Odyssey (Star Trek: TOS zine)

Zine
Title:	Odyssey
Publisher:	Odyssey Press
Editor(s):	see below
Date(s):	1977 - 1986
Series?:
Medium:	print zine
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Star Trek: TOS
Language:	English
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Odyssey is a gen Star Trek: TOS anthology edited by Ingrid Cross and others. It ran ten issues from 1977 to 1986.

From the Editor

From the editor:

In the 1980s, I edited the McCoy fanzine "Odyssey." There weren't very many McCoy fanzines out there, and I still feel as though we had some of the best writers and artists represented in the pages of these fanzines. Odyssey #8 contains fiction and artwork from the following people: Joyce Tullock, Kate Maynard, Laura Virgil, Jeanne Noga, Suzan Lovett (Suzan did the centerfold of McCoy in civilian clothes, lounging in a field under a tree -- beautiful artwork!).

General Reviews and Reactions

Odyssey Press published three impressive issues in 1983. Ingrid Cross and company published Odyssey 6.5 in January. This issue ran 70 pages, offset. As with other Odyssey Press publications, this one focused on McCoy, but in contrast to the other ones, 6.5 was a (heterosexual) adultoriented issue. There were four stories. Odyssey 7 came out in July, running 143 pages. Among the many stories was a transcript of an interview with DeForest Kelley, recorded the previous year at a Space Trek convention in St. Louis. The editors asked the actor if he ever read any fan stories. DeForest Kelley replied, "Some of them I do. It's impossible to read them all.... There's some very good writing, you know. Some of the stories are better than the stories we did in the series.

Issue 1

front cover of issue #1, Marty Siegrist

back cover of issue #1, Marty Siegrist

Odyssey 1 was published in May 1977 and is 29 pages long. Covers and illustrations by Marty Siegrist. It was written by Ingrid Cross. The illustrations on pages 11 and 12 are reprinted from Interphase #3 and Warped Space #12. Original cost was $1 in person, $1.56 in the mail.

From the editorial:

This zine is a type of personal odyssey for me a first venture,

or journey, into the field of fanzine editing. I'd done other types of editing before, but this particular project proved to be the most challenging...probably because for the first time, I'm my own editor!

[lengthy thank-yous snipped]

I'm planning a second issue of Odyssey,. It will be a novel the size is undetermined at the moment, although I know what it will be about -- and the action takes place after the five-year mission is completed. If you're interested, please send a SASE and I'll get the details to you as soon as I finish making the decisions. My first intention in doing Odyssey was to provide myself with a new vehicle of expression. But the most important motivation was to share with fans who like Leonard McCoy some new fiction, some new ideas and a special issue devoted to the good doctor.

It is my sincere hope that you all enjoy this first endeavor, whether you are primarily McCoy fans or not. Until next time...

• Invitation (2)
• Editorial (3)
• Thy Glory Like a Shooting Star by Ingrid Cross (McCoy death vignette, his life linked to a shooting star. (with art, reprinted from Interphase #3; also appears in Vault of Tomorrow #2)
• Requiem by Ingrid Cross (The thoughts of a physician who cannot always win against death.) (10)
• We, the Wind in the Trees (12)
• Not All of Your Laughter, Not All of Your Tears by Ingrid Cross (McCoy is attending a medical conference when an unexpected" meeting with his ex-wife leads to a conflict uith an old enemy.) (15)

• 

  from issue #1, Marty Siegrist, reprinted from Interphase

• 

  from issue #1, Marty Siegrist

• 

  from issue #1, Marty Siegrist

• 

  flyer for issue #1 from Warped Space #24

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 1

• Thy Glory Like a Shooting Star / [reprinted from Interphase #3; also appears in Vault of Tomorrow #2, 1982] McCoy death scene - some disease; Spock trying to recall him, then letting him go. Stars born with the child...
• Requiem / McCoy musing over the deaths of his medical crew.
• Not All of Your Laughter, Not All of Your Tears / Smuggler uses Arianna (McCoy's ex) to trap the doctor into working for him.

Issue 2

Odyssey 2 was published in February 1978 (second printing: January 1980) and is 66 pages long. It contains the novel "A Deeper Shade of Darkness" written and edited by Ingrid Cross.

Mei-Moi Lee

back cover of issue #2

This zine was illustrated by Mei-Moi Lee.

The first printing was 300 copies, the second was 200 copies.

The story takes place ten years after the events in the story 'Darkness in My Soul,' in Probe #12.

The zine contains both "Darkness in My Soul" and "A Deeper Shade of Darkness."

Summary for "Darkness in My Soul": "The Enterprise is returning at the end of the 5 year mission when it becomes involved in combat with a Klingon war cruiser. Mr.Spock is one of 62 crew members killed in the battle and Kirk is injured. Due to the injury, Kirk will be grounded and McCoy asks to be assigned to his staff."

Summary for "A Deeper Shade of Darkness: "Eleven years have passed since Spock's death and now there is a Klingon-Romulan alliance and war is approaching. Jim Kirk finds that he can do something to prevent this war and McCoy must stand by and watch his friend sacrifice his life to save the Federation."

