ODD
Magazine was a comic fanzine published in
the mid-1960's by Herring Brothers Publications. Inspired by the early
comic book version of MAD magazine, ODD included comic strip
parodies of comic book characters, TV shows, and movies. There were
also articles about MAD comic book and other humorus subjects.
We
thought those of you who remember ODD might like to take a
nostalgic look at some of the highlights of those bygone days. Perhaps
some issues from your ODD collection may have disappeared over
the last 40 years. To
learn more about how ODD came into being, read THE
ODD STORY by Steve Herring. This article first appeared
in ODD No.7, published in 1965.
To see all 12 covers of ODD, and a description of each issue, go to the ODD Cover Gallery
ODD AUDIO
1. We recently discovered some old ODD audio recordings made around 1965 or 1966. Listen to Dave and Steve Herring talk about ODD No. 12 before it was published. Find out who really thought up the time travel cover idea.
2. While we were publishing ODD, an experimental audio fanzine was created called VOF or the Voices of Fandom. Only 2 episodes were recorded. VOF2 is the second episode, featuring reports from Marv Wolfman, Bruce Cardozo, Howard Brenner, Jeff Gelb, Bob Griffith, Burton Stein, Tom and John Mc Geehan, and Tom Duggan. You might enjoy listening to this MP3 file.
The index card records of ODD readers from 1964 to 1966 have been computerized. You can now see the names of that elite group of fans and find out how well ODD did back then.
ODD ARCHIVE
You can now view online and even download PDF versions of ODD. All 12 complete issues of the fanzine are now here. You will also find the original, hand-drawn, previously unpublished ODD issues from the 1950s. We have also added color to the cover of the reprint edition, Very, Very, Very ODD.
We made the very first issue of ODD in 1957. Crude crayon and pencil art. Three issues were made at that time, but only the first has survived. In 1959 we started ODD Volume 2. The artwork is a bit better. We made 6 complete issues and all have survived. Some of the stories were good enough to re-use in the ODD fanzine started in 1964. Now you can download and read ODD No. 1 from 1957 and also all six Vol. 2 issues as well as the unfinished No.7 from 1959.
Watch our British secret agent get the job done before breakfast.
After I was no longer involved with ODD, I made some serious super hero strips for other fanzines. I think the best one I did was THE BLACK FALCON. Recently someone showed interest in these strips, so I put together complete PDFs of the 3 strips I did for him. I was actually missing one page from one strip and Tom Hamilton sent me a scan of that page and I was able to have a complete set. You can now download them here.
The Black Falcon The Boss thinks he knows how to defeat THE BLACK FALCON in this 4 part serial.
The Fall of Bramton Lady Lucifer makes things hot for THE BLACK FALCON in this 3 part serial.
For a complete review and detailed description of each issue of ODD, be sure and check out Jerry Moore's evaluation at Mindsnackbooks.com
In 1964 my brother Steve and I and some friends made this little home movie starting at the New York World's Fair.
It's actually a "commercial" for ODD. New, higher quality version. Transferred from 16mm film to video professionally by Kodak
Audio recorded interview with ODD staff in the 1950s. Our friend, Wayne Piery is the interviewer. You will also hear ODD commercials made in 1964 by Dave, Frank Herbert, and Steve.
Rare
copies of ODD #12
A
few original issues of ODD No.12 have survived over the
years. I have a very small number of them that I would be happy
to sell to anyone really interested. You can email me at [email protected] or write...
Dave
Herring, 33 Arrowhead Circle, Ashland, MA 01721