Atypical (zine)

Zine
Title:	Atypical
Publisher:
Editor(s):	Rowena Warner
Date(s):	1983-1985
Series?:
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Star Trek: TOS
Language:	English
External Links:
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Atypical is a gen anthology of Star Trek: TOS fiction by Rowena Warner. The stories show the light-hearted, humorous side of Star Trek.

Issue 1

front cover of issue #1

back cover of issue #1

Atypical 1 contains 94 pages and was published in April 1983 (second printing: August 1983). It contains no interior illustration.

The editorial:

This zine is dedicated to the most beautiful people on Terra — the slightly demented Star Trek fans. if not for them. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the rest would have died on that fateful day in 1969.

Also my thanks to all my friends world-wide who purchased my first zine, THE MORNING OF THE SIXTH DAY (a sequel to "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan"). If any such readers purchase this zine, I hope they are not disappointed.

I would like to add a very special dedication to my pen pals, some of whom are: Lynnette Knox, Lois Rasmussen, Andrea Geiger, Regenia Marracino, Vicky Caldwell, and Janet Medlock. My sincere thanks to all of them for they have given me much more than I can ever give in return. May they live long and prosper.

• A Letter Home to Mom (1)
• Boredom—Thy Name is Kirk (6)
• Behind Closed Doors (30)
• Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut (31)
• A Snatch of Chat (67)
• Real People (70)

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 1

'Atypical' is advertised as an 'all-humor' zine, filled with tidbits of 'insanity.' There is no doubt that the author of this collection of stories intended this to be the case, but unfortunately her efforts too often fall flat. 'Aytpical' is a zine with large type and lots of double spacing between each character's bits of dialogue. Composed of five stories and one poem (and some illos) all by Ms. Warner. The idea behind each entry, with the exception of 'Real People,' is rather good. 'A Letter Home' finds a young ensign telling her mother of her bizarre dream about The Big Three; 'Boredom -- Thy Name is Kirk' has McCoy and Spock hard at work to alleviate their Captain's tedium on a starmapping mission; 'A Snatch of Chat' is a kind of comic three-way Ni Var; and 'Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut' has Spock taking McCoy's advice and acting like a human being. Problems: The problem is two-fold; first, most or all of the stories deal with the same thing: they try to find ways to make Spock behave in an illogical (and therefore humorous) manner. Emphasis is then placed almost entirely on Kirk, Spock and McCoy, and on their reconizeable behavioral patterns. Thus we repeatedly get the Doctor and the First Officer engaged in verbal battles, while Kirk either joins in, tries to calm them down, or gets pissed. Even the language becomes redundant -- McCoy says 'that blasted Vulcan' almost as often as we've heard him say, 'He's dead, Jim.' Oddly enough, it is a matter of predictability -- oddly, because the one honestly funny (laugh out loud funny) story deals with Spock's attempt to refute the Doctor's charge that he is predictable and boring ('Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut'). Perhaps the answer lies in the one truly dull story, 'Real People,' a Mary Sue in which the author plays that much written role. The story is Mary Sue in every detail; it reads like a thousand others of its type, and though it promises to be a parody, it comes off in the end as being thoroughly sincere. The hallmark of successful comeday is detachment, combined with a fresh insight into the commonplace, While 'Atypical' is so heavily involved with the Big Three that it fails to capture THEIR foibles, and so involved with itself as 'humor' that it is continually rehashing already well-used format without adding enough originality in its point of view. Lest this seem unduly condematory, let me stress that this zine is by no means BAD. In fact, I got a real kick out of the few bits of 'Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut.' I am by no means sorry that I bought it, and I hope that time will help the author to flesh out her comedic insights. It's just that, if you're expecting belly-laughs, you'll probably be disappointed.

The Author's Comments on the "Datazine" Review

I would like to take the opportunity here to thank everyone who has spent twenty cents on me. I have a 9 to 5 job and like many of you in Workland, I tend to complain sometimes. But when I come home and find a nice letter of comment, it turns an otherwise dreary day into a rainbow of happiness. My thanks to all who have added your own special colors to that rainbow. A few months ago, a review of my humor zine, ATYPICAL, appeared in DATAZINE. It was somewhat less than complimentary and had a disturbing effect on me, so disturbing that I determined to quit writing altogether. I suppose I had reached a point where I had convinced myself everyone would love everything I write. It was a sobering experience to discover it was not so. I was lucky, however, in having some very special people for friends, and after a lot of love, cajoling, and threats, I finally finished this story. So if you do not enjoy it, don't blame me — blame them!

Issue 2

front cover of issue #2

back cover of issue #2

Atypical 2 was published in 1985 and contains 147 pages.

