Origins Speakeasy began as a
mimeographed fanzine printed on
A4 paper, published by Richard Ashford beginning in August 1979. At that point Ashford had already been producing the
Fantastic Four Fanzine. By the late 1970s, there were already a number of comics fanzines being published in the U.K., including the long-running
Fantasy Advertiser,
Martin Lock's
BEM,
Richard Burton's
Comic Media News, Alan Austin's
Comics Unlimited, and George Barnett's
The Panelologist. After publishing a second issue in October of that year,
Speakeasy went on a year-and-a-half hiatus, until issue #3 was published in June 1981. From that point onward the publication maintained a monthly schedule. By issue #35 (Nov. 1983)
Speakeasy had settled on a permanent logo (which lasted through 1986) and a tagline, "All the latest UK/US comics news". In addition, Ashford had taken on editorial help, with
Speakeasy being edited by Bambos Georgiou and Richard Hansom alongside Ashford.
Speakeasy published
Alan Moore's
comic strip Maxwell the Magic Cat (produced under the pen name "Jill de Ray"), which appeared in most issues published between June 1984 and June 1988. Issue #43 (Oct. 1984) featured another Moore written- and drawn-strip, created under the name "Curt Vile", called
Nutters Ruin, Ashford, Bambos, Hansom, and Cefn Ridout formed
Acme Press as a publishing
cooperative to continue producing
Speakeasy. Acme would soon branch out into comic book publishing. The Acme Press logo started appearing on the cover with issue #65 (Aug. 1986), which also featured a new
Speakeasy logo, designed by
Richard Starkings; this logo lasted through issue #101 (Aug. 1989). By 1986 Ridout was the publication's editor, with Ashford having moved to the editorial board. With issue #75 (July 1987),
Speakeasy changed its logo tagline to "Read about the world of comics in... [Speakeasy]" and became more of a professional magazine than a zine. The June 1988 issue was a double issue, being numbered #86/87. Beginning in the summer of 1988,
Speakeasy began being
distributed in the United States via
Eclipse Comics (which had a co-publishing arrangement with
Speakeasy's parent company Acme Press). With issue #95 (Feb. 1989), the magazine introduced a new look (and devoted much of the issue to
Tim Burton's
Batman film). Issue #95 also featured an interview with Frank Plowright of the
United Kingdom Comic Art Convention. The Managing Editor was Ashford, the Features Editor was Hansom, and the News Editor was Nigel Curson. Board members were Ridout, Hansom, Curson, and Ashford.
Grant Morrison wrote a column for Speakeasy, titled
Drivel, beginning with issue #101 (Aug. 1989).
John Brown Publishing era John Brown Publishing acquired
Speakeasy from Acme Press in late 1989; with issue #106 (Feb. 1990)
Rian Hughes redesigned the magazine. The new editor was Nigel Curson. Curson left before the end of the year, and his assistant Stuart Green took the editorship. In 1990, after an obscenity raid by British police on a London comic shop,
Speakeasy called for a comics legal defense fund. In April 1990, the magazine sponsored the inaugural
Speakeasy Awards, which were presented at the
Glasgow Comic Art Convention, held at
Glasgow City Chambers, Glasgow, Scotland. Pressures on
Speakeasy around this time included the 1990 debut of a competitor magazine,
Dez Skinn's
Comics International, and the fact that
Speakeasy's sales were limited to
comic shops (whereas, say,
Comics International was also sold on
newsstands).
Speakeasy published its final regular issue, #120, in May 1991; that issue contained the results of the 1990
Speakeasy readers' poll.
Speakeasy continued as a 16-page insert in the first five issues of the fellow John Brown Publishing title
Blast!, but that title itself only lasted seven issues, being canceled with the November 1991 issue. After
Blast!'s cancellation there was some talk of
Speakeasy being revived as a free media guide distributed in comic shops and music stores, but it does not appear that ever happened. == Features and columns ==