Neutral Zone Outpost

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Zine
Title: Neutral Zone Outpost
Publisher: "from Midway... what has to be the most remote stronghold of Trekdom..." (from an ad in Scuttlebutt), USNS Midway Island)
Editor(s): Joseph W. Partlow 3 (first issue), Elizabeth Marshall (issues 2-3)
Date(s): 1976-1978
Series?:
Medium: print zine
Size:
Genre:
Fandom: Star Trek: TOS
Language: English
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Neutral Zone Outpost is a gen Star Trek: TOS anthology of stories, articles and art. It was published by members of the US Navy stationed in at Midway Island.

Issue 1

Neutral Zone Outpost 1 was published in 1976 and contains 32 pages. Joseph W. Partlow 3 is the editor.

From the editorial:

Once upon a time, on the island of Midway there was a Star Trek Fan. He was all alone without anyone to share his books, fanzines, filmclips, and ideas with. Then one day out of the sky on great metal bird came another Star Trek Fan. Together they would talk and discuss all things that had to do with ST and all was well for a time. Then the two Trekkers discovered that another Trekker was to come to their island. They were very excited and planned a special welcome, the blond Trekker being a make-up artist turned the Trekker with the unlikely name of "Hare" into a KLINGON of the worst kind. When the Trekker arrived she was very surprised to be greeted by a KLINGON with a phaser drawn. Together the Trekkers had long discussions and finally decided to put out their own fanzine. They looked all about them at the surrounding ocean and their small point of inhabited land and thought:
"This looks like an outpost in the Neutral Zone."

And so the venture was launched. And this is the result.

After we got started on the fanzine we discovered a number of people who might be called Closet ST fans. In our next issue we will try to run more articles and artwork from these people. Who knows maybe we can get enough people together to have our own con.

a long ago footprint of the archive Memory Alpha embossed on the table of contents page from issue #1
front cover of issue #1, Elizabeth Marshall
  • Agony Column by Joseph W. Partlow (2)
  • Imagining Enterprise by Ruth Berman ("our first off-island contributor") (3)
  • Let’s Trade by Joseph W. Partlow (4)
  • Klingon's Korner by James Hare (10)
  • Glommy Glommer Meets Gooney by Elizabeth Marshall (11)
  • Daytriping [sic] by McKenzie (12)
  • Product Evaluation by McKenzie (13)
  • Star Trek Animals, art by Elizabeth Marshall and Joseph W. Partlow (14)
  • Invasion of Midway by Elizabeth Marshall and Joseph W. Partlow (16)
  • It's Only Superstition, part one by Joseph W. Partlow (17)
  • Next Time by Elizabeth Marshall (32)


Reactions and Reviews: Issue 1

This first issue is a modest little zine with a couple of stories, a poem by Ruth Berman, and several illustrations of Elizabeth Marshall's charming Star Trek animals. The editor of the first issue is Joseph W. Partlow, and he is also the author of the first two stories. 'Let's Trade' is a short humorous space adventure, but not strictly speaking, a ST story. 'It's Only Superstition' is an Enterprise whodunit; who is the vampire that murdered two crewmen? Since one of the suspects is an alien from a planet of vampires, it looks like an open and shut case, but I could be wrong. [1]

Issue 2

cover of issue #2
fold-out by Connie Faddis, portrays a sehlat

Neutral Zone Outpost 2 was published in August 1976 and contains 62 pages. Elizabeth Marshall is the editor.

The art is by Connie Faddis, Mickie Hyde, and Elizabeth Marshall.

This issue is "dedicated to STAR TREK WELCOMMITTEE members and in particular Janice "Scott" Preston. My first friend in Star Trek Fandom. All it took to meet was having a toy sehlat cub, life size."

