Phoenix (Star Trek: TOS zine)

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Zine
Title: Phoenix
Publisher:
Editor(s): Rich Kolker
Date(s): 1975-1977
Series?:
Medium: print
Genre: gen
Fandom: Star Trek: TOS
Language: English
External Links:
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Phoenix is a Star Trek: TOS zine of fiction and non-fiction. It was edited by Rich Kolker.

Issue 1

Phoenix 1 was published in winter 1975. It has art by Maryann Arrien, Philip Foglio, Rich Kolker, Tawna Lewis, and Tom Broleur.

front cover of issue #1
  • Editorial by Rich Kolker (topics are the large size of Trek conventions, challenging the belief that Worldcon is only for "literary speculative fiction" and not "fringe fans such as Star Trekkers, Burroughs fans, film fans, and sword and sorcerers [who] should be sent off to another hotel for their own con. The Worldcon should be their private dominion.", and Star Trek and the Hugo Awards, see What is a Worldcon?) (2 pages)
  • Crossword Puzzle and Star Trek Animal Quiz (1 page)
  • MUDD, art (parody, Mad Magazine cover) (1 page)
  • Spacenote, article about space travel, not credited (6 pages)
  • Puzzle Page
  • Hokieman, comic ("HOKIEMAN is a creation of Tom Brodeur, and is printed weekly in the Virginia Tech Collegiate Times. Recently he visited the Enterprise, the following is the result. To help you follow the action, T. Marshall Hahn is the President of Virginia Tech and is retiring to join Georgia Pacific in Portland, Oregon. By the way, when I was at Tech I couldn't find Tom, so he doesn't know I'm reprinting these 'till he sees this. So sue me!") (4 pages)
  • answers to a logic puzzle that was printed in Final Frontier #3, with commentary by Pamela J. Fernsler (1 page)
  • Anti-habit, fiction by Sue Rose (original science fiction) (3 pages)
  • Time (art, portrays McCoy on the cover of Time Magazine)
    • Of Viri & Men (an "article" in Time Magazine about McCoy) (3 pages)
    • imagined/fictional ads in Time Magazine for "Berlitz Interstellar" ("We can teach you Vulcan in 14 days") and Volkswagon Beetles
    • Philosophy of the IDIC ("article" in Time Magazine) by David Henry (note: it reprinted with permission from somewhere that is not named)
  • Star Trek Episode Songs (filks)
    • The Man Trap (to the tune of "Can't Buy Me Love")
    • City on the Edge of Forever (to the tune of "America" by Simon and Garfunkel)
    • I, Mudd (to the tune of "I Believe in Magic")
    • Requiem form Methuselah (not listed in the table of contents) (to the tune of "We've Only Just Begun")
    • What Are Little Girls Made Of? (to the tune of "Sounds of Silence")
    • The Nake[d] Time (to the tune of "If I Were a Rich Man")
  • Anti-habit (continued)
  • Is This Any Way to Run a Starship?, fiction in script form by Rich Kolker (15 pages)
  • Launch One, fiction by Robert Ross (original science fiction) (2 pages)
  • Guardian, fiction by Rich Kolker (original science fiction) (4 pages)
  • Odyssey '75, fiction (meta, original science fiction) (7 pages)
  • Fan Information (ads)

Issue 2

Phoenix 2 was published in August 1977 and contains 60 pages.

front cover of issue #2
back cover of issue #2

The art is by Mary Bloemker, Kathy Davis, Rich Kolker, and Ira Perlow.

Two hundred copies were printed.

This was a special issue; the format of future issues would be a mixture letters, reviews, short stories - both ST and SF. This issue contained two very long descriptions of August Party, as well as transcription of an interview with Rich Kolker, Kathy Davis, Joan Winston, and Greg Baker. This issue also contains some fanfiction.

From the editorial by Rich Kolker:

This editorial has gone through many stages. First it was to be a fire breathing combination of commercialization in trekdom. Then when some news invaded by Annapolis rathole, I was going to lambast Paramount and call for a new letter campaign. Then the other news reached me and so I'm back to my original concept, slightly tempered by age.

This is a special issue August Party issue of Phoenix. It is due. Because it is the August Party this past three years which has kept me from fanzine publishing, letter writing and half-a-dozen other traditional roads for fanac.

I put this time in each year, and ruin my grades, my health, and my back account in the process, because I feel fandom needs a choice. A choice between large, professional run Star Trek "shows", and what these gatherings begun as, a chance for fans to get together.

Those of us who have been at this now for some ten years, have seen all the stars, the episodes, and Vulcan crystals enough times to get bored with the whole thing. And it's silly to plop down some $20 or more to spend three days holed up in a hotel room with friends.

So, to get that cost down and return fandom to the fans camp conventions like Sequestercon, and the August Party. But my purpose is this editorial is not to blow my own horn but to make a request of fandom, and that is, be [f]annish.

What I mean is support fans, and not major corporations. There is just as much fun at a small con as one of the large extravaganzas, maybe more. There is better ST fiction in fanzines than you'll find in Blish, or Foster, or New Voyages. There are fans who sell just to pay their way to conventions, and not to make a profit.

Be selective in what you buy. Don't grab some piece of junk just because it says Star Trek, Hunt a little for the fans. They may be hard to find because most conventions have priced them out or the huckster room. Frequent the Welcommittee table. Always send a SASE. An') every now and then, write a letter to Paramount, just to show them we're still around.

Remember that good television doesn't begin and end with Star Trek.

If you see something you like, let the network and studio know, especially if it is a pilot. Get to know the rest of science fiction. It's useful when you want to freak put a smug SF'er who says, "Oh, a Trekkie." You may enjoy it too. Remember this is the roots from which Star Trek and its fandom grew. When we began we wore a small group. And we all worked very hard.

The last few years we've been coasting, resting on our laurels. Let the decision to cancel the Star Trek movie be a lesson to us. The battle isn't won until the show is in the can.

I've digressed and wandered around a lot, but I think it all ties together. There is nothing we can do to stop people from capitalizing on the popularity of Star Trek. What we can do is make sure that it does not kill the fandom that bred it.

See you at the August Party.

  • List of August Party Committee Members (1 page)
  • Editor's Note (1 page)
  • Editorial (2 pages)
  • August Party '75 by various authors (Rich Kolker, Kathy Davis, Joan Winston, and Greg Baker) (8 pages)
  • August Party '76 by various authors (Rich Kolker, Greg Baker) (5 pages)
  • Songs of the August Party (filks)
    • The August Party Story by Rich Kolker and Greg Baker (to the tune of "American Pie") (2 pages)
    • I'm Going to Say It Now by Rich Kolker (to the tune of by Phil Ochs of the same title) (1 page)
    • The Ballad of Ripoff Cons by Rich Kolker (to the tune of "One Tin Soldier") (1 page)
    • The Con Committee's Lament by Rich Kolker ("Written at and dedicated to the New York Star Trek Convention, who showed us all how.") (to the tune of "Suicide is Painless") (1 page)
    • Enterprise by Kathy Davis and Rich Kolker (1 page)
  • The Return, part one, fiction by Rich Kolker (Star Trek: TOS) (11 pages)
  • But a Whimper, fiction by Robert Ross (original science fiction) (5 pages)
  • Survivors, fiction by Gred Baker and Pat Paul (Star Trek: TOS) (14 pages)
  • Please Read This: The World Star Trek Society (title on table of contents) (a proposal to launch a fan-run, non-profit Trek con in the style of WorldCon, called "World Star Trek Convention" or "Worldtrekcon") (1 page)