After the Battle
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | After the Battle |
| Publisher: | Oddbalz & Mayhem Fanzines |
| Editor(s): | |
| Date(s): | May 1997 |
| Series?: | no |
| Medium: | |
| Size: | 100 pages |
| Genre: | gen |
| Fandom: | Professionals |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | fiction online,[1] added 2004 |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
After the Battle is a 100-page gen Professionals anthology. On the cover: "Four short stories by LRH Balzer". Warren Oddsson is the front cover artist.
About "After the Battle"
For this collection, Lois Balzer wrote the stories she wanted to see. Stories that dealt with the parts of the show she didn't see in the episodes. What happened afterwards? How did Bodie and Dolye deal with things that happened to them? How did their friendship affect their partnership? [2]
Contents
- Brothers-in-Arms ("He'd heard it from the first lecture Cowley had directed at them as new recruits. Bodie hadn't asked anyone, of course, but Cowley's continued, deliberate use of the phrase had him periodically speculating just who exactly the Bisto Kids were. Everyone else seemed to get the significance of the reference, but it left Bodie dry.") (11 pages)
- In My Lifetime ("The evening shadows cut through the flat; the record on the stereo had ended half an hour before. Doyle stood alone at the stove, stirring his can of soup, adding the chopped vegetables one by one, and watching it begin to bubble to life. It came to him then, that he had never been lonelier in his life.") (10 pages)
- Three Men and a Bodie ("Knowing what they must look like, Doyle got his arm free. "Hold on there, mate. Some rules first" He snagged Bodie's jacket and jerked him to a halt turning the taller man around to face him. "Rule 1: I say where we're going and when we're coming back. Okay?" "Okay," Bodie readily agreed, looking over his shoulder and edging closer to the entrance of the hospital. "Look at me!" Doyle demanded. "Rule 2: try and act normally - or what passes for normal for you, okay? I don't want everyone staring at us. I know your mind is kinda addled right now, but try not to act like a four-year-old" "Okay. Be good," Bodie promised, hand over his heart and staring fiercely into Doyle's eyes with such sincerity that Doyle felt suspicious.") (19 pages)
- Scissors ("A familiar blue and black checked flannel shirt caught Bodie's eye, one he had seen his partner wearing earlier that morning. He stepped across to the desk and gingerly lifted it, along with a sliced, black t-shirt, from the stained surface. "Excuse me, sir. We haven't catalogued that yet" "I'll save you the time. These belong to Raymond Doyle, CI5." Still clutching his partner's clothes in one clenched fist, Bodie walked across the crimson-blotched cement stopping to stare down at a handful of cut brown curls smeared in blood on the floor. One smooth motion and he had collected a single curl, tucking it into his pocket For identification, he let himself think.") (38 pages)
Reactions and Reviews
[Brothers in Arms]: Brothers in Arms and its companion piece In my Lifetime are as inseparable as the Bisto Kids themselves. They are one and the same story, told from Bodie's then Doyle's point of view. They took place at the beginning of their partnership and describe with subtlety, a keen sense of observation and a lot of tenderness for the characters how their relationship is slowly going to develop through the early misunderstandings, their mutual efforts and the plights of their everyday's work.[3]
[Three Men and a Bodie]: Most slash readers check out gen as well, and this one left a long-remembered image of a drugged Bodie running (you know how beautifully they run) through London while his fellow agents chase him.[4]
See reactions and reviews for Scissors.
[zine]: Strictly speaking this is probably not a slash zine, as there are no sex scenes in any of the stories. The relationship between Bodie and Doyle, however, is beautifully drawn and quite often reads as either a pre-slash or established relationship. For example, from Scissors:"Bodie buried another fierce kiss in the scattered curls, this time for himself, then rested his cheek on top of Doyle's head, his own taut nerves relaxing in the trust of his sleeping partner... The claustrophobic room was a quiet haven, for now cut off from the rest of their world. In a bit, they would have to go back out there and deal with the events that had happened, but for a moment, he could relax and enjoy the living, breathing aliveness of Doyle. Safe."