From the editorial:

This is ODYSSEY 2 in a revised edition, and in its second printing. I never expected to be reprinting this issue, but demand for the second half ("A Deeper Shade of Darkness"! made me reconsider my decision to leave it out of print. And besides, in November, 1979, I decided to begin a McCoy series, taking up with his life after the end of this saga. That should be available shortly now. Please SASE for information about the newest novel (ODYSSEY 4).

"The Darkness in my Soul" first appeared in PROBE 12. My thanks to Winston Howlett, that fanzine's editor, for permission to reprint the story. I felt it was best to print the entire novel in one issue for those who did not have the opportunity to read one or the other half when they first appeared. The entire collection presented here has a timeline. The first half (TDIMS) takes place at the end of the Enterprise's five-year mission. The second half (ADSOD) takes place eleven years after the end of the five-year mission. And ODYSSEY 4 follows immediately after the second story here. I hope that didn't make things too confusing] I considered retyping the second half to correct the mistakes; however, time and moving did not permit me to do so. Let me say here that I know Uhura would already be a commander. Therefore, her new rank should probably be commodore. Thanks to those readers who pointed that fact out to me! That's the most glaring mistake I could find when rereading the story.

The illustrations for the second half are the work of Mei-Moi Lee from New York. My thanks to her again for the fine work she did! She also did the illos for the first half, but since PROBE 12 is still around, I did not wish to impinge on that editor's rights to print the artwork.

• 

  inside page from issue #2

• 

  inside page from issue #2

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 2

With Spock dead, Kirk has given up command and is wasting away in a desk job; he is about to lose a leg to advancing arthritis because he wouldn't have it treated, and is tormented by dreams as he tries to see how he could have saved Spock. Uhura is being made a PR case as the first female Commodore. When the Klingons and Romulans mount an attack with their prototype dreadnought, Uhura is sent out to confront it. Kirk steals a shuttle and destroys the ship in a suicide run. After witnessing Jim's death, McCoy resigns and heads off to Georgia.

Kirk is fighting constant pain, a threatened amputation of his leg, will will forever bar him from ships command, and a hierarchy which want, for the kindest reasons, to put him to pasture. In addition, both he and McCoy are haunted by their possible contribution to Spock's death. Their personal problems peak at the moment when a Klingon-Romulan alliance is about to begin a galactic war, and it brings some kind of solution (not necessarily the happy one, but an appropriate denouement.) Ingrid Cross has produced a fine, complex story, interwoven with battles, Uhura's difficulties with a command and promotion she suspects she has been given more as a public relations move than through the confidence in her abilities; Kirk and McCoy in turmoil. Her writing is restrained and adult, in particular the skillful scene in which the Admiral Kirk, on his way out, meets again his former Communications Officer, on her way up. It is replete with bittersweet, unspoken might-have-beens, which never slip into pathos. Cross' characters are intelligent, controlled, and mature, as responsible command personnel should be. Readers are warned however that the unrelieved darkness can be daunting! Mei-Mai Lee's rather stylized art is appropriate, and the typeface is beautifully readable.

Ingrid Cross certainly knows how to write. If she wanted to, or had the right connections and perseverance, I see no reason why she couldn't be publishing professionally within the year. The style, characterization and understandability are all there. However, this time around the plot and believability were not. Spook is dead. Kirk has been upgraded to a desk job and suffers from an injury he received in the same battle that killed Spock, and he won't undergo the operation to correct the injury. McCoy is serving as a Fleet medical officer on the same planet (Star Base Seven) where Kirk serves. Uhura is off commanding a dreadnaught, with Chekov serving as her first officer. Then the "plot" begins — the Klingons and Romulans are at it again, although this time they've developed a new starship that will (supposedly) anni hilate the Federation forces. I can't rightfully tell you how it comes out, but you know the good guys always win. (Those Klingons and Romulans are so stupid!)

The basic plot is rather trite. How many times have we all read stories where the Enterprise (or, in this case. Kirk and Uhura in two different ships) are pitted against either Klingons or Romulans? Well, I'll accept a few of those kinds of stories — after all, the Klingons and Romulans did appear in quite a few ST episodes on TV. The characterization and development is really very good, that of Kirk and hcCcy especially. But the Federation technology and universe suffers. Cross obviously does not know how to handle simple hardware in the ST universe.

Kirk is out single-handedly flying about in a Scout class (ala Technical Manual) starship — something at least 200 crewmembers need to be on to operate. Not only that, but Kirk lifts the thing off from a planetary surface! How many times does a starship land? Once: when it crashes. The Klingons and Romulans develop a huge new dreadnaught universe-destroying starship. This thing is big and powerful — more powerful than six typical Klingon starships.(which retreat after the dreadnaught is knocked out of order by the good guys) — and even Kirk calls it a feat of engineering and technology. So why is it so easily destroyed? I'd recommend that ST fans read the zine for themselves and make their own decision as to the story's quality. But make sure you are only borrowing the zine, otherwise it may not be worth your hard-saved pennies. The characterization, even if in a strictly un-Trek setting, is worth reading, at least.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

Issue 3

most covers of "Odyssey" #3 look like this

front cover of #3: NOTE - most issues in existence are missing this cover; this example was possibly created by an individual fan rather than the publisher

backcover of #3, You are Receiving this Zine Because

Odyssey 3 was published in January 1979 and is 66 pages long. It was edited by Ingrid Cross. Art by Dawn Singer, Jeff Nelson, Carol Walske, Amy Harlib, and Connie Faddis. The print run was 400.

