All My Crewmen

Zine
Title:	All My Crewmen
Publisher:	Starbase Babel out of Salt Lake City, Utah
Editor:
Author(s):	a combination of Carol Andrus, Julia Howarth, Nerissa WilhiteKaren Serassio, Beverly Jones, Marge Pagel, and Wendy Howarth
Cover Artist(s):	Wendy Howarth
Illustrator(s):
Date(s):	1976-1977
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Star Trek: TOS
Language:	English
External Links:
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All My Crewmen is a gen Star Trek: TOS zine with three issues. It was a serialized novel written in soap-opera format.

a sample page from issue #1

front cover of issue #1, Wendy Howarth

The first three chapters of "All My Crewmen" was reprinted in Carbon-Based Life.

Issue 1

All My Crewman 1 was published in July 1976 and contains 8 pages. This first issue is by Carol Andrus and Julia Howarth.

From the ad in The Halkan Council #20/21: "Did Natira really have McCoy's baby?" The cost was twenty cents, plus two 13 cent stamps.

From the editorial of issue #1: "Hi! Welcome to the first chapter of 'All My Crewmen.' As you can see, this is no ordinary Star Trek story, but a real Star Trek soap opera, which will be continued as long as interest continues. We appreciate, welcome, and want comments and ideas. After all, we'd like this soap opera to come out as often as possible -- maybe even once a week -- and that's a little too much for three people to do all by themselves. With later chapters, we will include articles on the background of the soap opera as we see it -- our theories on Yonada, Romulans, anything else that turns up in the story. We will also publish letters commenting on the soap!"

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 1

Oh, an odd, odd little fanzine, but I like it. This is the first of what the editors call a Star Trek Soap Opera. Surprisingly, the idea hasn't caught on until now, but I'm hopeful the eds can make this successful. The issue on hand starts out on a Romulan cruiser orbiting a planet. It isn't stated clearly, but evidently the Romulan is out of its home territory. The Enterprise takes up orbit along with a strange asteroid, but the ship remains unspotted. Meanwhile, back on the Big E, the action revolves around McCoy. They have come to see the people of Yonada disembark on their new planet, unaware that the Romulans have eyes for it, too. Joanna McCoy is added to the crew for flavor and just guess what kind of surprise Natira has for McCoy when he arrives? My, but those spacemen are fecund. Somehow this particular issue is weak. I have doubts if this type of zine could be made into television-type soap opera. Too many fanzines already have stories which could be classified as such, which would make this nothing more than a mushy melodrama in short serials. It might be much more interesting to see this type of publication used for cleverer purposes, say a satire, as much of the basis for Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman is. Soap opera, because of the strong, and often unbelievably earth-shaking emotions involved, also seem well-suited to out-and-out farces. In this aspect, the adventures of Lt. Mary Sue in Menagerie classify as the real soap opera, although they won't have the structuring that All My Crewmen promises. In toto, this issue doesn't have a lot to say. What it offers is quite a number of jumping-off points for continuation but no cliff hangers yet. If they get more contributors and decide which direction they want to go with the format, it could really turn out to be a truly excellent zine, although the ditto may prove to be a problem as the circulation increases. Watch out, though, it DOES have great potential.

"All My Crewmen- a ST soap opera - and as in all soap operas, there is a lot of things going on at one tine, and "All My Crewmen", is no exception. Sub Commander Tal is now Commander of the Romulan Cruiser Opportunity. He is watching the activity of Bala 2. The activity being: The Enterprise and a strange spaceship resembling a plantoid. Natria's people have reached their final gestational As Natira holds her son, she wonders how, her husband, Dr. Mc Coy will react when he meets her again and his son (of which he knows nothing), for the first time. Meanwhile, back on the Enterprise "Bones" is getting nervous as he tries to decide, how he feels about Natira. At the same time time Nurse Joanna Mc Coy, now of the Enterprise, finds out from Nurse Chapel, that "Bones" has remarried. Later back on the Opportunity, Commander Tal sends for the ship's physcian, Dr. Fabik, who bears a striking resembalnce to Mr. Spock, of course! So ends Vol. 1 of "All My Crewmen" Because I enjoy "All My Children", I found "All My Crewmen" mildly intersting The story showed some imagination, although the poor ditto made it difficult to read in places.

Star Klique received the first issue of this very interesting fanzine. In Julia Howarth and Carol Andrus' own words it is a "Star Trek Soap Opera". The first chapter tells the events that happen when McCoy and Natira are re-united when Yonada finally reaches their destination. McCoy's daughter Joanna has seen assigned to the Enterprise on special assignment -- unfortunately McCoy has not told her about Natira. We won't tell you any -- find out for yourself. It's a good start -- I can hardly wait for more and will be sending my 25¢ plus two stamps to find out what happens next.

