A complete collection in 2 issues of the short-lived FAPA (Fantasy Amateur Press Association) fanzine written and published by an infamous fandom figure under a pseudonym, 6 pp. and 2 pp. Tabloid (13 3/4 x 8 3/8 inches). Original self-wrappers, first issue stapled, second issue one double-sided sheet. First issue with splitting along central fold line, one small hole through lower section of all three sheets, general handling wear, overall good. Indianapolis: Futurian Society of Indianapolis, 1944.

Intelligence Quotient, as noted on the front page of both issues, was published by "Doro: 'Futurian-Esperantist'". Doro was a pseudonym for Claude Degler (1920-2000), a notorious member of science fiction and fantasy fandom. Degler created the Cosmic Circle, of which the website Fancyclopedia 3 writes: "a shady and mostly fictitious network of fan clubs created by Claude Degler, who believed fans were star-begotten super beings, the Cosmic Circle was to be a union of all persons everywhere who had a cosmic outlook - he called them Cosmen."

Degler spent time in a mental institution as a teenager, and by the late 1930s was hitchhiking around the United States to visit fans and promote his Cosmic Circle. Everywhere he went, he showed up on doorsteps uninvited and founded clubs at least on paper, often without their "members" being aware they were being included. Degler issued manifestos, flyers, and newsletters regarding the Cosmic Cirlce, "a sprawling, utopian, mystical movement...[which] blended utopianism, pseudoscience, a cosmic manifest destiny, and vague racial theories about the 'Cosmic Race' which alarmed fans during wartime. Degler's tone was earnest, grandiose, but weird and slightly unhinged. He talked about 'superior mutants' and believed fandom was the seed of a new evolutionary step...Flying saucers were added to the mix as soon as they caught attention after the war." (Ahrvid Engholm, "Intermission" #164)

"Intelligence Quotient" is one of many assorted zines and publications put out by Degler under various pseudonyms during the WWII years. The FANAC Fan History Project lists it as one of more than 30 Cosmic Circle-affiliated titles published from 1943 to 1944. Very scarce; as of August 2026, OCLC does not show any listings of this fanzine, and our research only showed an institutional holding in the University of Iowa collection of science fiction fanzines.

Book ID: 53754

Price: $750.00