Child of Darkness, Child of Light

Zine
Title:	Child of Darkness, Child of Light
Publisher:
Editor(s):	Suzanne Godsalve & Manjula "Katareya' Samarasekara (#1), Suzanne Godsalve (#2 and #3)
Date(s):	1995-1997 (1999?)
Series?:
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Star Wars
Language:	English
External Links:
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Child of Darkness, Child of Light is a Star Wars zine. It ran for three issues and was published in the UK.

The zine also inspired other fans to publish their own fanzines. From a fan in 2007:

In 1997 I read my first Star Wars fanzine produced by Suzanne Godsalve, Child of Darkness; Child of Light 2. I believe, if memory serves correctly, that I saw this advertised in the classifieds section of Starburst #205. It seems remarkably precocious looking back now but I decided that I would do my own Star Wars fanzine and so was sown the seed of what would become Dark Jedi - UK.

Issue 1

Child of Darkness, Child of Light 1 was published in 1995 and contains 59 pages. It has a single illo by Rob Cole.

[The editorial]:

'Child of Darkness; Child of Light' evolved one afternoon last summer. We originally thought that this would be just a 'Star Wars' story 'zine but then we decided to try to combine it with 'Robin of Sherwood' material as well. Unfortunately, 'Robin of Sherwood' material was not forthcoming, with the exception of Jason Grant's "ISB Chronicles #2: A Holocron in Sherwood" which was a cross-over story of the two universes.

Despite interest from friends, who said that they would buy a copy when it was finally ready and asking when that would be, there were moments when I wondered whether 'Child of Darkness; Child of Light' would ever be long enough to be worth printing. The moment has now come.

The stories have come from new and established writers from the 'Star Wars' world and I hope that you enjoy reading the tales which will unfurl in this volume. Unfortunately, there is a lot less artwork than we had hoped for, so apologies if you were hoping to find pages of original drawings. Maybe next time.

As this is the first issue of 'Child of Darkness; Child of Light', we really want to hear from you. Tell us what you think about this issue, what other things you would like to see. You never know, you may feel that you can do better - so if you do, put pen to paper and write or draw something for the next issue. It will mean a free copy if you contribute and we cannot produce more if there is no response from you, the reader.

• The Thin Line by Jennifer Cole (reprinted from Force Sensitive) (1)
• "Take My Hand, Take My Whole Life Too, Because I Can't Help Falling in Love With You" by Sean Caveille (humor, fusion with The Adams Family) (7)
• Lost and Found by June Malcolm (12)
• The Rebel Cell at Kowdupohr by Suzanne Godsalve (18)
• The ISB Chronicles #2: A Holocron in Sherwood by Jason Grant (28)
• If You from Grace Should Fall by Louise Turner (39)
• A Bespin Parable by J.P.S. (50)

• 

  front cover of issue #1

• 

  from issue #1, Rob Cole: "Leia on a Speeder Bike"

Issue 2

Child of Darkness, Child of Light 2 was published in 1997 and contains 135 pages. The interior art is by J.P.S. and James Simmonds.

[From the editorial]:

Welcome to the second issue of "Child of Darkness; Child of Light". When I produced the first issue in the summer of 1995,1 did not envisage producing a second issue so quickly. A big thank you has to go to the people who have made this issue possible, the contributors - June, James, Joe, Alison, Katareya, Graham and Jason.

When I thought of producing a second issue, I thought that it would end up being the same length as the premier issue. Instead it has become twice as long and I hope that you, the reader, will take as much pleasure from reading the stories as I did when I was typing up the stories.

In this issue, you will find that we have a mix of authors who wrote last time and ones who did not appear. There is an interesting concoction of writers creating their own characters and those who use the main cast. We are introduced to new worlds and situations which highlight what a fertile galaxy George Lucas introduced us to twenty years ago. There are so many possibilities that people can use, and do. We also have a couple of artists - James Simmonds who has drawn a couple of drawings and Joe Sales, who has illustrated his story 'Five Days After the Death Star', so more artwork than last issue.

As you will be able to tell "Child of Darkness; Child of Light 2" is purely Star Wars based this time round. That is not to say that I would not accept crossovers, as I would, but no one has attempted to write one. I have been toying with the idea of writing a Bashir ('Star Trek Deep Space Nine') and Gustan (one of my own creations) story. However, there is a slight problem in that when it does get written, I probably won't be able to print it in these pages unless I toned it down somewhat. We shall see. If anyone out there wants to write a crossover, I would be interested in publishing it if that is what you want.

