This paper examines comic book fanzines published between 1974 and 1986, and argues that the theoretical model of the public, as defined by Jürgen Habermas and adapted by Michael Warner, is useful for understanding how fandom functions as a social construct. It explores the mechanisms of production and distribution of fanzines and how they contributed to the creation and maintenance of this public. The comic book public was engaged in a conversation with the power of capitalist producers and consciously resisted reproducing the comic book industry's relationship between producer and consumer. To illustrate this, the paper investigates discussions about gender and religion found within the public and explores the complexity of those discussions. Comic book fans saw problems with the comic book industry, such as its representation of women, and sought to illuminate and address those problems, while at the same time demanding that comic book fanzines keep discussions related to the content of, as opposed to the social issues raised by, comic books. It concludes by tracing the transformation of comic book fans into comic book professionals and offers insights into the value of studying fandom as a public in order to better understand contemporary capitalism and the relationship between producers and consumers.
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