  • Editor's Note by Marshall (2)
  • A Case of Death by J.W. Partlow3 (3)
  • Enterprise Heritage by Elizabeth Marshall (13)
  • The Captain’s Mascot by J.W. Partlow3 (17)
  • Glomy Glommer by Elizabeth Marshall (25)
  • Space 1999??? by "???" (36)
  • Product Evaluation by Mckenzie (37)
  • Gooney Birds, art by Mickie Hyde (38)
  • Klingon Korner by Jeff Brown (40)
  • Space: The Financial Frontier by C.L. Moore (41)
  • It’s Only Superstition Part 2, by Joseph W. Partlow (J.W. Partlow3) (43)
  • Other Zines and Things by J.W. Partlow3 (59)
  • Next Time by Elizabeth Marshall (62)

Issue 3

Neutral Zone Outpost 3 was published in April 1977, edited by Elizabeth Marshall, and contains 44 pages.

cover of issue #3 by Elizabeth Marshall, featuring a Sehlat.

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 3

This is the zine that shows what can be accomplished with love, mimeo, and gooney bird guano. Except for the electric green paper, NZO is the most relaxed zine I've read... 'The Birthing Time', an even-for-Faddis surprisingly deep, deceptively simple story. In this, it is like the illo on page 6, which inspired the story. C.L. Moore's science fiction article was short and comprehensible only because five years ago I'd taken Physics 9, and PBS 'Key to the Universe' was on recently. Moore points out the DeBroglie explanation of matter, but neglected the Heisenberg Uncertainly Principle, which is to say, tho energy/matter cannot be created or destroyed over discernible time, it can be created within 4 t, such that [indecipherable], E and t being collateral variables like position and velocity, which... Anyway, back to NZO, for a base on the Rom Neutral Zone, there's a lot of emphasis on things Klingon: a couple of 'travel brochures.' spy-reports, and a short-short. The zine rounds out with a long, quite good mystery story called 'Inheritance,' and everywhere are illos from Marshall. Price a bit steep, but an interesting zine. Content - 4 Graphics - 4 $ Worth - 4. [2]

Issue 4

Neutral Zone Outpost 4 was published in 1978 and contains 90 pages. The art is by Mars, Gayle F (one page) and Gerry Downes (most of it).

cover of issue #4
  • What Dreams May Come by Gaylen Reiss (2)
  • Glommy Glommer by Mars (37)
  • "The Knight and the Dragon" by V.W. Partlow 3 (38)
  • "Dragons & Beasts", art by Gayle F and Mars (41)
  • Klingon Korner by Jeff Brown (50)
  • Death Bird, poem by E.A. Robertson (52)
  • Scientific Research by Millie Fabricius [3] (54)
  • Odds & Ends (91)

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 4

NEUTRAL ZONE OUTPOST #4 is another beautiful zine, and I'm sorry to say is the final one in the NZO series. #4 includes lots of lively sehlats, dragons and mythical beasties, by Mars, an ornate dragon by Gayle F, and the remaining art is by Gerry Downes. The short story "The Knight and the Dragon" by Partlow is an entertaining little fable... The first story, "What Dreams May Come" by Gaylen Reiss is just about my favorite kind of ST story -- episode Trek. If they were still filming a weekly TV Show, this would make a marvelous episode -- there is humor, suspense, character growth, and both the Klingons and the Federation learn that 'it's the home team that gets to make the rules'. I did a series of what I hoped would be very dramatic and slightly abstract iillos for this story, since I liked it so well, and I must say I don't think any artist has ever had her work used with more care. The final long story, "Scientific Research" by mille fabricius (which must be a pen name, heaven knows whose) is partly an adventure story and partly a class romance for Uhura and Spock. Well plotted, well developed, and a joy to read. [4]

References

  1. ^ from The Halkan Council #20/21
  2. ^ from Paula Smith in Menagerie #12
  3. ^ There was to have been a sequel to this story called "Because of a Cloak" in Trek Continuum #3, but it did not occur.
  4. ^ from Stardate: Unknown #5
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