Block 9 was an Amstrad/Spectrum fanzine written on a typewriter, with accompanying hand-drawn artwork. The fanzine had a highly irregular production schedule, with three issues being released from January to February 1992. A total of six issues were produced between 1991 and 1993, after which the fanzine was rolled into successor 8/16-bit fanzine Sector Nine.
Block 9 attempted to cater to both gamer and serious computer users. It featured game reviews, short type-ins by the writing team, hardware reviews, hint & tips, and a letters page that was usually populated by characters created by the writing team solely for the purpose of telling jokes. The visual style was quite obvious in its aping of magazines such as Amstrad Action.
The fanzine made regular references to its covertape, which never actually existed. These references ranged from a space being reserved for the tape on the front cover, to outrageous claims about the contents of the previous issue's tape in the letters page. One notable letter praised the cutting-edge nature of the tape's "holographic elephant display".
Writers
- Zoe Robinson (writer, editor)
- Elizabeth Robinson (writer, reviewer)
- Matthew Walton (writer, reviewer)
- Darren Metcalfe (writer, reviewer)
- Kieran Bainbridge (writer, reviewer)
Covers
- Block 9
Issue 1
Issue 2
Issue 4
