Fantazy

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You may be looking for Fantasy, a Star Trek: TOS zine.

Zine
Title: Fantazy
Publisher: Pandora Publications
Editor(s): Joan Shumsky
Date(s): 1984-1986
Series?:
Medium: print
Size: digest-sized
Genre: gen
Fandom: multimedia
Language: English
External Links:
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Fantazy is a gen digest-sized multifandom self-insertion anthology.

From Southern Enclave: "New media-oriented zine featuring both original universe and existing universe/prose/poetry/scripts starring your favorite actors/actresses - AND - yourself! This is your chance to write yourself into a story and appear in the illio! We encourage it!"

About

The editorial in the first issue:

Nothing is as real as fantasy.

We can't recall when we first disappeared into our fantasies, but it surely began long, long ago. Little boys played soldiers and little girls played mothers. Then that wondrous, wonderful creation of media somehow sifted into the fertile Imagination of youth and the fantasies took on a more elaborate look: boys were playing Darby's Rangers and fighting along side of James Garner and Edd Byrnes, or they were wearing buckskin jackets and raccoon-caps and exploring the great backyards with Davey Crockett, thanks to Walt Disney. Girls were dreaming of being carried off by a swashbuckling Robert Shaw In the Buccaneer or rescued by a dashing Roger Moore as Ivanhoe, or they were wearing fringe and toting plastic sixshooters like a TV Annie Oakley. Changes began, inside and out, and with the changes came new fantasies in which to revel.

Teenage boys dreamt of being James Dean and playing guitar like Eric Clapton and singing like Paul McCartney. They let their hair shag down and jeans became the uniform of the day—every day. Teenage girls cuddled themselves in dreams of being in the arms of Mick Jagger or playing love scenes opposite Paul Newman. They donned miniskirts, white vinyl boots and bought every imaginable English Beat magazine the local newsstand carried. The world became a rock and roll paradise where people believed in love, peace, music and freedom. Fantasies seemed so much more precious when the awesomeness of VietNam struck...it was someplace safe to run and hide in until the war and protesting were over.

Then, for a little while, for some of us, the fantasies had familiar faces—not famous ones—but nice faces with gentle eyes and maybe crooked smiles. We touched earth long enough to fall in love with tangible people and for a brief moment in the flurry of passion and weddings and having babies and getting through college, the most wonderful thing in the world was the reality of having a fantasy come true. Days became more mature and responsibility settled in and little by little, the time for dreaming of special places and people returned—there to remain always.

The world of our many medias exploded in something called Star Wars, and young men dreamt of faraway planets and piloting spaceships, breaking through time portals and rescuing princesses. They embraced the philosophy of Ben Kenobi; they took to wearing knee-high boots and black vests and blasters; they became scoundrels. Young women once ogam looked to be caught up in the stars and in the arms of a Corellian with an engaging smile. They wore flowing, hooded costumes in white and curled their locks into funny-looking braids; they collected little plastic dolls and magazines; they went to conventions. With the advent of Star Wars, came a flow of fantasies - rich and full—taking form and flesh, breathing and becoming a part of daily life.

Fantasy! We all belong here. We dream of fighting dragons on chargers of white, caught up in the magic of an Excalibur world. We solve only the most difficult of cases brought into the office and there's no Laura Holt to keep us from the seductive allure of Remington Steele. We've wept long into the night when Spock was taken from us; we've always known we were that special someone who would break down his Vulcan stoicism and make him feel passion, and now our chance has been robbed from us. We're aware and political; we know the world and what a scary place it can be and we can save it—we know we can. We're superheroes and heroines—even if we don't wear red tights like Ralph does. We've escaped a thousand times to Fantasy Island and lived out a thousand different stories, populating each with the faces we've lusted after, longed for and admired from movies and TV. We have fantasies even Mr. Roarke might have trouble casting; he couldn't afford our budgets! Starbuck always succumbs to our charms; we could give life meaning to a Road Warrior; we find Sanctuary with Jessica and Logan; Conan wouldn't have a chance of winning over the fair Valeria when were the competition.

We become fantasies. We're beautiful and handsome, valiant and brilliant, eloquent and passionate. Our forms are sleek and strong and our eyes are ever more bright, and we're invincible fighters and famous pilots. For a young man dressed in Han Solo's traditional garb, sitting in the safety of a darkened screening room at a local con. The vivacious dark-eyed Princess Leia smiles only for him. For a woman escaping from the dregs of a mundane office and an overbearing employer, in the warm security of a movie theatre, [The Ice Pirates Jason and his Ice Pirates] will come into her dreams that night to carry her off to adventures in faraway galaxies.

