PFIQ
1924291
179370466
2007-12-21T10:59:06Z
Waggers
878293
[[WP:AWB/T|Typo fixing]] , typos fixed: of of → of using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]]
[[Image:Pfiq.jpg|thumb|Logo]]
[[Image:Cover PFIQ.jpg|thumb|Cover of the last Issue]]
'''PFIQ''' is the acronym and common name for a publication known as '''''Piercing Fans International Quarterly''''', which was published by [[Jim Ward (body piercing)|Jim Ward]] from 1977 to 1997. Ward pioneered the field of [[body piercing]] and operated [[Gauntlet (body piercing studio)|The Gauntlet]], which was the first commercial establishment to offer the service in the [[United States]].
The first 14 issues of PFIQ were in black and white with single-color highlights in a few issues. From issue 15 on, the covers and some interior illustrations were in full color. The first issue was 16 pages long; by issue 31, PFIQ had grown to 32 pages. All issues were 8½×11" in size. <!-- Someone with access to issues beyond #31 should confirm or extend this description. -->
PFIQ did not explicitly date its issues, though most of them included a copyright year. However, every issue was independently numbered.<!-- What was the last issue number? --> In spite of calling itself a quarterly, the publication was chronically late and the average number of issues per year, over the lifetime of PFIQ, was about 3.
Some early issues were reprinted in the 1980s; the reprints are hard to distinguish from the originals, but information is available on the web describing the differences.
PFIQ contained a wide variety of material, mostly about about body piercing, but also about other forms of body art and body modification. A long series of articles by Jim Ward, "Pierce with the Pros," gave detailed information on how to perform many different piercings; these articles were later gathered into a separate booklet of the same title.
Other material included interviews, accounts of piercings, letters from readers, book and video reviews, photographs, artwork, and fiction. PFIQ also contained advertising from a few businesses in closely related fields. Eventually a related publication, '''''Pin Pals''''', was created for the express purpose of allowing people with body piercings to meet each other through personal ads.<!-- The exact relation of Pin Pals to PFIQ is not known to this writer. -->
PFIQ was a controversial publication, due to its graphic portrayal of [[nudity]] and the piercing process. In some countries it was considered [[obscenity|obscene]], and confiscated by postal customs officials. It ceased publication in 1997 when Jim Ward sold Gauntlet. (Gauntlet failed under its new owner and closed in 1998.)
==External links==
*[http://www.bmezine.com/news/jimward/8/cover1.html Cover of the first issue of PFIQ, October 1977]
*[http://www.bmezine.com/news/jimward/20041024.html "The World’s First Piercing Magazine", a history of PFIQ written by Jim Ward]
[[Category:Lifestyle magazines]]
{{culture-mag-stub}}
[[de:PFIQ]]