The Boys are Back

Zine
Title:	The Boys are Back
Publisher:	In Person Press ("Crazy Moon Press")
Editor(s):
Date(s):	1992-1995
Series?:
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Kiefer/Lou
Language:	English
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

The Boys are Back is a slash, Kiefer/Lou fanzine.

This fanzine is devoted to characters portrayed by Kiefer Sutherland and Lou Diamond Phillips and contains stories from TV shows and movies in which they appeared together. It is not a zine of RPS.

NOTE: some issues are titled, "Boys are Back" and some "The Boys are Back."

Both issues required an age statement to purchase.

Issue 1

cover by TM Alexander

The Boys are Back 1 was published in May 1992 and contains 134 pages. The cover art is by TM Alexander and the interior art is by SVE.

From the zine:

To lovers of the contrast between blond and dark and all the inherent possibilities they inspire.

From the zine:

Editor's Note: Historical inaccuracies or inaccuracies in the depiction of the Lakota religion or practices are purely unintentional. The descriptions used in these stories are entirely fictional and are solely the interpretation of the authors.

From the editorial:

This editorial could just as easily be titled "Never Say Never Again" or it could alternately be known as "It's Rosemary’s Fault." It all started, you see, back in October, [Rosemary C] had been talking about "Renegades" for ages, so had a couple of other friends, but I hadn't gotten around to seeing it. I was busy. With other commitments. Six years into my Starsky & Hutch love affair and I saw no need to divert myself. Finally, when Rosemary gave me a copy of the film and her two stories, at OktoberTrek, I said I'd watch it... when I had the time. And, Ro, I cautioned. I'm not going to really get into it. I'm not going to write it. Noooo. Famous last words.

It was all over in less than fifteen minutes. There was Kiefer Sutherland on my screen, young and adorable, a very unorthodox cop in big trouble. And there was Lou Diamond Phillips, brooding, slender, gorgeous, trying to catch up to Kiefer and the guys who'd stolen the Sacred Lance of the Lakota. But they hadn't even met yet. Then Marino shot Buster. When Kiefer reacted to that gunshot, I was completely hooked. And then, when Lou showed up to find and rescue him... and when he carried him up those stairs to cut off his shirt and tend that wound... Like I said, it was all over in fifteen minutes. Ro's wonderful stories were the coup de grace. Obsession with a capital "O."

A whole new world opened up to me. I began reading books about Native Americans and going to Indian Festivals. I got the other films the actors have done and began enjoying them, as well. And there were zines! Not only were there stories on the "Renegades" and "Young Guns" characters, there were cross universe stories, with a character from a Kiefer movie put together with a character from one of Lou's films, and stories where a character played by one of the actors met a newly created character that could be played by the other actor. It seemed a little odd, but the more I considered it, the more creative it really seemed. I'd been trying to get around to working with my own characters for along time, but the allure of the ready-made characters and relationships still held me. This seemed like a good bridge between the safety and ease of writing a known universe and working into my own. Gradually, I had to admit I was so taken with these new actors, these new characters, these new ideas that I had to start writing.

Heart of the Matter Press published Robyn LaSalle's "Interludes," and Tami Marie's "Lost in the Shadows" and "The Second Power" which were inspirational and eminently satisfying in my quest to feed my obsession. Heart of the Matter will be releasing Rosemary's "Renegade Souls," and a second issue of "Interludes" at MediaWest. Robyn's stories, the art of Paulie and Angi Towski... they started it all. They and [Rosemary C] are definitely the Indians around here and without their inspiration and creativity, this zine would not exist.