Our fantasies take form. Drawings and paintings, costumes and replicas of ships and laserguns, poems and stories. Into each word and every brushstroke and stitch, we infuse a small bit of our dreams. Little parts of us perpetuate and enrich a dreamworld created by masters of the camera and typewriter. So often we've hesitated to let go, to open ourselves to the full enjoyment of these precious fantasies. There might be a veiled character in a story that only faintly resembles us, and most of the time we hide away our innermost longings and thoughts...we take them out in the privacy of our minds or our bedrooms, there to be free, truly free in lands so much better and exciting than our little world of nine-to-five and feeding the kids and putting up with insensitive boyfriends, catty girlfriends and grouchy parents. Sometimes the world's a prison where the only escape is fantasy. Sometimes fantasy is the only place you don't cry or feel alone.

Within these covers are fantasies. Handle them carefully, they're fragments of lives some of your friends in fandom have treasured and created. Come into the dreams of people like you—like us. Maybe...maybe part of you is reflected here, too; maybe you've shared the same adventure, fallen asleep in the same strong arms, laughed at the same wonderfully strange happenings. Maybe you've dreamt of...tell us...share with us...

Here you can be all you've dreamt you can be...no one will laugh at you, no one will smirk, no one will tell you what you want is impossible...here your fantasies take form and breath and come to life and for once you have the pleasure of seeing yourself come to life in a world of your making.

Turn down the lights and turn up the soundtrack album you're playing. Let the world outside foil away and allow yourself to float into places far more entrancing, more exciting, more...believable. Let the stars come around you like a blanket...feel the freedom of riding the wind...enjoy the sensation of someone's warm touch on your fingers, someone of your fantasies... This is what's real...and we all know that nothing is as real as fantasy.

Come to FANtazy...your dreamworld!

Issue 1

front cover issue #1
back cover of issue #1

Fantazy 1 was published in May 1984 and contains 65 pages. The art is by Barbara Fister-Liltz.

There is no table of contents, so some of these fandoms are a good guess (or no guess at all).

  • Mysterious Stranger, poem by Cynthia Smith (5)
  • Conventional Fish Story, fiction by Leslie Fish and Roberta Rogow (In it, among other things, "Lee Fitch" (Fan Guest of Honor) sings Banned from Argo at a con in which Carl Sagan appears.) ("Join Ralph Hinkley, the Greatest American Hero as he and his charges attend a science fiction convention where once again Bill Maxwell cons Ralph into "doing his duty". High adventure involving a Big Name Fan, assorted con goers and the KGB thrown in for good measure! Ralph finds that this is one place where THE SUIT blends into the scenery!") (Greatest American Hero) (7)
  • Be Careful What You Wish For... by Cheree Cargill ("Be careful what you wish for--it may come true. Judy Hafner couldn't believe her eyes when one night a hand some Corellian and a Wookiee with a penchant for Oreo's Double Stuff came to call.") (Star Wars) (18)
  • Final Gambit, fiction in script-form, by Jon R. McKenzie ("Fantasy Island becomes the backdrop for this TV script involving the author as the leading man! The ultimate fantasy with a star-studded cast. Join Jon McKenzie as retired intelligence agent David Castle as an author looking for one more story. As Mr. Roarke would say, "Welcome to Fantasy Island!"") (Fantasy Island) (22)
  • Alice in Regularland, fiction by Kathleen Tibbets (Star Wars, Alice becomes a fighter pilot with Luke Skywalker) ("It was one of those days when nothing goes right. The office supervisor being more of a pain than normal and things at home in their usual chaotic state. Who could blame a girl for chucking it all, grabbing her Wookiee friend and jumping to hyperspace? "Ready, Chewie?" "Roof," he replied.") (41)
  • The Naughty Adventures of Kevie and Lang, story by Martie Benedict (Kevin & Lang, appears to be some sort of genderswitch starring Winnefred Lang and Kevette Lang?) ("Travel with Kevie and Lang in their LOCO (Linear Octagon Cross Over) as they evade the Reality Police to illegally violate time continuums to fulfill their fantasies--in this case meeting up with Tommy, Halloran, Indy, Kenny and, oh yes, Han Solo! This pair knows how to fantacize!") (45)
  • Lovesearch, poem by Jean Stevenson (Star Wars) (62)
  • fan bios (64)

Issue 2

front cover issue #2
back cover of issue #2

Fantazy 2 was published in 1985 and is 74 pages.