From the editorial:

Despite my best intentions, this issue is late. I have an explanation, though. What with a busy summer with Oddy-Con (see followup report on page 16), and a recent death in my immediate family, I had difficulty plunging into my fan activities again.

This issue was more difficult to do than #2. Dealing with approximately seven authors and six artists can be...trying...at times. Yet the rewards shine between these covers. Some of them are new to fanzine readers, and I'm sure you'll agree with me that we ought to see more of their work in the future. Other veterans, like Joel Davis and Carol Walske, have worked for other zines (and, in Carol's case, have produced their own zines). Both of them (and hopefully the others) will probably appear in future publications, professional or otherwise! It has been a pleasure working with all of them!

There are a few stories which have no accompanying artwork. And yes, I have a reason; commitments from artists fell through at the last moment, and it's only due to Carol Walske that two stories have artwork at all. In my humble opinion, however, those stories without art hold up quite well

Another defense: If you are upset by the presence of M*A*S*H stories, blame Joel! He is the one who helped me discover that excellent show! And then how could I turn down the two stories he sent me a while ago? (Besides, I have a penchant for doctors with blue or hazel eyes!)

Secondly: the cost of this fanzine. I realize that Odyssey 2 had just about the same number of pages and was slightly less expensive. But printing costs have gone up by approximately 30$ since March of 1978. Unfortunately, I cannot personally absorb a loss. Fanzine editors are not (contrary to popular opinion) independently wealthy!

From the "How Free to Speak?", some of Joel Davis' comments on what he sees as too much porn in Treklit:

Back in the dim dawn of time, or was it only a few years ago, someone wrote the first pornographic Star Trek story... When this happened, everyone jumped on the bandwagon. We are now inundated with the stuff. Not just that some of it isn't good or that some of it isn't bad, but we are overflowing with the porn stories. It has become a fad, in fandom, to write a pornographic Star Trek story. This is not a good thing. I don't mind seeing a story now and then, or even one or two zines especially devoted to porn stories. But when everyone in fandom thinks the way to become a star in fandom is tor write a porn story, the time has come to do something... It's up to us. Those of us who write, who publish, who read, who draw... We must say that some is fine but not all of it is. We should draw the line. We got tired of reading Lt. Mary Sue stories, as they became to be known. Aren't we getting a bit tired of reading about Kirk and Spock in bed together? As lovers?... Can we think of topics, equally provocative as two men going to bed with each other, with the Star Trek universe?... Sure, porn is a provocative topic and it can be well-written and have a good story line and so on. But there are other things to write about, just as good... Show me. Show me we can do it. I have faith in fandom, in all of us.

• Introduction (1)
• Kate by Patricia White, art by Dawn Singer (Dr. Kathryn Kennedy: is she the new Head of Medical Research on the Enterprise and the woman that Dr. McCoy loves, or is she the product of his delirium while ill?) (3)
• Duet by Ingrid Cross (14)
• Con Report for Oddy-Con by Ingrid Cross, see that page (16)
• Dear Dad (MASH) by Joel Davis (17)
• Poetry Collection ("Lover's Call," "Glory," and "Longing" by Debra Sara Greenblatt, art by Dawn Singer and Jeff Nelson) (34)
• We Called It… Meatball Surgery (MASH) by Joel Davis, art by Carol Walske (37)
• Commensal by Jeanne Powers, art by Amy Harlib (41)
• The Things to Be (guest editorial) by Joel Davis (In this essay, Davis objects to fans "turning pro" and accepting fees at cons just like the guests, and he feels it is ruining the sub-culture of fandom. "We've destroyed ourselves and now all we can do is lie back and give the appearance of a living, breathing sub-culture, while all around us, the death knell sounds. And we wait for the final bell to be sounded. Mark my words, friends. It's coming. And there's nothing you can do to stop it." See that page for more.) (43)
• Buddies by Jocelyn Feaster, art by Connie Faddis (McCoy introduces us to his new pet Twefd who he describes as a 'fluffy little fellow' and who Spock describes as 'undisciplined, sexually overactive and physically aggressive'.) (46)
• How Free to Speak? by Joel Davis (guest editorial) (In this essay, Davis states that although he isn't in favor of censorship, he thinks there is too much explicit sex (specifically Kirk/Spock (TOS) slash) in Star Trek fanfic, and that a lot of it isn't very good. Davis urges authors and editors to voluntarily cut back on it.) (48)
• Goodnight, You Moonlight Ladies by Cheryl Rice, art by Carol Walske. Story of Jim Kirk at 12 years of age. It was reprinted from Rising Star (51)
• Farewell Embrace by Ingrid Cross (64)