Hopefully there will be an issue three of "Child of Darkness; Child of Light" in the future so if you want to contribute, then I am open to submissions once again. Artists, poets and writers out there send in your material for consideration and give me a few more grey hairs.

front cover of issue #2

• Exile's End by June Malcolm (1)
• Luke Skywalker & King Empatajoyos, art by James Simmonds (34)
• The Vessel by Graham Walters (35)
• Five Days After the Death Star by Joe Sales (37)
• The Assassin by Alison Dobell (61)
• Welcome to the Judge by Katareya (78)
• Past Reflections by Suzanne Godsalve (83)
• Vima-Da-Boda & Rayf Ysanne, art by James Simmonds (117)
• Necropolis by Graham Walters (117)
• The ISB Chronicles: Tokapi Overload by Jason Grant (120)

• 

  from issue #2, James Simmonds

• 

  from issue #2, JPS

• 

  from issue #2, James Simmonds

Issue 3

front cover of issue #3, John Conway

flyer for issue #3

Child of Darkness, Child of Light 3 was published in 1999 and contains 189 pages. The front cover is by John Conway. The interior art is by Bert-Olof Lundin.

[The editorial]:

There were times when I honestly did not think that I would get the third issue of Child of Darkness; Child of Light completed. Hoping for a publication date of May '98, in time for Media West, this came and went. Other commitments came up and they had to take priority.

Finally the time came when the last story was completed, the pages printed out and reprinted where necessary and I could take it to the printers to give you the finished result.

This issue is bigger and better than ever, with a wide range of fiction the majority of which tends to have been set in the post-ROTJ era. There is a strong mix of Imperial and Rebel action with some of our favourite characters being featured. Mark Richards has written two new Thrawn stories; Alison M. Dobell and Gareth Davies both used Han Solo as their central character while Jason Grant wrote an intriguing crossover with the Star Trek: Voyager universe in Calamari [sic] Evac' and my story uses an original heroine.

John Conway is the person I need to say a big thank you for not only the logos but the wonderful artwork used on the front page to this zine. Without him it would have been another plain cover. I also have to thank Bert-Olof Lundin who provided the excellent illustrations adorning these pages.

Now we are in 1999, we have The Phantom Menace to look forward to this summer. This will generate new fanfic, just as the pro-novels have introduced new characters who we have grown to love or hate, such as Grand Admiral Thrawn and Kyp Durron. By the end of the year will we be seeing stories revolving around the young Anakin Skywalker's adventures with Ben Kenobi, the Jedi Council, the young looking Yoda to name but three of the characters from the new films. It will be interesting to see who will become the favourite characters amongst the fans once again. Will it be the Light or Dark Side of the Force who produces the clear winner. We will just have to wait and see which all lends to the excitement.

TPM will hopefully satisfy our cravings for new Star Wars material but in the meantime, maybe this simple offering will satisfy your cravings instead. Turn the pages and enjoy.

• Alliances by Mark Richards (1)
• The Begger's Crown by Alison M. Dobell (34)
• Calemari Evac' by Jason Grant ("This features a brief Star Trek/Star Wars crossover. This is purely to demonstrate that the D-B agents shown herein are available for cross-reality rescue missions and children's parties. This is their story.") (81)
• Han Solo and the Rhammban Set-Up by Gareth Davies (97)
• The Fall of the Empire by Mark Richards (122)]
• Nightmare Escape by Suzanne Godsalve (167)

• 

  from issue #3

• 

  from issue #3

• 

  from issue #3

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 3

Out recently is Suzanne Godsalve's Child of Darkness; Child of Light 3, a weighty 190 pages offering a selection of stories from Mark Richards, Jason Grant, Gareth Davies, Alison M Dobell and Suzanne herself. Gareth Davies' Han Soio and tiie Rhammban Set-Up is a personal favourite and Suzanne's Nightmare Escape is also a gripping adventure.

Two very capable and talented artists provide the artwork. John Conway has made a stunning colour cover featuring a montage of elements and characters featured in the stories while Bert-Olof Lundin ably provides the internal artwork.