Issue 3

front cover of issue #3
back cover of issue #3
flyer for issue #3, found in the back of Southern Seven #1, click to read summaries
page 2 of flyer for issue #3

Fantazy 3 was published in 1986 and contains 86 pages. There is no hand-drawn art; instead each story is illustrated by a photo or photo collage, and some of them appear to have either an original character or the self-inserted fan portrayed.

“Enter the realm of FANtazy – your dreamworld!”

  • From the Hero (a dedication) (4)
  • Beginnings by Tracy Jean Revels Original Fiction (“When graduate student, Travis Brown agrees to test a time travel device for his professor, the “simple little trip downtown” turns out to be a visit to an alien planet where he meets the Librarian of an enormous complex. This strange meeting is the beginning of an unusual friendship between Travis and Drake, the Vizer of Alon.” (6)
  • Heaven by Linda Bolster Witness (“Relive with John Book the events, are they the same, or is not all as it seems? Reality turns into dreams and dreams turn into reality at every turn, An alternate Witness tale.”) (13)
  • So Much for Reality and What’s Reality Anyway? by Jeanine Henning. (“His and Her’s fantasies. Jen Henley, wife, mother and science fiction writer is spending a typical day in her office trying to ‘create.’ Noting is working and she’s about to throw in the towel when her favorite media hero, Luke Skywalker, decides to lend a hand. Jen meets her hero and ‘has her way with him,’ but she gets more than she bargained for, when the evil Darth Vader – hiss, hiss—makes an appearance. Will Jen and Luke outwit the Sith Lord? Will Jen ‘double’ her pleasure? Will Luke return Jen safely to her own time?... Shawn Henley, Jen’s mate, has his own fantasy in the person of Jane Seymour. While vacationing on Mackinac Island, Jen makes it possible for Shawn to go Somewhere in Time to meet the lady. (What are wives for? After all, Jen had her fantasy.) Two delightful tales with an overlying message of love.” (16) and (24)
  • The Dream by Barbara A. Izzo Witness (“This offering is a new feature of our zine, a ‘Foto-fantazy.’ The author ‘stars’ in her own fantasy in the Witness universe, and gives us a poignant to compliment the dream.”) (27)
  • Battlestar Beach a Go-Go by Jon R. McKenzie Beach Party (“This crossover universe story takes us on a merry romp through the Beach Party movies. Imagine what would happen when Frankie and Annette meet up with Apollo and Starbuck, not to mention a bunch of Cylons? Only our hero, Jon R. McKenzie can return everyone to their proper timelines, or can he? The device he will use to do this has been lost! Great fun with visits from the Doctor Who gang and a cameo appearance by our two favorite Voyagers, Phineas Bogg and Jeffrey Jones, who stick their four cents in!” (30)
  • Return to Whoopie 3 by Ann Wortham, Leah Rosenthal, and Michelle Rosenberg (“Join the crew of the Liberator as Blake and his fellow rebels decide to take a vacation where they run into their arch nemesis, Space Commander Adolph Travis and a hoard of female Blakies sporting ‘I love Roj’ buttons. After experiencing the ‘delights’ of the amusement planet, Blake’s 7 decide it’s safer fermenting rebellion!”) (45) (reprinted in The Bizarro Zine #1)
  • The Reality Raid by Linda Knights Rat Patrol/Fantasy Island) (“Since she was a child, Kathryn Bradley’s hero had been Sergeant Sam Troy of the Rat Patrol. With the untimely death of Chris George, the actor who played Troy, Kate’s sorrow threatens to overwhelm her. Unbelievably, Mr. Rourke helps Kate enter the ‘reality’ of the Rat Patrol universe where she meets and shares an adventure with our hero, but in a way she never expected.”) (66) (reprinted in Remote Control #3 and Rat Patrol Compiled)

NOTE: this story appears on the flyer but isn't in the zine; instead it appeared two years later in The Wookiee Commode #5:

  • Shimmer by L.A. Carr Star Wars ("Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, takes his duties seriously. Founding a new order keeps him busy and away from his family a good deal of the time. However, this doesn't ease the loneliness he tries to hide from Han and Leia. Then, when it comes almost unbearable, Luke meets a beautiful lady, a lady who knows him, and his needs, and is there for him wherever he goes. Her name is 'Shimmer.' She remains a mystery to Luke, this strange, faeire creature, but she promised to be with him always...")

References