Factsheet Five

Factsheet Five was a comprehensive guide to zines and alternative publications. Each issue was packed with reviews of independent, DIY and unusual publications.

Factsheet Five cataloged and reviewed an abundance of zines – complete with price, critical reviews, and ordering information. Additionally, it included informative articles on zine culture, independent publishing, lively columns, interviews with self-publishers, and an extensive news section.

F5 was founded in 1982 by Mike Gunderloy, who began the review zine as a two-page dittoed publication. It grew it into the premiere place to get your zine reviewed and read zine reviews (it also featured independent music reviews). Cari Goldberg Janice became co-editor in the late 1980s and for a few issues in the early 1990s Jacob Rabinowitz was also a co-editor.

Shortly after, Gunderloy and Goldberg Janice published the 1991 book The World of Zines, which compiled a number of zines featured on the pages of Factsheet 5, Gunderloy quit the magazine. By that time Rabinowitz had left and Goldberg Janice was starting a family.

Hudson Luce, a fan of Factsheet Five, stepped forward and put out a single issue of the zine: #45. Despite enlisting the help of Mark Bloch, publisher of the mail art zine, Panmag and the writer Jim Knipfel, both of whom had written columns for Gunderloy, Luce was rumored to have ruined things on the business end.

Jerod Pore then started maintaining an electronic version of Factsheet Five on a website called The Well, when he realized Hudson would not publish another issue. This was in the early days of the Internet and began after Pore suggested to Luce on alt.zines he put the reviews online. Pore in Second Guess #6 said, "Next thing I know, Hudson calls me on the phone, gets my address and sends me 350 pounds of zines."

A number of different zines volunteered copies of their reviews to Pore for the website as well, including Maximum Rock'n'Roll, Fucktooth, 10 Things Jesus Wants You To Know, Holy Titclamps, and Second Guess.

Torn cover.