I thoroughly enjoyed this zine, it's nicely written and I was left feeling that I'd had a peek at the lads themselves.[5]
[zine]: I'm actually reccing a gen zine. Stand by for the four horsemen. No, really, it's a great read; four stories that focus on the guys and their relationship. There's a goodly portion of h/c (especially in the last story, which I found a bit tedious), but the characterizations are excellent, and she does a great job of including Cowley and other agents in interesting, believable ways. I particularly enjoyed the first two tales, which detail the development of "The Bisto Kids." [6]
[zine]: Lois is a terrific gen writer and I hope she puts out more zines in the fandom. While I prefer slash, Lois' ability to create beautiful relationship-H/C stories is always welcome, whatever the fandom.[...]
A note to pass on to Warren Oddson - I hope you continue to create in the Pros fandom. As good as Suzan and Jean Kluge are, we need more new artists to bring their "new view" to the art and to create visual representations that compliment the work of the new writers.[7]
[zine]:I just finished a short Pros zine called "After the Battle" by Lois Balzer and wanted to share a few comments.
Here's something you don't see too often: a gen Pros zine. Wait! Please smother that yawn and inch your finger away from that delete key for just a minute, okay? This zine is really good! I usually hold my nose and remove gen zines from my immediate vicinity with a pair of metal tongs, so believe me, it's gotta be good if I can actually read one all the way through.
Moreover, there's a fairly large dollop of h/c in the stories. Again, I don't like h/c. But, I liked these stories! What does this mean? Either the writer is pretty good or my standards have hit rock bottom. (Hey, I didn't ask you to answer that, okay!)
Balzer is a favorite writer of mine, a miracle considering she never writes (outright) slash. This is her first foray into Pros. There are only four short stories in this zine. No AUs, strictly series based. The first two, "Brothers-In-Arms" and "In My Lifetime" look at B&D as they first start their partnership, the first from Bodie's POV and the second from Doyle's. The term, Bisto Kids, finally made sense to me after I read this.
The third story, "Three Men and a Bodie" is not quite as light-hearted as it sounds, but it has some funny and touching moments in it. You see a Bodie who's, um, not quite himself and it is really quite charming.
The last and longest story, "Scissors," is a pretty heavy (to me) hurt/comfort story. If you want to see Doyle badly hurt and struggling with the after-effects, Bodie suffering silently and comforting for all he's worth, this one's for you. There are some scenes that I thought were absolutely beautiful, particularly one in which Bodie tries to (forcefully) make Doyle face the fear that's emotionally paralyzing him.
I had a few quibbles here and there: the villain in "Scissors" is one-dimensional and just sort of convenient, but then again, too much background and buildup for villains in stories generally bores my socks off. A word here and there gave away the fact that the author is not British, but this didn't overly irritate me either since I've seen worse, even in my *own* stuff.
The author also uses a shifting timeline in "Scissors" which I disliked at first, but then I saw that it actually intensified some of the emotional drama between B&D for me. It was an interesting approach.
On the plus side again, there are a couple of relatively minor female characters in "Scissors" that are nicely drawn as well, not just throwaways.
The best way I can put it is that this zine felt like a good slash zine without sex. The characterizations are very male, very strong, very recognizably Bodie and Doyle. The growth and changes within the B&D relationship are the central focus in all the stories. As a result, they satisfied me more than a lot of 'real' slash stories out there.
There's a good bit of artwork in this short zine, all done by Warren Oddsson. Very good artist, even though the pieces are familiar poses. There's one, an illo in "Scissors," of Doyle asleep in Bodie's arms that I especially liked.
[...]
If you have to have sex in your Pros stories, then forget this zine. If you like good relationship stories, you should give it a try. [8]
References
- ^ "Wayback link". Archived from the original on 2010-09-14.
- ^ from Agent With Style
- ^ from a 2007 comment at Crack Van
- ^ from a 2004 comment at Crack Van
- ^ byslantedlight. "a 2006 review".
- ^ from This is Katya
- ^ from Virgule-L, quoted anonymously (May 31, 1997)
- ^ from Virgule-L, quoted anonmously (June 15, 1997)