Sci-Fi Zine "Spy Ray" Combining Sci-Fi Fan Culture with Anti-Vietnam Activism and Social Commentary from a Vietnam Vet, 1965

Sci-Fi Zine, Spy Ray

Archive

[Sci-Fi][Zines][Counterculture][Anti-War] Archive of two Issues of SPY RAY, a sharp-witted and politically charged sci-fi zine, c.a.1965. Two complete mimeographed issues of SPY RAY, a scarce APA zine circulated among members of the Spectator Amateur Press Society (SAPS) during the mid-1960s. Written by a returning serviceman (pseudonymously “Ray”), these issues engage directly with contemporary fan culture, psychedelic counterculture, anti-war commentary, and nascent New Left critiques, while remaining deeply embedded in the idiosyncratic humor and inner politics of science fiction fandom. Widely circulated only within SAPS mailings, SPY RAY typifies the stylized intensity and hybridized voice of underground fan culture in the Vietnam War era.

Across both issues, the anonymous editor weaves convention gossip, SAPS-specific polemics, and wide-ranging political critique into an acidic, self-aware persona. The opening lines of one issue refer to the author returning from overseas military service with the difficulty of repacking his “writing slate,” alluding to military deployment and post-tour reentry into civilian life. The text often adopts a stream-of-consciousness style to explore subjects ranging from psychedelic drugs to the racial hypocrisy of U.S. domestic and foreign policy: “We’re not right to complain about the South Africans making it hard for them to go to elementary school. Or… the Viet Cong can’t be blamed for killing six hundred Vietnamese on purpose.” One standout feature is the sustained critique of SAPS and APA elitism itself. The author calls out the “Soul Searching Fallacy” in the sci-fi community's apparent apathy toward racism and war, and laments how APA culture mimics authoritarianism in miniature, with references to fandom’s “moral cruds” and its performative gatekeeping. Throughout, SPY RAY balances earnest philosophical inquiry with sharp parodic jabs, writing as if for both personal catharsis and institutional agitation.

Issues run 4-6 mimeographed pages, side-stapled. Toning and foxing to margins on both issues, text is clear, legible and complete. Overall very good. A potent artifact of dissident undercurrents during the Vietnam era, SPY RAY exemplifies the self-aware, boundary-pushing, and politically conscious strain of amateur sci-fi publishing, one that engaged with war, race, and media well before these conversations reached the mainstream genre press.

Item #22440

Price: $325.00