• 

  inside art, Hawkeye Pierce by Carol Walske

• 

  art from issue #3, Dawn Singer

• 

  art from issue #3, Dawn Singer

• 

  art from issue #3, Carol Walske, Hawkeye Pierce

• 

  art from issue #3, Amy Harlib

• 

  art from issue #3, Connie Faddis, the story it accompanies was "inspired by the illo on page 87 by Connie Faddis in Interphase #3"

• 

  art from issue #3, Carol Walske

• 

  art from issue #3, Jeff Nelson, inside back cover

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 3

This time the editor features other writers, and some non-Trek material, instead of her own very talented efforts. But her judgement is excellent and though the variety is greater, the quality remains high. Joel Davis has contributed two MASH stories and a couple of editorials; Cheryl Rice's 'Goodnight, You Moonlight Ladies' exhibits a pre-teen Kirk and family more influenced by Tennessee Williams than Trek; Patricia White's 'Kate' offers a dream lady for D. McCoy, but is she real? The illos are first rate, both in talent and reproduction. The type is full size eye-saving. This reviewer prefers the more uniform quality of Miss Cross' first two issues, but it is an excellent issue.

• Kate / McCoy gets the girl, in a sweet romance with a new colleague, only to discover that it was all delirium.
• Duet / philosophical prose-poem
• Dear Dad / MASH story. We (and Hawkeye) discover that Hawkeye's father - with whom he has been corresponding and even conversing - actually died when Hawkeye was just a child.
• We Called It Meatball Surgery / More MASH. Musings on enemy death by a grandson of Hawkeye's, now serving in Starfleet Medical.
• Commensal / Odd little story - Kirk's grief over Spock, viewed by a new crewmember who is elated by it.
• The Things To Be / Editorial - objecting to fandom treating fans who have broken into professional publishing as Trek writers.
• Buddies / Vignette of McCoy introducing his new pet 'Twlfd. (response to Connie Faddis illo in Interphase #3)
• How Free to Speak / Editorial - calling for less porn in fanfic
• Good Night, You Moonlight Ladies / Kirk at 13, with a mutant dog and dysfunctional family, contemplates Academy.

64 offset pp, partly reduced, flimsy covers, no art front and bacover (table of contents on front, "you received this because..." on back). This issue is a combination of ST & M*A*S*H.

Odyssey is always a beautifully edited zine, planned to be available at the smallest possible cost, and #3 is no exception. The only beef I have is with the reprinting of "Goodnight, You Moonlight Ladies," by Cheryle [sic] Rice. I understand and appreciate reprints from old zines no longer available, "but this story was in RISING STAR, which came out last Fall and is still in print. It's a good story, though, well written and dealing sympathetically with a teenaged Jimmy Kirk who has just returned from the funeral of his beloved grandmother, and now has a chance to give his life new direction with her legacy. Joel Davis' "Dear Dad" is a fine M*A*S*H story, done with panache and loving attention to exact dialogue replication. It would make a good episode itself, with even the final wry twist to leave the reader thinking. Hawkeye again writes to his father — who may have been dead since he was a young child. Joel also has a short story "We Called It... .Meatball Surgery," which neatly ties the M*A*S*H and ST worlds together, "Kate," by Patricia M. White, is a rare McCoy-oriented love story, with an interesting prescient experience for the doctor. Whether "Commensal" by Jeanne Powers is meant to be satire or serious, either way it shows a dreadful lack of sensitivity as Spock's funeral aboard the E is described and the reactions of his friends chortled over. Very poor story, mercifully brief. To round off the zine Joel Davis has two rather jaundiced and poorly written essays of opinion, one against Cons featuring as GoH writers who began in Trek and moved on to paid sf, and the other against homosexual porn in Trekfic. His style comes across as petulant scolding rather than reasoned and thoughtful, and these excerpts are unlikely to change many minds on either topic.

Introspective is the word for Ingrid Cross's Odyssey 3. You will get to experience Leonard McCoy's loneliness and isolation, a Dr. Pierce's determination, and young James Kirk's rebelliousness. I objected at first to Jim's expressed feelings about Sam. Then I realized no kid is going to think about how much he loves his older brother. Naturally he gripes. I still can't accept Mrs. Kirk, though. How could any mother not love the boy James Kirk must have been?

My personal favorite is a little gem by Jeanne Powers. In this story, the individual is unidentified, but his ambulance-chasing, privacy-invading mentality is all too recognizable. This insensitive clod gets to attend a real military funeral on the Enterprise and gleefully relates all the details. What luck for him!

In addition to Star Trek, this zine also includes M*A*S*H items. I can only say that the Hawkeye Pierce I know and love bears no resemblance to Joel Davis's. Carol Walske drew excellent portraits, however, so I know that the man in the story closely resembles the television character physically. Possibly there is an alternate universe or something in which a doctor in Korea writes letters to his dead father and even talks to him on the telephone.

Joel Davis also wrote two impassioned editorials. They stated that fan guests at Star Trek conventions should not be billed as pro celebrities even if they sell a work of straight science fiction, and there was a surplus of pornography in zines these days.