• You Wanta Tell Me What I'm Doing Here? (i)
• Filmography (1)
• Renegade Trials by NJ Kippax (From the zine: "This story was inspired by [Rosemary C's] "Renegade Souls" universe, published by Heart of the Matter Press. The first story in this universe, "Renegade Hearts" shows what happened between Hank and Buster immediately following the battle for the Sacred Lance of the Lakota, while the second story, "Renegades and Other Dreamers" takes up with the movie tag, when Buster comes to find Hank in South Dakota. They realize they love each other, and it is decided that Buster will move permanently to the reservation. However, he must briefly return to Philadelphia to complete the Marino investigation and close up his apartment. Author NJ Kippax explores what might happen during this interlude.") (Renegades) (5)
• The Days That Are No More by Rosemary C. (Young Guns) (45)
• Inevitable by April Valentine ("The character of Nelson Wright from "Flatliners" meets a tall, fascinating stranger who seems destined to be very important in his life.") (Flatliners) (75)

• 

  from issue #1

• 

  from issue #1

• 

  from issue #1

• 

  from issue #1, You Are Receiving This Zine Because

Issue 2

The Boys are Back 2 was published in May 1994 and contains 254 pages.

The cover art is by Suzan Lovett. The interior art is by KOZ, Angi Towski, Baravan, and SVE.

cover of issue #2 by Suzan Lovett: "Raven's Call"

From the zine:

For those unafraid of the Dark Wind, those seeking the First Power, and the Last Light, interested in a Dangerous Touch, a Brotherhood of Justice, A Few Good Men and all those who are Renegades. There will be no Vanishing.

From the zine:

A word about this issue's contents. We have several Young Guns stories; "The Comfort of a Bed and Lodge" was inspired by [Rosemary C's] Doc and Chavez piece in issue #1, "Trail's End" stands on its own. You'll meet the Kiefer character from "Brotherhood of Justice," Victor, in "Ghosts;" he also appears in a poem, along with Lou's "Stand and Deliver," Angel. Two stories involve favorites Hank and

Buster from "Renegades," "Fireside Song" and the major story, "Shadows on the Sun." Yes, NJ Kippax has more planned for this Hank/Buster universe. She's also contributed another installment in her Sean/Tad universe, begun in her novel. All Time High. Tad is from "Bright Lights, Big City," and Sean Mendoza is her Lou creation. And we see what was intended as the conclusion of "Inevitable," portraying Nelson (Kiefer, "Flatliners") and my Lou character, Ben, Instead of ending, however, the characters took off on a tangent of their own. I'm not quite sure what they're going to do next, but they will let me know by BOYS ARE BACK 3.

From the zine, a statement about the zine's planned third issue:

When I was first working on BAB #1, I was already planning, not just this one, but #3. I began thinking of it as "the reincarnation" issue. Why? Because a number of the characters the boys have played were "killed off" in the particular film. I don't know about you, but I hate to see them die. And although there's nothing really wrong with a "somebody dies" story, I like to see 'em live, or at the very least, read an interesting way they could come back — or better yet, not die at all. David ("Lost Boys") was dead, we presume, but in any number of movies, an interesting character doesn't make it to the end credits. I'd like to issue a challenge to writers to come up with an effective, believable (and by that, I mean believable in the context of your story) way the character could live through being shot, stabbed, electrocuted or what have you. Doc and Chavez, Senator, Mitchell Osgood (though he didn't buy it on screen, he was sentenced to die for his crimes)... hey, maybe he could meet Denver Bayliss on death row... With characters as different as these, it's easy to get carried away. Not all stories for #3 need bring 'em back, but I'd like a fair sampling. Get in touch and let me know your inspirations. I'd say a tentative deadline of February, 1995 ought to do it.

