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David Heath Jr. is no longer here, but his great zine, No Sex, lives on!

No Sex 8: January, 1978
Editor: David Heath Jr., Publisher: Dan Watson

Once again, David Heath Jr (and Dan Watson) bring us the deeply packed (with fun and content) fanzine, No Sex. This eighth issue has no superstar cameos, and none of the staff that later went on to bigger things (such as Mitch O’Connell), but it is still full of that Heath corralled magic. Keep in mind David put all this together while being active in the military!

Above you see the cover by L.R. Davidson. Within the pages, which features a lot of text, are stories, columns, sequential work, reviews and more. David certainly knew how to fill pages. Fan fiction includes the fifth installment of Journey to Another Here…Another Now by C. Robert Oliver Jr. (illustrated by SSG Beaumont), The Guinea Pig by An-Clovis, and two very short stories.

There is, as always, a ton of art in this issue, including spots (like the one above by yours truly done in my second year of college…check that rip off Roger Dean signature), pin ups, and the aforementioned sequential stories.

The piece above is by Mike Knowlton, a former high school classmate of mine. I remember well thinking he was the far better artist of the two of us…he seemed to effortlessly create detailed scenes right out of his head…like the Doc Savage piece you see here.

Speaking of sequential work, below you see a story that illustrates how lovable a style Heath had. Obviously influenced by the underground artist, Vaughn Bode, it took off in a science fiction direction or humor…or both. I so loved seeing the sketches that came on the envelopes his letters came in…I wish I still had some now.

There are several smaller and short strips (some that are somewhat reminiscent of the skinny little strips Sergio Aragones would do in the margins of Mad Magazine) by Heath that you can see in the pdf.

Before showing you snippets from a few of the other strips in this issue, above you can laugh at my feeble attempt at emulating the great Craig Russell, who was working on Killraven at the time of this fanzines publication (and a big hero of mine).

If you want to read some “cajun super hero action,” then look below (and to the pdf for the whole story) for Doc Patois and Ugarto, Boy Zombie! This funny seven pager is by Ricky Campbell.

S. Schwartz brings us The Chase, with a twist ending torn from a fictional sword and sorcery humor EC comic. Check out a tease below…

…and a fraction of The End, by Chad Draper.

Remember, you will see loads more, including complete stories, in the pdf download available on my site here, where you can also access all the other installments of Ink Stains (click on the fanzine name for the pdf, the installment name for the whole column).

One more taste of Heath can be seen below, one of his continued installments of The Adventures of the No Sex Reader.

David Heath Jr. was one of my favorite and best fandom friends. When he died, he left a big hole behind. His whimsical, fun work was the most easily visible loss. But it was mainly his sense of inclusion that will be missed. He was a friendly, outgoing, funny guy. He loved science fiction and comics, in that order. And he loved helping his fellow fans show off and progress through publication and criticism. No Sex may have been his vehicle, but David was the heart and soul.

Additional announcement: Those of you that love Bob Kline’s work in fanzines like The Collector, Fantastic Fanzine, Anomaly and more will want to go out and get the new issue (number 6) of Comic Fandom Quarterly! Robin Dale has transcribed a video interview I did with Bob a year or so ago, and you will also see never before seen art! Get it here!

Ken Meyer Jr.
kenmeyerjr@yahoo.com