Alphan Moonscapes

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Zine
Title: Alphan Moonscapes
Publisher: Alpha 99, a fan club in Florida, then Dolphin Press
Editor(s): Adriana Gomez, art director was Art Brown
Organizer(s):
Author(s):
Cover Artist(s):
Illustrator(s):
Type:
Date(s): 1977-1978
Topic:
Medium: print
Frequency:
Fandom: Space:1999 & multimedia
Rating(s):
Warning(s):
Language: English
External Links:
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Alphan Moonscapes is a fan club zine published in Florida. The first two issues were primarily Space:1999. The third issue, the last one, was retitled to "Video Beams" and its focus broadened to include a number of other fandoms.

cover of the first issue

Issue 1

Alphan Moonscapes 1 was published in Summer 1977.

  • CONTENTS. INSIDE FRONT COVER ART by Bill Black
  • MOONBASE STATUS REPORT by Adriana Gomez
  • TO MOURN (short story) by Chuck Raue
  • WHY YEAR 2 FLOPPED (TV series' review) by Adriana Gomez
  • MOONBASE ALPHA STATUS REPORTS (humor) by Helena Russell & Ed Salmon
  • MAYA, SCHELL OF BEAUTY by Larry D. Nuzum
  • ALPHA 1999 ARTPIECE by Scott Gilbert
  • A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE (fan fiction) by Adriana Gomez
  • TARN (artpiece) by Adriana Gomez
  • PATHS (poem) by Adriana Gomez
  • HAD I NOT BEEN OF EARTH (poem) by Lillie Deans
  • ALPHA 99 CLUB LIST by Adriana Gomez
  • INSIDE BACK COVER ART by Curt Bergens

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 1

This is the first Space! 1999 fanzine (as in fan writing) that I've seen, and for a first try, it is very neat and presentable. As to the contents, welllll... judge for yourself. The zine started out with a letter by the editor, Adriana Gomez. In it, she explained the why and wherefore of the zine. "To Mourn", a one-page ? by Chuck Raue (remember him in ComLoc #2?) mourns the death of Prof. Victor Bergman. This piece is typical of" the zine: short, concise, fairly well written, and attempts to make the characters of the show a little more real. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite make it, but then, that's not entirely the fault of the fans—it's a little hard to inject something into characters which invoke no sense of identity. But then again, that's my opinion of the show. An article on "Why Year 2 Flopped" was accompanied by two photos from the show, and it follows "To Mourn." It, in turn, was followed by "Woonbase Alpha Status Reports", which was a... uh, warped attempt at humor, A fairly well written story entitled "A Matter of Conscience" was preceded by a very well drawn drawing by Scott Gilbert. The story somehow reminds me of some of the same elements of the ST episode, "The Changeling," but it kept to the basic tenets of Space: 1999. Poetry, "...monthly forum and club information column ...", and a partial listing of S:99 clubs round out the issue, The front and back covers have pictures of Maya, and the inside covers have some fine artwork by Bill Black and Curt Bergens. LAYOUT: 4 CONTENT: 3 OVERALL RATING: 7 [1]

Issue 2

Alpha Moonbase 2 was published in Fall 1977.

cover of issue #2
  • INSIDE FRONT COVER ART by John Deans
  • MOONBASE STATUS REPORT by Lillie Deans (guest editor)
  • LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (presumably edited by Adriana Gomez)
  • THE MAN FROM ATLANTIS (TV show review)
  • THE MAN FROM ATLANTIS (artpiece) uncredited, possibly by Adriana Gomez
  • AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER...MARTIN AND BARBARA - a short bio and filmography of "Space:1999" stars Martin Landau and Barbara Bain. Article uncredited, presumably Adriana's
  • ALPHA CONFIDENTIAL: PAUL MORROW (about "Space:1999" actor Prentis Hancock) uncredited, presumably Adriana's
  • THE DAY "SPACE" BIT THE DUST (humor) by John Deans
  • HAN SOLO (artpiece) by Adriana Gomez
  • PHOENIX (poem) by Lillie Deans
  • INSIDE BACK COVER (Catherine Schell as Maya---artpiece) by Scott A. Gilbert

Issue 3

Video Beams, now the re-titled Alphan Moonscapes, was published in Summer 1978.

cover of issue #3

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 3

By issue #3, "Quark" and "The Man from Atlantis" were slowly supplanting "Space:1999" as the focus of the 99'ers' club. "Space" had long-since been cancelled and was not coming back. I admire the people involved in this publication for branching out a little in coverage with a really nifty 'zine that still makes me smile. Video Beams also had a shiny cardboard cover that enhanced the look. I remember when Adriana scored the exclusive Patrick Duffy interview; that was quite a coup and enhanced the "worldliness" of the 'zine even more. [2]

References

  1. ^ from a review in The Clipper Trade Ship #17, (the scale: Layout is from 1-5, Overall Effect is from 1-10)
  2. ^ "Crazed Fan Boy". Archived from the original on 2020-08-11. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
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