The best thing Davis wrote, though, was a sincere tribute to Larry Gelbart. It was beautiful.

Issue 4

front cover of issue 4, Carol Walske

Odyssey 4 was published in May 1980 and is 60 pages long. Cover: Carol Walske. Other art by Barbara P. Gordon, Sheila Hallman, Jeff Nelson, Gloria-Ann Rovelstad, Marty Siegrist, Teri Thorowood and Carol Walske. It was edited by Ingrid Cross.

The editor thanks a a co-editor, David Goodine, for his work on this issue. She also asks for works that illustrate why fans like McCoy before the movie, and why they like him better than Spock or Kirk.

From the editorial: "As you probably know by now, Odyssey is returning to its original format. As a McCoy fan of long-standing, I've been aware that we McCoy fans are usually left out of most fan fiction. Odyssey will help remedy that situation. In order to do that, however, your stories, poems and artwork are needed!"

• Journey's End by Ingrid Cross (Spock was killed long ago and now Jim Kirk has been killed preventing a Klingon-Romuian alliance from destroying Starfleet. McCoy must face life without his friends. He is going home, but first there is a parting conversation with Uhura.) (2)
• Encounter by David Goodine and Ingrid Cross (After the death of Jim Kirk, McCoy has returned to Georgia and is staying with his brother's family. He cannot shake his depression and when Joanna arrives, her efforts to help lead to a confrontation that brings on a heart attack. McCoy is perfectly willing to give up life until he meets Kirk and is persuaded to return to his family.) (5)
• Songs for a Kinsman, poem by Ingrid Cross (24)
• Lullaby by Lorraine Beatty (We share with Dr. McCoy a nighttime feeding of his infant daughter.) (26)
• Forum: Continuing Feature by Gail Zehner and Joel Davis (29)
• After Images by Ingrid Cross (The mind rape of Spock's counterpart in the mirror universe has badly shaken McCoy and effected his feelings for the Spock of his own universe.) (31)
• Signposts by Lorraine Beatty (35)
• No Time for Past Regrets by David Goodine and Ingrid Cross (38)
• Child of Circumstances by/and or collected by Lorraine Beatty and David Goodine (54)
• Dying Memories by Joel Davis, (56)
• ads (60)

• 

  art from issue #4, Sheila Hallman

• 

  art from issue #4, Teri Thorowood

• 

  art from issue #4, B.P. Gordon

• 

  art from issue #4, Gloria-Ann Rovelstad

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 4

• Journey's End / Replay of the last scene of Odyssey #2, with McCoy devastated by Kirk's death and bidding Uhura goodbye before heading home to Georgia.
• Encounter / Back at the homestead in Georgia, McCoy visits family, mourns, has a confrontation with Joanna, and suffers a heart attack during which Kirk makes him go back to the living.
• Song for a Kinsman [poem]
• Lullaby / Interlude at baby Joanna's bed while the McCoy marriage disintegrates.
• Forum [letters]
• After Images / McCoy is avoiding Spock after "Mirror, Mirror".
• Signposts / More marriage troubles for Leonard and Arianna as McCoy heads off to a seminar.
• No Time for Past Regrets / McCoy arrives on Enterprise, getting off on the wrong foot with both Kirk and Spock, and picking up his nickname.
• Child of Circumstances / A newly teen-age Joanna receives a birthday gift from her daddy, while Arianna storms.
• Reviews - of ST:TMP
• Dying Memories / MASH - Larry Reynolds makes a memorial visit to the MASH site at Wijambu, Korea

Issue 5

back cover of issue #5, Marty Siegrist, also the back cover of the Best of Issue of I'm a Doctor, Not a..., as well as interior art in "Odyssey" #7

front cover of issue #5, Marilyn Johansen

Odyssey 5 was published in January 1981 and is 149 pages long. It was edited by Ingrid Cross and David Goodine. Cover: Marilyn Johansen; back cover: Marty Siegrist. Other art by Cathi Brown, Ann Crouch,

Nancy Gervais, Barbara P. Gordon, Sheila Hallman, Toni Hardeman, Becky Morton, Pat O'Neill, Robyn Provee, Teri Thorogood and Susan Wyllie.

In the zine, Ingrid Cross writes:

I don't like telling you this is the last issue of Odyssey... but I have to. I have to tell you that Odyssey 5 will be the last time we can get together and chat like this, that I have to give up this project—a project that's given me so much fun and been the bridge to all of you out there I have never met. [from the editorial] ... This fanzine has truly been an "odyssey" for me personally. In the four years since I decided to print issue 1 (which I intended as a "one-shot" zine), I have seen this magazine blossom and grow into something that has at times been fun, trying, frustrating and educational for myself. I have seen the number of readers quadruple over the first issue, and the friends I have made as a result will always be the best part of the effort and work that has gone into producing what I believed to be the best fanzine I could offer to you.

However, I have come to the point in my life where I need to branch out and away from Star Trek. My aim has always been to become a professional writer. And as much as I have enjoyed working on Odyssey, it has become increasingly evident to me that my long- term goals are being pushed aside for my hobby.

