IMHO* (Blake's 7 reviewzine)
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | IMHO* |
| Publisher: | Ashton Press |
| Editor(s): | Ann Wortham |
| Date(s): | 1994-? |
| Medium: | print, reviewzine |
| Fandom: | Blake's 7 |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
IMHO* is a Blake's 7 reviewzine with two issues. It is by Ann Wortham.
The title is an acronym for "In My Humble Opinion," which the asterisk in the title alludes to.
Relationship to "Zine Scene"
Fans who had had outstanding subscriptions to "Zine Scene" (multimedia zine resource also produced by Ann Wortham) when it ended could transfer one issue to "IMHO*."
From the second issue: "Special Offer. If you have outstanding copies of Zine Scene due to you, you may transfer your subscription to IMHO*. If you are owed more than one copy of Zine Scene, you may ask that only one issue be transferred to IMHO* and still retain the rest of your subscription to Zine Scene, as well. Please contact me with instructions and we'll work it out."
Submission Guidelines
From the second issue:
Anyone submitting a zine review which is printed will receive a contributor's copy of the issue the review is printed in. Reviews will be accepted for both old and new zines, available or out-of-print. You may submit reviews for adult zines, gen zines, books featuring B7 avatars, B7 merchandise, multi media zines featuring B7, etc. Use your own discretion and give me a try! Please try to include as much information as possible about each zine reviewed such as ordering address, price, page count/word count, availability of reprints (if an older zine), likelihood of finding a used copy, etc.
It is my intention that this zine be both entertaining and useful to B7 fans. My sincere hope is that all reviewers will review zines with an eye toward pointing out both the good and the bad qualities. I do not want this zine to turn into a forum for other fans' hard work to be categorically trashed (or even glowingly praised with no eye toward the bad points).
Editors: please send flyers for your upcoming zines and I will publish them intact (unless this gets out of hand). I'm going to attempt to continue doing this. If the zine page count gets too large, I will go back to publishing only classified listings. Please send flyers only for newer zines. I will be glad to list all of your back issues in the classified section. Multi-media zines which feature B7 are welcome to be listed, as well.
Issue 1
IMHO* 1 was published in November 1994.
Issue 2
IMHO* 2 was published in May 1995 and contains 30 pages.
Some of the reviews in this zine were posted to Judith Proctor's Blake's 7 website.
Some of these reviews have a very Tarrant-centric focus and are evidence of a shipping war.
From the second issue:
Welcome to the second issue of IMHO*! IMHO, for those of you not yet "on-line literate" is an acronym frequently used in e-mail as a shorthand for"In My Humble Opinion." This time around we have lots more zine reviews, of both new and old zines, some book reviews, and a couple of columns. Of course, we have our classified section and flyers so that you can locate all of the wonderful zines you're itching to read! IMHO* welcomes reviews of B7 zines (both gen and adult), multi-media zines containing B7 (both gen and adult), books with B7 avatars in them, books by well-known B7 authors (e.g., Tanith Lee), B7 merchandise, or anything else that might be of interest to a B7 fen. Please take note, as well, that I will accept reviews of zines even if I have previously published a review of the same zine. Everyone has differing viewpoints, so please don't hesitate to submit a review just because I've already published someone else's review of the same zine or book. Also, you will probably notice that I have printed a few reviews of zines I publish. When I first advertised for submissions for IMHO* I was asked by a potential contributor whether or not I would accept reviews of my own zines. Since I publish a goodly number ofB7 zines and agent a few others, I made the decision to not exclude them from being reviewed.
For the next issue, I would like to include a listing of B7 fans who can be reached on the Internet If you would like to be included in this listing, please just send me your name and your Internet address (you can send this to me via e-mail) and I will compile the list.
Editors: send your classified ads and/or flyers to me for publication in upcoming issues. The advertising is free. With the business stuff out of the way, on to the reviews! By the way, for those of you wanting to reach me via the Internet, I can be found at [address redacted].
This issue contains reviews of the zines: Beloved Adversary, Raising Hell #6, Threads Through Infinity, Jabberwocky (Link-Up, Mind Rape, & Healer), Southern Comfort #6.5, Return of the Seven #4, Revenge of the Rabble, The Uses of Adversity, Gambit #8, #10, Questions of the Past, Southern Seven #7, The Seven Live On #6, The Big B7 Zine, Ten-Credit Touch, Horizon #18, Avon #2, The Price of Justice, and Helltide, Strategies, A Ledge Between the Streams, Ashes to Ashes, Big Boy's Book of 1001 Things to Do in Zero Gravity with a Federation Blaster, Forbidden Zone #1, Alternative Seven #6, Southern Comfort #7.5, #8.5, Rebel Desires,
It contains reviews of these Blake's 7 products that were sold by the fan club Horizon: Travis: The Final Act (an audio tape), poster by Pete Wallbank which featured the cast (this was published in March 1995 in the Horizon Newsletter #32, teleport bracelets, and Liberator handguns.
This issue also includes:
- an article: "Gender Bender Science Fiction" by Vickie McManus ("In the initial IMHO flyer. Annie suggested reviews of books with some relation to Blakes Seven. This list isn't quite that. After reading the first issue of IMHO, it seemed to me that a fair number of slash fans would be reading this. The books in this list are ones that 1 have read and enjoyed out of an interest in gender issues; and I thought that other fans, particularly fans of slash, might enjoy them as well. All of the books in this list have homoerotic content of varying degrees, so be warned if you're trying to avoid this sort of thing.")
- a half-page cartoon by Leah Rosenthal
- classified ads
- flyers
Reactions and Reviews: Issue 2
I've just bought the review zine "IMHO 2" and I think it should have been advertised with a warning. No not a warning about slash reviews but a *Tarrant* warning.Has Tarrant taken over B7 fandom? It seems like it reading this zine. Carol McCoy makes no bones that her section is for showing Tarrant's highlights in zines but a lot of the reviews in this issue should have come under the same heading. "Questions of the Past" apparently contains one story where Tarrant gets well treated. What the other stories are about I have no idea but I guess they don't feature Tarrant! The reviewer doesn't bother to mention them.
The reviews point out stories of interest for Tarrant fen and comes across like something produced for a Tarrant fan club. Now if they are the main fans in B7 fandom with the enthusiasm and interest to make the effort then *good on them*! I'm sure they would say that they are just redressing an imbalance. I just wish I knew this *before* I bought it. Perhaps when issue 3 of "IMHO" comes someone on this list would kindly review the review zine so I don't waste my money on reviews that tell me where to find those stories where Tarrant is portrayed as bright, witty, talented, knowledgeable and gets all the nooky!" Then again, now I know some zines to avoid. 8-) [1]
Hey, like most editors, I prints what I gets... and there were quite a few reviews in the zine that were *not* to do with Tarrant... in fact, I believe only Leigh Moto'oka and Carol McCoy, both well-known Tarrant fans, concentrated on the skinny guy. There were also reviews and articles by Judith Proctor, myself, Pat Nussman and Vickie McManus, none of which focused on Tarrant. Tarrant deserved his "time" just as much as the other favorites, who were also quite well-represented in both issues. If Avon or Blake or Vila or Cally, etc. fans still felt slighted, though, there's nothing stopping any one of you from submitting to the next issue! [2]