Mascarada (Blake's 7 zine)
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Mascarada |
| Publisher: | Strelsau Press reprinted by P.I. Press |
| Editor: | Regina Gottesman |
| Author(s): | Susan R. Matthews |
| Cover Artist(s): | Pat Cash |
| Illustrator(s): | Pat Cash |
| Date(s): | 1985, reprint 1987 |
| Series?: | yes |
| Medium: | |
| Size: | |
| Genre: | gen |
| Fandom: | Blake’s 7 |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Mascarada is a gen Blake's 7 119-page novel by Susan R. Matthews. The art is by Pat Cash.
The zine also contains a poem by Sheryl. The poem indirectly comments on the then-recent death of a fan, Beth Nugteran, in a multi-casualty car accident caused by a drunk driver.
This zine also includes a short story by Susan R. Matthews called "The Portage." It is an Avon hurt/comfort fic. Matthews comments on an element of borrowed fanon in the preface.
Series
It is part of a series that was published separately, and then in 1989, as a single volume:
Comments by the Author About Borrowed Fanon
In 1985 and 1986, there had been several instances of a fan named "Keith Black" selling bootlegged copies of Blake's 7 zines, one of them of the fic by Ann O'Neill called "Between Black and White" (see Between Black and White). This may have made fans extra-sensitive, including the producers of "Mascarada," to any possible raised eyebrows regarding fanon, head canon, and canon and the subject of Avon's allergies.
Matthews included this statement in the preface to the story "The Portage" in "Mascarada":
AUTHOR'S ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
The first person to suggest that Kerr Avon had a sensitized allergy to standard drugs used for purposes of interrogation was Ann O'Neill, in her excellent story, "Between Black and White" (Standard by Seven, Number 9). The idea made such good sense to me at the time that, to my embarrassment, I find I had unconsciously assumed it was part of the "background" established for Kerr Avon in the course of the aired episode. I understand that the idea was original with Ann O'Neill, who has graciously consented to lend the plot device to me for the limited purposes of this story and its eventual conclusion. I feel the richer for it, and wish to thank Ann O'Neill, as well as acknowledge the source of the idea.
Sample Interior Gallery
Reactions and Reviews
Unknown Date
1994
DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD and MASCARADA. Again, a predictable choice. I'm a bit different in that I prefer Mascarada to DES...Avon gets a bit "soft" in DES and I think he regains his "edge" in Mascarada. For some reason, I didn't care much for SHADOWPLAY, the last part of the triology...perhaps because Cally got relegated to "pregnant lady" status. [2]
I think the second novel, MASCARADA, is less soppy than DOUBLED-EDGED SWORD. I love DES, mind you, but some of the interactions between Avon and Blake do come rather close to soppiness. This is much less true in MASCARADA, where Avon and Blake very nearly have a fist fight within the first twenty pages or so. In some ways, I prefer the second novel for that very reason...it has a lot more of the "edge" that I like in the series. [3]
I recall Mascarada being rather boring (the title is better than the story). In Shadowplay it was heartening to discover Avon acting like a relatively normal if rather restrained human being when children were around. The detail of Cally's pregnancy could have been curtailed, yet it was nice to find a fanwriter with the courage to write about it. [4]
1996
"Mascarada' is very good, although not quite as good as the original. (It would be extremely hard to be as good as the original). [5]
References
- ^ by Sally Manton at Judith Proctor's Blake's 7 site
- ^ Lysator, Pat Nussman, August 31, 1994.
- ^ Lysator, Pat Nussman, Jan 1994.
- ^ comment by Ros Williams in Horizon Letterzine #8 (January 1994)
- ^ quoted anonymously from Virgule-L (January 1, 1996)