From the editorial:

"Revenge - Thy Name is Kirk" is the oft-asked for sequel to "Boredom - Thy Name is Kirk" which appeared in my earlier zine, ATYPICAL. This story stands by itself, however, so you need not have read the first one in order to, hopefully, appreciate the humor of "Revenge..." Let's just say that Spock and McCoy played a rather naughty little trick on Kirk and in this story he's out for blood and he don't care what color it is.

"Silent Night?" is what I like to think of as a gently humorous story. It won't make you laugh out loud, but may bring a quiet smile to your face. "You Gotta Know When to Hold 'Em" first appeared in CAPTAIN'S LOG 7/8. It seemed to fit so well into the format of this zine that I thought I would include it. I hope you don't mind. "Fly On The Wall" is self-explanatory as is "The Lone Ranger Rides Again...And Tonto, Too". In the latter one, I made a special attempt to get everyone involved. It was kind of fun to write a story in which the Big Three for once became the Little Three. "The Lemon" is the second parody I have tried to write. The first, "Cowards in the Daylight", written in joint communion with my sister, appeared in TREKISM AT LENGTH III. This one, however, was put on paper by just little ol' me, so watch out. It is a parody, oddly enough, of one of my favorite episodes, "The Apple", but in writing it, I threw mercy to the wind and not only viciously attacked them, but also three expendable whose names we will not mention at this point.

Before I go, I want to give my very special thanks to Annette Taylor and Lois Rasmussen for their artwork. They produced some wonderful material in a limited amount of time and I truly appreciate it.

• Revenge—Thy Name is Kirk Rowena Warner (1)
• Federation Signposts Rowena Warner (35)
• Silent Night? Rowena Warner (36)
• You Gotta Know When to Hold 'Em Rowena Warner (53)
• Fly on the Wall Rowena Warner (71)
• The Lone Ranger Rides Again
• ....and Tonto, Too! Rowena Warner (83)
• What If.... Rowena Warner (111)
• The Lemon Rowena Warner (113)

Artwork

• Rowena Warner (front and back covers, plus interior)
• Annette Taylor
• Lois Rasmussen

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  inside page from issue #2, Annette Taylor

• 

  inside page from issue #2, Annette Taylor

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  inside page from issue #2, Annette Taylor

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  inside page from issue #2, sample text

• 

  inside page from issue #2, Rowena Warner

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  inside page from issue #2, Rowena Warner

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  inside page from issue #2, Lois Rasmussen

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  inside page from issue #2, sample text

Issue 3

cover of issue #3

Atypical 3 was published in June 1985 and contains 93 pages. The interior art by by Rowena G. Warner.

The editorial:

Well, darned if it isn't me again. I bet you thought you had gotten rid of me back in August when I published ATYPICAL II. Guess again, folks. I'm barging into your life one more time with another set of stories that just aren't quite the norm. I won't go into detail except to comment briefly on two of them.

"Silent Night? — The Day After" is a sequel to "Silent Night?" which appeared in ATYPICAL 11- I was asked to do a sequel to that story and although this one contains a bit broader humor, I hope you like it, anyway. You can thank Lois Rasmussen for the idea which inspired "I Know I Am Not Spock". She called me one day right before Christmas (at a time when I swore I wasn't going to work on any stories for at least two weeks) and she said something like this « "What would happen if Leonard Nimoy went to a con and met the real Spock? Then she wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote a story about it. As I said before, my last Trek zine was published in August, and I bet you're sitting there thinking, "Yeah, she's been goofing off for ten months . I have not! I published my second Simon & Simon zine in February, and as many of you now know, I also wrote a Trek novel, WHEN THE LU'GUII CRIES, which was rejected by an agent. Ouch! Five months later a Simon & Simon novel was also rejected by the same agent. Let me tell you, I am a glutton for punishment, but eventually I learned my lesson (at a cost of $500). I think I'll stick with the zines. Just a note here - "A Game of Chess" first appeared in VISIONS I. Also, I apologize for not getting a decent artist for this zine, but I ran short of time.

If you don't mind, I'd like to list below the other zines I have or will have in print. If you'd like more information, drop me a SASE. Before I wind this up, however, I want to thank everyone for their kind LOCs. You people are the best!!!

• The Reports of My Death (1)
• A Game of Chess (reprinted from Visions) (17)
• E.R.A. at Last (22)
• Federation Signposts (34)
• Silent Night? -- The Day After (35)
• I Know I Am Not Spock! (RPF, the actors meet the characters) (67)

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  inside page from issue #3

• 

  inside page from issue #3

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  inside page from issue #3