''Le Zombie'' was an intermittent ("Published every time a zombie awakens")

science fiction fanzine A science-fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science-fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day. They were one of the earliest forms of fanzine, within one of which the term "''fanzine''" ...

, of which 72 issues were published by

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

fan and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

Bob Tucker from December 1938 to August 2001. The first issue was a single, crudely

mimeograph A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator or stencil machine) is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a co ...

ed sheet; the last printed issue was published in December 1975 by planography. After a 25-year hiatus, Tucker resumed publishing in 2000; these last 5 issues (also referred to as ''eZombie'', but preserving the same numbering sequence) were electronically published as a

webzine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the computer ...

. The title refers to the "Tucker death hoaxes" which played such a distinctive role in fan history. Many phrases and fan writing techniques have their origins in the pages of ''Le Zombie'', including the term

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes Space warfare in science fiction, space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, i ...

, and the use of the slash to indicate a thought was struck through. Beginning in mid-1942, ''Le Zombie'', along with Harry Warner's ''Spaceways'', began sponsoring the "Fanzine Service" as a way of distributing fanzines to people who were serving in the World War II. In his obituary of Tucker,

John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part ...

wrote: "It is only in recent years that academic critics have begun to come to terms with the huge amount of intellectual activity - along with pre-blog gossip - that filled cience fictionfanzines, perhaps the most brilliant of them being Bob Tucker's ''Le Zombie''."

References

External links

''Le Zombie'' and eZombie online
Bloomington, Illinois Defunct science fiction magazines published in the United States Magazines disestablished in 2001 Magazines established in 1938 Magazines published in Illinois Science fiction fanzines {{sf-fanzine-stub