rapper Comix'' printed by AK Pr ...

and

Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contem ...

contributing to "TV Funnies" in ''Psychopia'' #5.

Interviews

''Psychopia'' features interviews with comic artists including * Terry Bave *

Davy Francis Davy Francis (born 14 March 1958) is a cartoonist from Belfast, Northern Ireland. As a child he drew comics influenced by ''The Beano'' and sold them to his family for an old penny each. He contributed to various Northern Ireland-based comics, inc ...

Trevor Metcalfe Trevor Metcalfe (born May 1939 in Brotton, Yorkshire) is a British illustrator and comic book artist. Known for his comic strips in IPC Magazines comics such as Sweet Tooth and Junior Rotter in '' Whizzer and Chips''. Influences include ...

* David Mostyn *

Bill Ritchie Bill Ritchie (1 August 1931 – 25 January 2010) was a Scottish cartoonist. He is known for work on comics published by D. C. Thomson. Biography Born in Glasgow, Ritchie attended the Glasgow School of Art, where he learnt little about cartoo ...

* Lew Stringer *

Daniel Clowes Daniel Gillespie Clowes (; born April 14, 1961) is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter. Most of Clowes's work first appeared in '' Eightball'', a solo anthology comic book series. An ''Eightball'' issue typi ...

At the same time Patston was offering comics for sale as a

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing ...

distribution "Pretentious Mail Art". It also currently exists as a website with an Image board and forums.

References

*Skinn, Dez (Ed.) ''Comics International'' 1994 review by Mike Kidson *Ashton, Peter (Ed.) ''Vicious'' 1995 review by Paul Schroeder *Ashton, Peter (Ed.) ''TRS - The Review Sheet'' 1995 review by Pete Ashton *Kidson, Mike & Walsh, Luke (Ed.) ''Zum!'' #9 September 1995 review by Luke Walsh *Holland, Steve (Ed.) ''Comics World'' #32 1995 review *''The Zine'' #10 September 1994 advert/review by Alex Mason

External links

''Psychopia'' home page
British comics zines Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines about comics Magazines established in 1994 Online magazines published in the United Kingdom Online magazines with defunct print editions Magazines with year of disestablishment missing {{comics-mag-stub