Accordingly, issue 5 will be the last Odyssey I am scheduling. If, in the future, I decide to return to publishing a fanzine, it will be the same zine with the same name; and due to my interest in Mr. Kelley's work, I am confident that the material it contains will be about Dr. McCoy. To go on with the zine now would mean that the quality would suffer—something I do not wish to have happen. [from the inside back cover]

• Editor's Corner (1)
• The Natchez Switch by Lorraine Beatty (McCoy was crossing the bridge to the science station when the communications panel blew up. When he regained consciousness he was in Natchez, Mississippi during the 1850's with no memory of his true identity. Apparently he was Lance Beaumont, a man with an unsavory reputation as a gambler. Back on the Enterprise the real Lance Beaumont was thought to be Dr. McCoy.) (2)
• All My Life's A Circle by Ingrid Cross and David Goodine (It has been 12 years since McCoy served on the Enterprise. Now he is returning to active service on the first constellation-class starship, the Orion. Her young Captain, Karin Simmons, reminds him so much of Jim Kirk.) (30)
• The One, The Only by Ingrid Cross and David Goodine (54)
• The Doctor's Eyes by Fern Marder (60)
• Forum ("Train of Thought"?) by Gail Zehner (61)
• Reporting for Duty by Sue Keenan (This is an account of M'Benga's introduction to the Enterprise and to Dr. McCoy. M'Benga has done every thing possible to be assigned to work uith McCoy, but a series of misinterpreted events leave him with the impression that McCoy is a drunken, womanizing coward and bigot. It takes a time of shared danger to show M'Benga the true character of McCoy.) (62)
• Interview with DeForest Kelley by Ingrid Cross from Star TreKon '80 (75)
• Promises to Keep by Lorraine Beatty (A childhood experience reinforces McCoy's desire to become a doctor.) (76)
• Natural Selection by Joan Marie Verba (87)
• Friends in Need by Jeanie Humphrey (After 2 months aboard the Enterprise following the V'Ger mission, McCoy finds he has become so involved uith Spock and Kirk as they adjust to their return, that he is neglecting his duties to the rest of the crew. He feels he cannot practice medicine on the Enterprise and resigns, but Jim Kirk is not about to accept the resignation without a fight to keep the doctor on board.) (105)
• Guardian Angel by Robyn Provee (109)
• Ads (111)
• Communion by Joyce Tullock (The diagnosis has been made: Xenopolycythemia. M'Benga seeks out McCoy to try to 'share the hurt'. As he does he wonders: How do you comfort the comforter?) (112)
• Natira's Lament by Lorraine Beatty (119)
• Sweet Refrain by Lorraine Beatty (After the 5 year mission, McCoy has returned to New Yonada. Natira, still loving McCoy but believing he has no interest in her, is about to marry Ledon. With McCoy's return, Ledon sees his chance for Natira and the power he craves slipping away. McCoy must be killed.) (120)
• A Bird of a Different Color by Nancy Gervais (142)
• Reoruse by Susan Wyllie (145)

• 

  inside art from issue #5, Ann Crouch

• 

  inside art from issue #5, Toni Hardeman

• 

  inside art from issue #5, Robin Provee

• 

  inside art from issue #5, Sheila Hallman

• 

  inside art from issue #5, Barbara P. Gordon

• 

  inside art from issue #5, Suzan Lovett (DeForest Kelley at Star TreKon '80. The majority of media fanart at the time focused on the characters; however, on occasion a fan artist would draw the actors as themselves. For a more recent example of actor fanart see Joey Rodrigues's Patrick Stewart portrait.)

• 

  inside art from issue #5, Terri Thorowgood

• 

  inside art from issue #5, Cathi Brown

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 5

• The Natchez Switch / Nice little mystery; an amnesiac McCoy wakes up as brawling, gambling riverboat dandy Lance Beaumont, with someone trying to kill him. Spock resolves the transporter problem, having noticed something not quite right about the shade of McCoy's eyes.
• All My Life's A Circle / McCoy gets off to a bad start with the female captain of his new assignment, who is too much like Kirk for him.
• Writing Contest illo
• The One, The Only / Entertaining romp. Super-Mary Sue solves all problems on the Enterprise in an afternoon's work.
• Train of Thought / Well done vignette of the McCoys' marital troubles from Arianna's viewpoint as she leaves Len.
• Reporting for Duty / M'Benga, having schemed his way onto Enterprise specifically to work with McCoy, gets a number of wrong impressions on arrival, only corrected when he gets the chance to see our man in action.

