Fanzing's F.A.Q.

No, Fanzing is not owned by, run by, operated by or endorsed by D.C. Comics in any way. Fanzing is a fan-operated magazine (what is referred to in the comics world as a fanzine, hence our name) which operates under DC's "fair use" policies. Technically, ALL fan fiction and fan artwork is illegal, but DC has long recognized that most fanzines are just free advertising that encourages the enjoyment of the real product. So long as fan web sites, fanzines and similar endeavors follow a set of guidelines (not harming the characters, not laying claim to copyrighted materials, etc.), DC allows them to exist. Of course, should DC ever change their corporate mind, we'll understandably have to stop publishing. Same goes for all fan web sites.

Is there any way Fanzing may ever "go legit" and become part of DC Comics?

In an ideal world, this would be a great idea. An authorized fanzine would be a great way to find new talent and entertain the fanbase…but no, we really don't see that ever being a possibility. The legality of it would be difficult, as it would be authorized but not legitimate. Really, we should enjoy our freedom. If we were part of DC, we wouldn't be able to give honest opinions about which comics are good and which ones not so good, which decisions are laudable and which ones not…and every single thing we do would have to be approved by the legal and editorial bureaucracy. Ick!

How much does it cost to subscribe to Fanzing?

Nothing! Fanzing is a totally voluntary endeavor. As much as our contributors deserve to be paid like pros, we are non-profit. In fact, DC's pretty strict about that part (understandably so); no profits may be made by their characters. That would get us shut down faster than Dom Deluise at an "All-You-Can-Eat" Buffet. The only thing we do to offset the $135/year cost of our web site is running a merchant link on our shopping page. If you buy your DC Comic paperbacks and novels from our shopping page, we get a small percentage back and it helps us to afford this web space.

Can I get Fanzing delivered in the mail?

No, Fanzing is web-only. Sorry!

Can I copy images and stories from Fanzing?

While DC may own the characters, the images and stories are the property of the contributors. We are amenable to getting as much attention for our contributors as possible, however, and in most cases we would welcome your showing various art and stories. If you are putting an image or fiction story on your site, please attribute the art to Fanzing and the artist's name, and make the attribution a link to www.fanzing.com. Of course, you can always just set up a link directly to the item from your site, if you wish! HOWEVER, we do not countenance bandwidth piracy. Do not link to a graphic on our server directly. The only exception is the Fanzing banner graphic, obviously, as we'd love for everyone to put that on their site!

Can I post things from Fanzing in newsgroups?

We have had cases where people wanting to discuss some content in a Fanzing article simply copy-paste the text into a newsgroup posting without any source indicators. This is unfair to us, as it does nothing to attract visitors or spread the word about us, and it's certainly unfair to the author of the piece. Again, all we ask is that you provide proper attribution for the author and a link to the Fanzing site. That's not such a hard request.

How did Fanzing start?

Fanzing was started in June, 1997, by Marc Campbell as a site on AOL with an all-graphic format. In October, 1997, Marc became the webmaster for DC Comics and offered the editor's job to Fanzing contributor Michael Hutchison, who has been editor since then. The new Fanzing debuted in November 1997 with a new issue #1. Since then, Fanzing has gotten its own domain (in October of 1998) and undergone major redesigns several times. Moreover, there have been well over 60 contributors, with about 40 regulars making up the staff.

What day does the magazine get published each month?

*Sigh* We're sorry to say that there isn't a set date. We aim for the first weekend of every month, but that hasn't happened in a long time. It's usually the second weekend. The problem is that Fanzing HAS grown to far more than the 9-10 pages per month it used to be. Now the content is the equivalent to a full-sized magazine…and that's hard to produce in one's spare time for no pay! Were we able to make this into a real magazine and quit our other jobs, Fanzing might come out on a set date every month. For now, the editor is putting each issue together in the evenings and nighttime. So all we can say is…join the Listbot, which will alert you when the complete issue is up, and be patient. Thanks for your understanding!

Contributing

Can I contribute to Fanzing?

We are always eager to show off new talents, and we can ALWAYS use more artwork. We do have enough fiction to hold us for a while, but don't let that stop you from submitting your story to us! If you can turn in fiction or columns HTML-ready, so much the better. What we really need right now are people who can do HTML and web graphics; contact [email protected] to join our technical crew!

Contributor's Central (CCentral) is the place to go to contribute to Fanzing. From CCentral, you can view the Line-Up page (showing the plans for upcoming months and offering character suggestions for each issue's artwork needs), the Art/Fiction Challenges, the Desktop Theme design page, ways to contact the editor and more. Most importantly, you'll want to join the Fanzingers (the nickname for the Fanzing Staff). The Fanzingers have a special Listbot to join which is only available at Contributor's Central. Just plunk in your e-mail addy and you're on the list!