• Dangerous Touch, editorial (i)
• The Comfort of a Bed and Heated Lodge by April Valentine ("This story was inspired by [Rosemary C's] 'The Days that Are No More' in BOYS ARE BACK 1. The half-breed Chavez feels a compelling attraction to young Doc Scurlock, but when he makes an overture, the other boy confesses that he was abused by a man who took him from the brothel where he'd been raised. The admission revealed the nature of the nightmares that had plagued Doc. After Tunstall's murder, with the Regulators on the run, he finally accepts Chavez' romantic attentions, but the lovemaking is bittersweet, leaving Chavez hoping for a more fulfilling union.)) (Young Guns) (1)
• Diablo, poem by Robyn LaSalle (Young Guns) (9)
• Ghosts by Rosemary C. (Brotherhood of Justice) (10)
• Angel, poem by Robyn LaSalle (Stand and Deliver) (43)
• Fireside Song by Robyn LaSalle (Renegades) (44)
• A Time to Heal, poem by Robyn LaSalle (Renegades) (51)
• Valentine High by NJ Kippax (This story is related to the zine, Higher and Higher.) (Bright Lights, Big City) (52)
• Angelito, poem by Robyn LaSalle (Young Guns) (67)
• Trail’s End by Mariah Burke (Young Guns) (68)
• Shadows on the Sun by NJ Kippax (Renegades) (86)
• Inevitable, Part II by April Valentine (Flatliners) (200)
• an updated filmography (244)

• 

  from issue #2, unclear

• 

  from issue #2, SVE

• 

  from issue #2, SVE

• 

  from issue #2, Angi Towski

• 

  from issue #2, Baravan

• 

  from issue #2, Baravan

• 

  from issue #2, SVE

• 

  from issue #2, KOZ

Issue 3

cover of issue #3, Angi Towski

flyer for issue #3

Boys are Back 3 was published in October 1995 and contains 306 pages.

Color cover by Angi Towski. Interior art by Suzan Lovett, Baravan, Ackerson, McCormack. "Other art" illuminating the stories was created by a friend our Farpoint Con committee, Lewis G. Aide, who has more computers and computer stuff than you can shake a stick at and who was very patient with me as I begged him to scan in more photos and "video capture" just one more image."

The dedication incorporates film titles: "To all those who have entered the Promised Land, walked down the Boulevard, acquired Theresa's Tatoo while going the Cowboy Way, and have had a Flashback when they Stand and Deliver: You will realize your Ambition."

A disclaimer: "Editor's Note: Historical inaccuracies or inaccuracies in the depiction of the Lakota religion or practices are purely unintentional. The descriptions used in these stories are entirely fictional."

From the editorial:

wait. We've got tons of good fiction and some beautiful artwork to illuminate it. The "theme" of the issue was "reincarnation" or more properly "what if they didn't die?" Several of the stories do a good job at answering that question 'Never Say Die" (aptly titled) takes on the Young Guns II tragedy, "The Lesser of Evils" is another look at saving vampire David, "A King in the Promised Land" recounts what might have happened to Danny (KS) from the film Promised Land if he met Tag from the obscure TV movie with LDP, The Three Kings. All three are brought to us by prolific writer NJ Kippax. Mariah Burke's "Medicine Man" brings back a character who died, too, though in a different way. Rosemary Callahan’s "Angel of Darkness" is a wonderful story introducing Jeff Harriman from The Vanishing to an original Lou character. The issue concludes with the final installment of "Inevitable" — although I've already heard cries of "more, more" from ever-hopeful readers. This brings me to the theme of the next issue: continuing universes. Several writers have told stories about characters, ending the story just when they've gotten them together, so for next issue. I'm looking for author’s to write what happens next to some of our favorite characters. This issue isn't planned for awhile yet, though. I need some time to recover from this one! The tentative deadline is September 1, 1996, for publication sometime that fall or winter. Of course, NJ Kippax, claims that if I wait another year to do the next issue, she'll have written even more stories than she did for this one!

[...]

Another new name in K-L fandom doesn't appear in this issue, but she's certainly kept my desire to publish zines going. Welcome [ Karen B. ] — after knowing each other for eleven years, we are finally into the same thing! Who would have guessed that when I asked her nicely if we could have a Renegades panel at ZebraCon (and when that was followed up by Tami Marie's well-honed comments about the boys) Karen would go out and rent the movie and fall in love with it! It's been great having her to discuss stories and ideas with and I'm sure she’ll soon be putting her creative and editorial expertise to work soon, inspired by our wonderful boys!