Since zines can come in so many formats, it wouldn't come as a surprise that this one comes in a soap opera format. This soap opera starts with the Big E going to Bala II where the Fabrini descendants in Yonada are planning to move to. McCoy, who had "married" their high priestess/Natira, are now reunited, but McCoy's daughter, Joanna, is on the Big E serving as a nurse AND there were two surprises waiting for the Enterprise crew, one which might prove to be dangerous, as a Romulan ship is in the vicinity, undetected by the Federation ship...

The writing is pretty good: not quite in character, but somehow more believable than some fan fiction. The writers (there are 3) toss some tantalizing tidbits about future issues, like theories and technology of Yonada, the Romulans, & other great stuff, which should provide more diversity in the soapzine. Printing is good, in fact, excellent for ditto. ((Editor's comment: the copy I received was xerox.)) The ink is dark & the zine is easy to read, though it could be improved with some simple line drawings scattered here & there.

Content: 4 Layout & printing: 3 Overall rating: 7

Issue 2

All My Crewman 2 contains 18 pages. It was advertised in "The Halkan Council" #24 (April 1977). Ten-issue subs for $4.50 were offered.

front cover of issue #2, artist is "Ms. BJ Browning"

This issue is written by Carol Andrus, Julia Howarth, and Karen Sarassio and "utilizes ideas from Wendy Howarth, Beverly Jones, and Marge Pagel."

This "issue is dedicated to Seattle's Metro Transit."

From the editor:

Hi, gang!

Believe it or not, we haven't deserted yout We ran into a heavy batch of those "circumstances beyond our control" besides running a convention—and the aftermath of that. A bit of the delay was natural procrastination, but I think we've seen the last of that.

Starbaae Babel is now fully organized and we have enough people to keep the ball rolling even when a couple of us have to take a break. For the time being, we will guarantee that All My Crewmen will appear at least once a month. As things get into a rhythm, we'll do the best we can to get this project into the once-a-week schedule we'd like.

By the way, folks you can help. The more people we have in on the writing, the oftener the chapters can come out and the longer and more detailed they'll be. The story line will basically be determined by Julia, Karen, Keegan, and myself, but the details are up to the person writing the section. Then all the sections are collected and rewritten to eliminate discrepancies and unify the variety of styles as much as possible. Everybody who does any actual writing is given full credit.

If you want to help write, or just have plot suggestions, contact the person incharge of the area of the story you're most interested in:

Carol — Enterprise/Federation

Julia -- Romulans

Karen — Yonada/Bala II

Keegan — Klingons Addresses are at the end of this zine.

We also need art (black ink on white) and lots of it. Next issue, our format will be changing and we'll really need itl

LETTER COLUMN: Yes. we were going to have one this time, hut all of the AMC correspondence was inadvertantly left behind when I moved from Utah back to Seattle. But starting next issue, LoC's will be a regular feature. So please write, we want feedback) We'll assume that it's okay to publish any letter we receive commenting on the content of All My Crewmen unless you specify otherwise.

ADS. Classified-type free to our subscribers, first-come-first-served, space-available, subject to our aoporval. A few of you had already sent ads, but unfortunately they were left with the rest of the correspondence. Please try us again!

Previously in "All My Crewman":

What has gone before...

The Enterprise has rendezvoused with the asteroid ship Yonada, bringing a group of Federation advisors to assist the Fabrini in the colonization of planet Bala II.

On that team is Nurse Joanna McCoy, now a Star Fleet Ensign, who is happy to be with her father again, but puzzled by his preoccupation.

Joanna persuades Christine Chapel to let her in on the "secret." She is surprised, but happy, to learn that her father has remarried—over a year before—his wife being none other than Natira, High Priestess of Yonada, and the impending reunion with her being the cause of his uncharacteristic nervousness. When McCoy does meet Natira again, he finds a surprise of his own—a four-month-old son.

From the time Yonada and the Enterprise approached Bala II, they have been, unknown to them, under close observation by a Romulan ship, the Opportunity. Commander Tal, acknowledging this once-in-a-lifetime chance, has put into action a plan to take advantage of the situation.

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 2

Although this publication bills itself as the first Star Trek soap opera, that's misleading. Other serialized soaps have preceded this... but this is the first zine designed specifically as a soap opera zine. Unfortunately, this zine is still having problems getting off the ground. In this saga, McCoy has been reunited with his wife, Natira, and son, and they are helping the people of Yonada prepare to adapt to their new world. The story takes place on a number of levels involving various characters each with their own sub-plots, and complications. There is even a Romulan ship lurking in the background preparing a counterfeit Spock to substitute for the real item. As this story progresses, and more story lines are added, it may be necessary to write notes in the margin or keep a scorecard to keep everything straight. There is a summary of the precious chapters' contents in the beginning of the story which is a good touch. The writing still follows a little too closely on the heals of televised soap opera and relies heavily on dialog... showing little or none of the characters behind the voices. Another thing that is necessary for a successful soap is its regularity. If the editors get their show on the raod and set up some firm deadlines to produce a regular zine, it will help immensely. With a serialized zine of this sort, it's just too early to tell what it will lead into. "All My Crewmen' does show promise, however, and if you are interested in the soaps, give it a try, but you needn't get back issues to start on it. One quality of a good soap opera is in its ability to allow you to pickup in the middle of things and find enough of the story and plot already there that you can continue with it.