If I want to send in artwork, what should I do?

Here are the specs for artwork submissions:

Be sure to look over the Line-Up You are welcome to submit any character requested for the upcoming issues.
Watch the due dates! Due dates for each issue are the 20th of the previous month. To get your art into the March issue, submit it by February 20th.
Always sign your work! Whether it's a small autograph in the corner, or a small bar at the bottom with your name and e-mail, or both, it's important that you mark a piece of artwork as your own. You never know when a picture might get saved to a hard drive or shown to someone else, and you want to have your name on it somewhere! A good model to copy would be Christian Moore's small title bar on all of his pieces.
If possible, leave a corner relatively unused. Fanzing is currently making plans to start watermarking all Fanzing art materials with a small semi-transparent logo, so that people know where it's from (both for promotional purposes and to discourage swiping). This is not mandatory; if you desire, we can leave it off.
JPG/GIF format is appreciated. Pick whichever one is smaller in kilobytes while still looking satisfactory to your eye. Avoid Bitmaps; they are immense!
Watch the width! Our pages are 600 pixels wide. Any bigger and we'll have to shrink it, crop it or make a smaller version linked to the larger (we don't like doing that, as it's duplication of kilobytes on our server).
COVER IMAGES: If you've arranged with Fanzing's editor to do the cover for an issue, it should be 400 pixels wide, no more.
Wallpapers should be 800Wx600H For full details and guidelines on doing wallpapers and desktop themes, visit the Creating Desktop Themes for Fanzing page which you can find at Contributor's Central (CCentral).
We're an all-ages magazine. Don't send anything so graphic (sexual or violent) that it needs an AdultPass to see it! We have this rule for our readers' sake…and because portraying DC's characters in a lurid light could get us shut down.
E-mail it to [email protected] Be sure to note if it's for an intended issue topic or a general submission…preferably noted in the subject line of the e-mail.

If I want to send in stories, what should I do?

Here are the specs for story submissions:

Always put your name on the story! You'd be surprised how many fiction pieces get submitted without the author's name anywhere on it! Please put your name right below the title.
Leave the disclaimer to us. Fanzing has copyright notices at the bottom of every story.
HTML-ready is always acceptable! See "submitting in HTML" for standards.
RTF or DOC format is appreciated. Rich-Text Format (.rtf) is a wonderful format which is readable by most any word processor. Unlike plain old TXT format, RTF allows you to save formatting like bolds and italics.
Don't use solid rows of asterixes to divide sections! If you're submitting in HTML, use the HR width="50%" command to divide your sections. If not, then used something uniform that we can easily replace, such as a standard six asterixes (******). But don't just hold down the asterix button to make a solid line across the whole screen; it is hard to replace those with HTML coded dividers.
Use a spell-checker AND proof-read it. I'm amazed at the fan fiction I've seen on the web with scads of unforgiveable typos! Good writers respect themselves enough to not send their editors substandard works, expecting them to be cleaned up. Our editors are there to grade your story for acceptability and to fix the odd mistake, not to act as a substitute for basic writing skills.
Prime commandment: It Must Not Suck In other words, don't send anything in here that you wouldn't show a professional tomorrow. It should be something that you'd want hundreds of people to see.
E-mail it to [email protected] Be sure to note if it's for an intended issue topic or a general submission…preferably noted in the subject line of the e-mail.

Most of these standards apply to submitting articles and features as well.

If I want to send in an article, what should I do?

Visit Contributor's Central and look at the line-up for future issues. If your article idea fits an upcoming theme, or if looking at the topics gives you an idea, please contact the editor and stake your claim for that issue. If your idea is more general, or not related to upcoming topics, contact the editor about your idea and whether it could be fit in somewhere. Be sure to follow the guidelines for submitting written materials as detailed in the fiction question above. Most importantly, pay attention to the due dates and come through with the articles you promised on time.

What are the rules/requirements for a "Brainstorm's Corner" column?

Brainstorm's Corner is intended to be similar to a springboard that you would submit to an editor at DC Comics. Springboards are one-page summaries of your story or series proposal. For our purposes, we aren't as strict about what is submitted. You can include artwork with your short written proposal. Check out some of the past proposals by Kurt Belcher to see Springboards done right! Be sure to follow the guidelines for submitting written materials as detailed in the fiction question above.

What are the rules/requirements for a "Comics Cabana" column?