• Fallen Angels, editorial (1)
• Sun and Shadow, art by Suzan Lovett (1)
• Doc and Chavez, art by Baravan (2)
• Never Say Die by NJ Kippax ("Doc and Chavez died in Young Guns II. But there were many legends about Billy the Kid and his friends...") (3)
• Renegade Night by April Valentine ("Favorite characters (Renegades) Hank and Buster in the aftermath of the events which brought them together.") (56)
• The Lesser of Evils by NJ Kippax (" David (Kiefer, Lost Boys) meets an intriguing young man who just might want to become a vampire -- but why?") (69)
• David, art by Shayne McCormack (123)
• Full Moon Magic by Khylara ("A tender moment, shared by Doc and Chavez.") (125)
• A King in the Promised Land by NJ Kippax (129)
• Medicine Man by Mariah Burke (169)

• Angel of Darkness (called "Dark Angel" on the flyer) by Rosemary C. ("Jeff Harriman (Kiefer. (The Vanishing) meets a man who can save him from a life of loneliness.") (213)
• Love in the Darkness, poem by Khylara (262)
• Inevitable, Part 3 by April Valentine ("... final installment of this story of Nelson Wright (Kiefer Sutherland, Flatliners) and the young man destined to be his forever, Ben Lucas. (Lou Diamond Phillips, original character)" (263)

• 

  from issue #3, Suzan Lovett: "Sun and Shadow"

• 

  from issue #3, Baravan

• 

  from issue #3, Kathy Ackerson

• 

  from issue #3, Kathy Ackerson

• 

  from issue #3, Shayne McCormack

• 

  from issue #3, Shayne McCormack

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 3

The stories amount to approximately 300 pages of text, with original characters, continuations, as well as more straight-forward interpretations from movies such as Young Guns I and II and Regenades, the Keifer Sutherland and Lou Diamond Phillips movies which inspired this fandom.

First off, the production quality of this zine is very good overall. I've been impressed by the amount of illos as well as the heftiness of the zine. I've noticed a few spelling errors, so it looks like a spell-checker didn't get run over them, and yet the spelling errors seem inconsistent with the quality in general. There is a lot of variation in fonts, and since I'm a flush-to-the-left block formatting type of person, I probably picked up on that while most people wouldn't notice or care, or they would probably even enjoy all the fonts representing perspective or time period change.

Found I experienced an odd side effect from reading these stories - had to make myself a pot of tea one night (as the characters seem to keep drinking tea a lot), while ordinarily I'm a coffee drinker. So if you're going to read these characters, have tea on stock.

Never Say Die by Kippax about Young Guns I and II characters, delves deeply into various issues having to do with motivations, sexual relationships, even taking on Tunstall's possible sexual desires for young men, which does get joked about in the first film. Got the feeling the author really immersed him/herself in the movies, and tried to realistically tie all the loose ends and personalities together. My favorite story in the zine.

Renegade Night by Bonds tackles the (almost) ending of Renegades about Hank giving in to his desire to kiss Buster, and from that begins a conversation where they both confess to sexual experience with men and desire for each other. Not really a PWP, but not enough background for me. I don't like to just fall into the confession scene, but prefer experiencing how a writer fantasizes how the buildup would have occurred, even if it does mean I'm reading the author's POV of events that happened in the film - that's fun.

The Lesser of Evils by Kippax takes off where the film The Lost Boys leaves off. David (KS) has recovered from his near-expiration in Santa Carla, and is now living in San Francisco. Most writers assume David would end up in San Francisco, so that's no surprise. What is a challenge to me about this story is the premise David's body had been delivered to a mortuary and a mortuary attendant did him the service of pulling the antlers out of his chest, freeing him. I was wondering why the body would have been sent to a mortuary, how it was explained to the cops, and all the other legal issues which would have taken place as a result. The first page of the story doesn't make sense. But that's background. Then we're with David, who thinks he has found his Tessorae (which seems to be a type of soul-mate) in Jerry (LDP), an AIDS patient who longs for the immortality David can give him. How David is supposed to change Jerry into a vampire like himself, veers sharply from the method displayed in The Lost Boys, and therein lies another problem. The vampires in this story seem to be gelled from a combination Bram Stoker, Anne Rice - as well as Lost Boys - so having Jerry become a vampire isn't as simple as having him drink David's blood - which was all that was necessary for Michael, in The Lost Boys, as we saw on-screen. So this story really seems to be using the name of David (with KS personifying him) but all the other elements are virtually original or having been borrowed from other writers and incorporated here.