• Promises to Keep / The child Len inadvertently causes the death of a neighbor's puppy. Nicely told.
• Natural Selection / McCoy, newly returned to Enterprise after ST:TMP, is obsessed with looking after the Captain (up for re-evaluation) to the neglect of Sickbay, which puts him on the outs with Chapel, and leads to rampant shipwide ladonite poisoning.
• Friends in Need / Somewhat schmaltzy little vignette set during Spock's court-martial after the Pike affair, Spock & McCoy acknowledging their affection.
• Communion / Nice little McCoy/M'Benga scene after McCoy's Xenopolythycemia diagnosis, philosophical in tone.
• Sweet Refrain / Natira has been steadfast; McCoy returns to her barely in time to prevent her marriage to her power-hungry childhood intended. And gets to keep her this time.
• A Bird of a Different Color / Vignette: Spock reveals why the chicken crossed the road - to obtain a new food source.
• Reprise [poem] / McCoy muses on resuming the dreadful responsibility of starship medical practice.

Okay, now we know McCoy had a rat in his family closet. So what! I always knew he had something nasty buried way back when. And at last Dr. M'Benga is given a personality. Sometimes writers forget about other members of the Starship's crew.

But I could not enjoy two of your stories. There are pages missing. Very annoying as I had been enjoying 'Sweet Refrain' up to that point.

Your various authors keep well within the characters as we know them - a point missed in some fanzines. The artwork for this issue is very good - especially the back cover. Thanks for reprinting it. Any more forthcoming, as this is a neglected area I know for stories?

Issue 6

front cover of issue #6, Suzan Lovett: A fan in 1982 said: "The zine, well-presented and spiral bound, is full of well-written stories not - only for McCoy fans - but for all lovers of well-written Trek fiction. My pet hate, however, is the front cover which although an excellent illustration by Suzan Lovett is of the ST:TMP McCoy with the beard - yeuch!" -- from Communicator #5

Odyssey 6 was published in December 1981 and is 151 pages long. It has a cover by Suzan Lovett. Other art by Ann Crouch, Shona Jackson, Vel Jaeger, Sue Keenan, Suzan Lovett and Sherry Veltkamp. It was edited by Ingrid Corss, Tess Thomas and Joyce Tullock.

• For Dixie by Joyce Tullock (While testing a new time-travel devise, McCoy and Uhura become separated from the rest of the crew. They are exploring Southwestern Illinois in the time just after the Civil War and as they return to the beam-up point are attacked by a group of wandering northern soldiers. McCoy is seriously injured and is sheltered by an elderly black woman as Uhura goes for help.) (1)
• The Circle Unbroken by Marion McChesney (13)
• Nightmare Reflection by Tess Thomas (A comparison of the gentle, caring Leonard McCoy of the Enterprise uith his savage, sadistic counterpart of the mirror universe.) (14)
• Crosswords by Arjamond Bishop (37)
• Friends, Lovers and Strangers by Jeanie Humphrey (Dr. Diane Hendricks, a friend of McCoy's ex-wife is part of a scientific team traveling on the Enterprise. She wants to hurt McCoy and uses trickery and deceit to drive a wedge betueen McCoy and Kirk that may put an end to their friendship.) (39)
• Quest by Suzan Lovett, art (56)
• Story Contest (61)
• Valley of Shadow by Sue Keenan (also see the novellas Valley of Shadow and Fear No Evil) (Jim Kirk is worried about McCoy. The doctor is distant and quiet after two ueeks of fighting a deadly epidemic. A survey team is to be placed on the beautiful planet Vogel II and Kirk adds McCoy to the team being led by Spock, thinking a few days on the peaceful planet will help the doctor. On Vogel, McCoy turns to Spock for understanding but receives only cold logic. The resulting argument is bitter but before it can be resolved McCoy is captured and tortured by Klingons uho have infiltrated the planet. Spock tries to care for a dying McCoy until the Enterprise returns.) (93)
• Courtmartial Musings by Sharon F. (94)
• A Physician's Nemesis by Linda Neel (94)
• Deja-Vu on Deneva by Sharon F. (95)
• To Carry and Contain by Jeanne Noga (Kirk has been felled by a mysterious illness and McCoy, with his staff, works to find the cure as Spock commands the Enterprise.) (96)
• Margaret McCoy, art by Shona Jackson (107)
• The Man Who Only Visited by Joyce Tullock (Admiral Kirk has come to Georgia to see Leonard McCoy who is staying uith Horatio, his Great Grandfather. Kirk wants to mend the breech that developed betueen them after the 5 year mission and to try to persuade McCoy to return to the service. After a short time with Horatio and McCoy, Kirk realizes that the doctor is very much his own man and has no need for Kirk or Starfleet.) (108)
• A Subject of Dispute by Lorraine Beatty (McCoy travels back in time and meets the feuding Hatfields and McCoys. The women of Midland make sex an adventure to be shared by the two partners. McCoy's adventure places him in West Virginia in 1887 and right in the middle of the HatfieId-McCoy feud.) (123)
• Ads (152)
• 1981 Open Letter Regarding DeForest Kelley and His Movie Role (153)

• 

  art from issue #6, Suzan Lovett, the artist portrays both canon and OMC characters of color, an all too rare choice of artistic subjects in fandom

• 

  art from issue #6, Sue Keenan

• 

  art from issue #6, Vel Jaeger

• 

  art from issue #6, Ann Crouch

• 

  art from issue #6, Suzan Lovett; the artist seldom illustrated a full-title page. This one uses large lettering with a lot of action/energy and shows a really different 'look and feel' than most of Lovett's work