You can send in a review for our comics review section at any time. You can review a series, a current issue, a past issue, a story arc, a trade paperback…whatever! Please keep the review relatively short. Avoid "spoilers" (information that ruins the story for someone who hasn't read it), at least for new or recent stories, or include spoiler warnings. You must supply the editor with the necessary information for the column: Your name, the issue title and number, the writer and penciller, and a rating of the book on a 1-10 scale, 10 being best. Be sure to follow the guidelines for submitting written materials as detailed in the fiction question above.

Are there any limitations as to content?

DC Comics has rules about how their characters are portrayed, and Fanzing aims to be all-audience friendly. Although we don't have a rating system officially, we do ask that any writers offering fiction stories of a "PG-13" nature or higher put a warning at the beginning. We do reserve the right to reject content which would offend our readers and bring the wrath of DC upon us. If you feel the need to write a story in which Batgirl has sex with a fan fiction writer or show an illustration of Wonder Woman being raped by a tentacled plant, there are plenty of other sites that love that stuff.

What other ways are there to contribute?

Right now, what we really need are HTML-experienced people who are willing to lend a hand.

If I submit my work to Fanzing, is it copyrighted?

Copyright in the world of cyberspace is a vague thing at best. "Copyright" generally applies as soon as you put a "© 2000 by me" at the bottom of your story, although legally I'm sure there are much more official processes that need to be followed. This is all fan fiction anyway, so you couldn't legally copyright something that's property of DC, but at least you're staking claim to the story you've written.

The Fanzing Site

What software do you recommend for web builders?

I have suggestions for web design, image software, desktop theme software and more…all on a page devoted to that topic. Find it here.

What is the font pack? Is it necessary?

The Font Pack of TrueType fonts will enhance your viewing pleasure for our magazine and our desktop themes. See, what a lot of people don't know is that fonts aren't universal. If I have a font on my computer called "Google Eyes" and I apply the Google Eyes font to a word on my web page, you will not see it unless you have the googleeyes.ttf file in your fonts folder. So the Fanzing Font Pack is filled with fonts which we use on almost every page in our magazine. If you don't have these fonts installed, you aren't seeing the pages the way they're supposed to look.

So, why do we bother going to all of this trouble of creating a font pack and encouraging hundreds of visitors to download it? Two reasons. The main reason is that, if we weren't able to just apply a nice font to a document title, we'd have to create actual graphic logos in their place. This would be time-consuming for us to create, waste our server space and take more time for you to download. The second reason for doing this is that, if we were to stick only to those fonts which are "universal"…there are only four or six universal fonts, and they're boring. I think we're all rather tired of Times New Roman, arial, verdana and courier, right?

TrueType fonts work on Windows, not Macs. It isn't required, but you'll miss some of the more attractive "logos" and headings in the magazine. Also, due to the varying sizes of fonts, some of the headings and text may be formatted differently.

What is the Listbot? Do I get spammed if I join?

Listbot is a voluntary service which puts you on a mailing list. Unlike other mailing lists, YOU control your subscription status; you may unsubscribe at any time. We at Fanzing are opposed to SPAM (unsolicited and commercial e-mails) and keep your e-mail address private as a sacred trust. We will not sell your address, nor will we give it away.

What's the difference between the two Listbots?

The Listbot on our main page is the "Fanzing Announcements" list. This is the general subscriber list which gets announcements when the new issues are posted (monthly) and infrequent announcements about changes to Fanzing or other important messages.

The Listbot on the Contributor's Central main page is for the "Fanzingers". Fanzingers are the staff and contributors to the magazine. You'll get e-mail more often. These announcements pertain to art requests, updates on status, shared information, etc. Unlike the Announcements list, any Fanzinger list member may e-mail [email protected] to send a message to the other subscribers.

What is the Message Board?

The Message Board is a great way to talk about Fanzing or comic books or whatever you like. You may post messages to the message board, and other Fanzing readers and staffers can respond. Try it!

Why are the Art Challenge and Writing Challenge called challenges instead of contests?

Because we don't give away prizes. We'd like to, but they'd come out of our own pockets, and there just aren't the funds for it. Besides, we initially gave out a few comics to the winner, and we found that the winners were more interested in winning than in a prize. Thus, we changed the name to "challenge".

How do I find old articles?

You can look through the back issues, look through our Archives, or use the search engine which is always on our main page and the Back-Issues page.

Why are the archives and staff pages so outdated?

Because I haven't found an Assistant Editor yet who can work on them.