Full Moon Magic by Khylara is based on Young Guns II, with the characters of Doc and Chavez reminiscing about the old days (the events in the first film), when they'd loved each other before Doc had headed east with his new wife and family.

A King in the Promised Land by Kippax was something I couldn't judge well, except it appears to be well-written. Neither of the movies these characters for KS and LDP were pulled from, are movies I've seen: Promised Land and The Three Kings. I can say it's about a Christian faith healer who is also gay (LDP) who meets a young man (KS) who is shot by a policeman. The young man is very down-and-out and his character is drawn to the other's, and they are both gay, but not hurrying their attraction or relationship - no PWP here. The young man moves in with the faith healer in Southern California, falling into that lifestyle with his new love...

In Medicine Man by Burke, this is Renegades, when Buster has gone to South Dakota to visit with Hank. They're both hesitant with each other, floundering as they try to understand their relationship and where they want it to go. Told from Buster's perspective as he spends time with Hank's family, he soaks up the geography as well as the culture. He fights his physical attraction as he doesn't want to risk offending Hank. A good story with a lot of background information on the area and culture.

Angel of Darkness by [Rosemary C] - again a couple of characters I'm not familiar with. An original character for LDP meets the KS character from The Vanishing. Judging from the story alone, it's a good one. The characters are nicely drawn and the scene is set by heavy drama immediately - an attempted suicide. Though I couldn't see a successful published novelist being as financially strapped as the Harriman (KS) character, I can see where it was an author's necessity, to have these men spending an inordinate amount of time together in close quarters. Harriman moves in with the cop who talks him out of suicide, while the cop (LDP) is gay and attracted to his new roommate, but afraid of what impact that news will have upon him. As it is, the cop is carefully submerging his desire for his blond friend. Trying to keep a secret when you really need to let it out and the consequences when it does come out is the point of the story.

Inevitable, Part Three by Bonds, is part 3 of her Flatliners story, parts one and two appearing in earlier issues of Boys Are Back. She deals with Nelson, the KS character from Flatliners and an original character for LDP - a guy who's not that trustworthy, IMO. I don't care for this series, which is a pity, since I am intrigued by the Nelson character from the film and even how he's treated here. But I don't care for the LDP character of Ben as he's too unpleasant for my taste. (Someone who lives off others, a prime manipulator, and intent on manipulating Nelson to whatever extent he can. The good thing is the distasteful element to the young man's character isn't shied away from by the author, though she still expects us to pity her creation, I expect.) Ben is made a few years younger than Nelson, giving Nelson an adult aspect to Ben's street punk, I suppose. The series of stories - a continuation - deals with reincarnation, so Nelson is meeting Ben in this life, and they are both recalling - through regression - how they've been the characters from Young Guns, the characters even from Renegades (since the time period is about the same, I haven't figured out how reincarnation can work with Renegades with the characters' souls inhabiting bodies in Flatliner's era as well - should be an overlap). There's even a major attempt to put fictional characters into the mix, so Athos (KS) from Three Musketeers meets an original French character (LDP), so the current Nelson and Ben can experience each other's companionship and sexual relationship at various times in their souls' history. Have to confess, it's too much for me, reminding me of the old phrase about everything but the kitchen sink being thrown in. Bonds is a good writer, but this going back and forth, mystically - between different time periods and characters, fictional and otherwise - isn't doing it for me, as I think the story would have been better served keeping it more straight and simple. This one is too ambitious, or my mind functions less fantastically.