Queen and doujinshi
Doujinshi are comic-heavy fanzines that are independently and sometimes anonymously published, often by aspiring manga artists. Doujinshi are often derivative; that is, they often contain fan-made content centering around something (a musical artist, an anime, a book, etc) that already exists. This semi-underground industry was booming in 1970s Japan, and many young women's doujinshi circles centered around foreign rock acts such as Led Zeppelin, KISS, Aerosmith, David Bowie, and of course Queen. The fluid and irregular nature of the groups who created these fanzines adds to their mystique. Some doujinshi circles were made up of a few high school girls printing comics for their friends, while other circles were a revolving door of moonlighting professionals who followed a regular publication schedule. Some circles had contributing members numbering in the hundreds.
Doujinshi could be traded and sold at events such as Comiket, or through clandestine unofficial fanclubs and fan circles. Sometimes these books contained off-record content or BL comics about band members. The line between unofficial fanclubs and doujinshi circles is often blurry, and the world of Showa rock doujinshi is an incestuous one in that many of the same illustrators pop up over and over again in each others' publications.
Perhaps the most prolific of Queen-centric circles (the term "legendary" is often used) was Manken Queen, but Queen was featured in other rock-centric offset publications throughout the 1970s and 80s. Due to the obscure nature of the genre, it may be impossible to ever catalogue them all, but I have begun a list of those that I have come across here.
Manken Queen — A storied doujinshi circle begun in 1975 to help promote Queen's Japanese tour, with the band tangentially involved
The Eccentric Poets — An adjacent doujinshi circle with some rock-centric works, also founded in 1975
The Rosicrucians — A doujin group made up of many familiar names, focusing on general rock music and occult themes
Peace Rooster — A collab between two doujin groups, Peace Breaker and Atomic Rooster.
B.A.P.G.L.A. — A rock doujin group that authored fairly explicit (fictional) homosexual content, allegedly headed up by some professional shoujo mangaka working under pseudonyms
Plastic Pop — A high-quality publication from 1979
The Queen Comic Fanzine Anthology — Put together in 1992 after Freddie's passing, this single volume contains a smattering of doujinshi and unofficial fanclub content from the 70s and 80s, as well as retrospective reflections and concert reports. A memorial of sorts.