I visited the site and something didn't work (an image didn't show up, a page doesn't work, a link doesn't go where it said it would go, etc.). What should I do?

Tell us! E-mail [email protected] and put "bug report" or "broken link/image" in the subject line. And thank you for your vigilance! Be sure to report any other problems you may have, too.

What is the shopping link?

Fanzing is a reseller for Amazon.com. Our shopping section has links to as many DC Comics products as we can find. This way, we can help you find DC books you may not have known existed, and we help DC to sell more comics. We get a small percentage back from Amazon, and this helps us afford the domain and hosting of our site.

Can I suggest books for your shopping page?

DC Comics releases and re-releases trade paperbacks, graphic novels, fiction novels and other items all the time. If they can be purchased from Amazon.com, we want to include them on the shopping page. If there's something you're looking for that you know DC has released and it isn't on Fanzing's shopping page, please e-mail us and let us know.

Staff Questions

What does the editor do?

He goes crazy on a monthly basis, drinking too much caffeine and getting fat at the computer while ignoring his lovely wife.

Officially, he also puts all the materials together for each issue and manages the site.

What does the fiction editor do?

The Fiction Editor reviews all of the submitted fiction, making minor corrections in spelling and grammar and recommending to the Editor if/when the story should run.

Why the hell does Elongated Man get mentioned so much in this magazine?

Because he's Editor Michael Hutchison's favorite character, as you can tell from his Elongated Man web site, Dibny Dirt.

Why the hell does Nightwing get mentioned so much in this magazine?

Because several "Wingnuts", or Nightwing fans, contribute to Fanzing.

"Thank You For Your Support"

What can I do to support Fanzing?

Well, telling every comic fan you know on the web is a good start! Fanzing has several ways to make it easy for you.

If you have a web site of your own, please put our banner on your site. You can get the links coding just by clicking on the link under the banner on our main page…or here.

Tell your friends using the Refer-Me links…and you could win a Palm Pilot! The Refer-Me link is that little graphic at the bottom of Fanzing pages. Just click it, go to Refer-Me, put your friends' e-mail addresses in there and send them a message from you using their system…and you'll be registered to win a Palm Pilot!

Finally, if you have a comic shop (or shops) near you, you can print up one of Fanzing's flyers, photocopy it at the nearest Kinko's (or whatever) and drop them off at the comic shop. It may cost a couple bucks, so we give massive kudos to anyone who does this for us! Be sure to let us know, so that we may publicly thank you on our letters page!

Can I nominate a site for the "Best of Fandom" Award? What are the requirements?

You certainly may! E-mail [email protected] and give us three things: The name of the site, the URL of the site, and why you think it deserves the award.

Our award is unlike many other site awards. We do not award it based on the popularity of a site, the web design skills of the webmaster or as a pay-off for supporting our site. What we're looking for is fanatical devotion to a character. If the webmaster has obviously spent hours and hours researching the character or team…if you can tell us Black Canary's dress size or Impulse's blood type or the religious affiliation of Konark the Ubermaster who appeared in the third panel of the second story in My Greatest Adventure #118…then you're obviously the kind of sleep-deprived, tireless devotee who deserves the award.

I think [Fanzing contributor] is fantastic and should be working for DC Comics. What can I do to help that happen?

The biggest thing you can do is e-mail Fanzing, or the contributor directly, and let him or her know that you'd love to see them working in the industry. You will make that person's month. Seriously. There is no greater compliment for a fan writer or artist than knowing they might make it as a pro!

But don't think that you shouldn't write in unless you're bubbling with praise. All feedback is appreciated. Critical feedback, positive or negative, helps us to improve as creators. And we'd rather get criticism than not get anything at all…since it at least tells us that you've looked at our work.

Now that you've read this piece,
discuss it in the Fanzing Forum!

Fanzing is not associated with DC Comics.
All DC Comics characters, trademarks and images (where used) are ™ DC Comics, Inc.
DC characters are used here in fan art and fiction in accordance with their generous "fair use" policies.

The Magazine

Contributing

The Fanzing Site

Staff Questions

"Thank You For Your Support"

The Magazine

Contributing

The Fanzing Site

Staff Questions

"Thank You For Your Support"

Fanzing is not associated with DC Comics. All DC Comics characters, trademarks and images (where used) are ™ DC Comics, Inc. DC characters are used here in fan art and fiction in accordance with their generous "fair use" policies.

Fanzing site version 7.1

Fanzing is not associated with DC Comics.
All DC Comics characters, trademarks and images (where used) are ™ DC Comics, Inc.
DC characters are used here in fan art and fiction in accordance with their generous "fair use" policies.