Classified (Professionals zine)

Zine
Title:	Classified
Publisher:	Keynote Press
Editor:
Author(s):	Amy A. Morgan and Adela Kingsbury
Cover Artist(s):
Illustrator(s):
Date(s):	April 1998 (fanwork with many parts), October 2001 (traditional zine with no bits)
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	The Professionals
Language:	English
External Links:	online flyers
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Classified is a collaborative slash Professionals novel written as a series of letters. Drawings and small pieces of art accompany the text. The artists are: Suzan Lovett, tash, and M. Guy.

cover of the 2001, more traditional version

Later, a more traditional 183-page zine (without all the bits) was published. While that edition lists all the original artists, it only has one illo: one by Suzan Lovett.

Description

Over 435 separate documents (letters, memos, cards, notes, and artwork) gathered by CI5 agent 6.2 on orders from his Controller from the flats of two CI5 agents reveal a story of love, turmoil, and the dangers of working in a high-risk government security organisation. This portfolio will be available in a limited edition, and will not be reprinted in this format due to its special nature. Each document is hand-numbered, to maintain continuity integrity. Release date is April 1998, at a price of US$40. Advance orders are now being accepted. As this zine is heavy, the postage will likely be double the normal rate. Please enquire for the rate to your location. This is a slash publication; therefore, an age statement is required.

The original publication of this novel was unique in the fandom. The story comprises a collection of letters and notes written between Bodie and Doyle, with Amy A. Morgan penning Bodie's and Adela Kingsbury writing Doyle's, along with a few letters from other people important in their lives. The novel was first published with each letter on an individual sheet of paper and collated with some artwork, all the sheets held together in a cardboard portfolio. This version of the zine consists of 435 separate pieces of paper. The reprint of the novel a few years later was as a conventional single volume, bound zine. Only one piece of the original artwork is retained.

Gallery

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  art by Suzan Lovett (the only illo that was included in the 2001 version)

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  art by Suzan Lovett

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  artist unknown

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  art by Suzan Lovett

Reactions and Reviews

Unknown Date

An amazing collection of letters/documents that chronicle the relationship of Bodie and Doyle. This is a good story, and the fact that it is made of 'real' documents from Ray and Bodie's lives is a neat concept. However, I have to say it's a bitch to try to read! The first time I pulled the papers (all 300+ of them) out of the folder it comes in they went everywhere, and I spent 30 minutes putting the numbered pages in order. Yes, it feels authentic, but keep in mind that it is difficult to read, and keep the loose pages from getting out of order. It doesn't transport easily at all. More a novelty than a novel, which to me is a pity.

– Raonaid's Home Page

This is one unusual zine. You have to sit down and rifle through it but be careful - it's not your common book. It's a year's or more worth of written letters and checking out files and case-notes from both Bodie and Doyle to each other as well as "the other guys" about 3,7 and 4,5 or about the cases they solve. There's artwork in there too - Suzan Lovett's artwork, to accompany the yearning that gets deeper and deeper as the relationship between the two agents slowly grows and unfolds and blooms, all depicted and colorfully described in letters, notes and scribbled lines of writing, contained in a leathery-looking file-folder that looks as if it comes straight from the archives of CI5. Run, don't walk if you see this zine preloved, as it's probably outta commission now.

2022

Once, probably 5 years ago or more, I had the chance to see a very cool printed fanzine: Classified, a slash zine for the old British spy/cop show The Professionals. It was only sold in its original form briefly in 1998, for $40 plus shipping - around $70 in 2022 dollars. But it was absolutely worth it, because it was the most original and cool zine I’ve ever seen.

The zine came in an accordion file folder stamped “Classified.” When you opened it, it contained over 400 individual items - reproductions of letters, notes, receipts, expense reports, surveillance reports, and other documents, all telling the story of the relationship between the characters in a cross between an outsider perspective and an epistolary novel. Each piece was numbered so you could read them in order, but it was almost more fun to just reach in and pull out a piece of paper and see what you got.

The story itself was reprinted in a more traditional zine later, but it no longer included most of the art, and as far as I know there is no way to currently experience it in its original form- I don’t know of anyone who scanned it and made a PDF available or anything like that. #disco elysium #fanzine mnemotechnique #the professionals #fandom history