I just received All My Crewmen #2 and I loved it. You really have a great idea for a zine here. I like the idea of McCoy having a kid — he needed one. I hate to say it, but in some spots your story is a little stiff. Such as the conversation between Natira and McCoy. However, I guess that's the way people talk in a soap opera.

I'm glad you're incorporating some of Natira's people into the story, such as Del, his wife and parents. That was a nice touch. Also, it's an interesting idea to have your subscribers write some of the stories too.

I may be wrong, but it seems to me that you're only telling small snatches of story here and a little bit of a story there. When will you bring it all together? And another thing, why didn't you have more of the Romulans in this issue? That really would have added to the story.

All right, enough of that. I'll say something nice now. You've got a nice size zine here for and I hope you can keep it up and also improve a little bit, since all zines need improvement no matter how good they are. I'm a little curious as to how you plan to print a zine like this every week. There would be a hell of a lot of work involved in doing it, but I hope you can do it. You might even consider putting out a smaller zine if you do put it out every week.

Well, that's all I have to say for now. I hope you didn't mind my criticism and suggestions too much. I like your zine and want to see it improve into the kind of zine that everyone loves, and it has a chance of doing that with improvements. So, keep on writing and I'll keep on reading and looking forward to the next issue.

Thanks for the letter, John! To comment on your comments, I'll start by noting that a regular television soap opera always comes in bits and pieces (and inevitably leaves ya hangin' on Friday—#%&**#!) Unfortunately, AMC has gotten to be a little more fragmented than we like and we are trying frantically to correct that. Our previous zine experience has obviously not gotten us prepared for this project. Masters of the newszine we may be, but we're beginners in the installment department. Glad you're willing to bear with us.

The Romulans were not more in evidence last ish because a major Romulan segment was not received in my "office" until after the printing master was already typed—and there was no time then to retype the entire zine. Del is missing from this issue for a similar reason—#3 is already three months late, mainly because I've been waiting and waiting and waiting... I think we have enough Romulan action this time to satisfy you though—and it's only beginning!

As for Natira's dialog, we tried to copy the very formal speech style she used in the original episode. Also, keep in mind that she's not a native speaker of English and so is likely to sound stilted at times.

I received All My Crewmen #2 recently—enjoyed it very much. I think you all are going to make something really special of this, it can move in so many different directions and is something new in ST publications. The writing has been good. I somehow got the idea (before it came out) that it was going to be soapish in the extreme (more of a spoof) and am glad I was wrong—that would have been funny at first but would have worn thin after a short while. Thanks for sending it.

AMC is and isn't what I expected. I sort of expected satire or parody, tho' perhaps not as broad as Menagerie does. I also had sort of a vision of seeing it as a Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman take-off. On the other hand, I sort of expected a story with regular soap opera features. So when I read #1 I thought, "Hey, this is just a serialized story only shorter and more frequent than most." But then I started to think and I found s.o. elements in and even more in #2.

The s.o. elements as I see them, in one degree or another, are: step-mother, a half-sibling;, intrigue (the Romulan substitution), young love, unrequited love, problems with parents. These are classic some ingredients. (I must confess that when I am home I do try and catch several favorites even though I know they frequently are a waste of time and electricity.) The segments also are broken up into short scenes, as they are on TV. The only difference is that you introduce so many main characters per issue, and soaps usually keep the parade of main characters down to less than 10 per day.

I hooe that you (the editorial you) will soon write in one of the issues how you define soap opera and what you intend to do to make it different from a "regular" ST continuing story or series. Your ambition is a wonder: hoping for once-a-week issues that it will be a fun thing to look forward to every month.

I think Peace.

Issue 3

All My Crewmen 3 was published in 1977 and contains 16 pages.

cover of issue #3

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 3

In this story so far the Enterprise is helping the Fabrin; to disembark on their new home world. Unknown to them a Romulanship has spotted-them and remains in hiding from the ship while planning to scheme/to substitute a Romulan spy for Spock. Somehow this issue of All My Crewmen seems less jangled than #2 was. A little more time is spent on each sub-plot, detailing it out. The scenes on the various ships are of particular interest in this issue. On the Enterprise McCoy battles with the idea, of leaving Natira and his son behind when the ship leaves orbit, and on the Romulan ship a nervous, Fabik wrestles with the idea of leaving his own identity behind and becoming a plant on the Federation ship. A few nice complications and the story(ies) end up nicely without leaving the reader dangling too much. At the back of the zine is a list of characters, the crew, of the Romulan ship, the Vonadi, and other folk. There is a description of the Romulan military system, or at least their version of Star Fleet. Then a letter column and a few bits and pieces of things (like illos and cartoons). Looks like All My Crewmen is shaping up quite nicely. I still think it could do to come out just a bit more regularly, but it has a good start. Recommended.