Austin Vanguard No. 1

Division Leap, a dealer specializing in counterculture books, periodicals, and ephemera, just listed this item:

Austin: Austin Vanguard, [1977]. 4to, tabloid format, single sheet of newsprint folded once; offset printed in two colors.

The first and only issue of one of the first, if not the first, punk fanzine published in the state of Texas. No attribution is given, but the zine is believed to be the work of Nick West, who would go on to edit Sluggo, one of the greatest art zines of the late 70's. The phrase “Someday All the Adults Will Die” emblazoned on the cover summed up many of the beautiful contradictions of early American punk.

The logo uses Eras, commonly seen in the 1970s, particularly after its release by ITC in 1976. The rest of the text, however, is set in a much less common typeface from the 1930s. Stop is an early emulation of dry brush lettering as metal type. It seems unlikely the Austin Vanguard originated on letterpress, so it’s possible the designers found Stop as transfer lettering or phototype.