• 

  art from issue #6, Suzan Lovett, aside from being probably the known only Hatfield-McCoy fanart, Suzan piece echoes the style of period photography from the 1800s

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 6

• For Dixie / McCoy and Uhura visit the Old South, with unfortunate consequences for McCoy, who is dragged by Union soldiers, but then tended by a black family. Irresistable if implausible premise, nicely written.
• Nightmare Reflection / Scenes from the lives of our McCoy and a very nasty edition of Mirror McCoy.
• Friends, Lovers and Strangers / A friend of Arianne's uses lust dust to engineer a rift between Kirk and McCoy
• Valley of Shadow / Nice Spock/McCoy h/c tale; Klingons get McCoy.
• To Carry and Contain / Kirk falls ill with an odd infection
• The Man Who Only Visited / Kirk visits McCoy at grandfather's place
• A Subject of Dispute / Another silly but irresistable premise - McCoy finds himself in the middle of the feud of the Hatfields & McCoys.

The series of Odyssey zines gets better as it gets on and number 6 is well up to standard. This series of zines has McCoy as the central character with some stories set during his time on the Enterprise, others set before or after.

This zine is put out by a group of editors living in Louisiana, which is not too far from McCoy's stamping grounds in Georgia. Not all of them started out there but something pulled them together and Odyssey has grown and improved since.

Odyssey 6 is a mixed bag with a wide range of stories. One of my favorites is an excellent story by Tess Thomas entitled 'Nightmare Reflections' which looks at an identical situation aboard the USS and ISS Enterprises and how each McCoy can react to the same situation, the gentleness of 'our' McCoy as contrasted with the pure sadism of the 'mirror McCoy.

Two stories go back in time, one entitled 'For Dixie' by Joyce Tullock has McCoy, Uhura and put back in Illinois in the 1860's, days after Lincoln's assassination, with Uhura helping a badly injured McCoy while the second story 'A Subject of Dispute by Lorraine Beatty takes McCoy back to the Appalachian Mountains of the 1880's and into the middle of one of the most famous of all feuds between the Hatfields and, yes, the McCoys.

Perhaps the two most thought-promoting stories are set on the Enterprise when in 'Friends, Lovers and Strangers' by Jeanie Humphrey, Kirk, and, in 'Valley of Shadow' by Sue Keenan, Spock, examine their relationship with McCoy because of the circumstances at hand. Both stories which centre, on McCoy, still give new insight to the characters of Kirk and Spock, insights rarely picked up on the aired Trek, that of a hurt, vindictive, Kirk and a 'human' Spook.

The last two stories are contrasting -- a standard Enterprise story with Kirk hurt and McCoy and Spock fighting for his survival - 'To Carry and Contain' by Jeanna Noga and the last, a delightful short story, again by Joyce Tullock entitled 'The Man Who Only Visited' set between the end of the five year mission and ST: TMP when Kirk visits McCoy to try and persuade him not to leave Starfleet.

The zine is packed with excellent and often moving poetry with some beautiful drawings by several gifted artists including a story contest illustration of a jack- booted McCoy, flaming sword in hand, standing over a beaten Spock. I can't wait for the stories conjured up by that illustration.

The zine, well-presented and spiral bound, is full of well-written stories not - only for McCoy fans - but for all lovers of well-written Trek fiction. My pet hate, however, is the front cover which although an excellent illustration by Suzan Lovett is of the ST:TMP McCoy with the beard - yeuch!

Odyssey 6 is an interesting zine but a definite must for McCoy fans as one of the editors puts it. It is devoted to that member of the Enterprise crew who is most notorious for his, all too realistic humanness and that surely is the essence of this zine.

Issue 6.5

centerfold from issue #6.5 by Suzan Lovett: one can count the McCoy fanart with full frontal nudity on one hand, and the portrayal of the mint julep is a spectacular bit of lightness and humor

front cover of issue #6.5 by Suzan Lovett

Odyssey 6.5 was published in January 1983 (second printing July 1983) and is 52 pages long.

It is an adult issue, subtitled "the stories they wouldn't print in ODYSSEY."

It has a cover and a centerfold by Suzan Lovett.

Other art by Richard Pollet, Sue Keenan, Marty Sigrist, and Suzan Lovett. Edited by Ingrid Cross & Joyce Tullock.

In the issue's editorial, Ingrid wrote:

I'm still not exactly sure how this issue came about. I remember talking with Joyce about There is One Alone, fretting as I frequently did about where to submit it. The next thing I know, we're talking about an adult issue. ... So there we had four stories that didn't have a home, and an evil gleam came into our eyes as we said, 'Why can't we do an adult issue?'

• Sad One, poem by Joyce Tullock (1)
• Love's Guidance by Lorraine Beatty, art by Richard Pollet ("The wedding night of McCoy and Natira.") (2)
• The Teacher by Sue Keenan, art by Keenan ("McCoy, Kirk and Spock are summoned to a mysterious planet claiming interest in joining the Federation. What they find are the Vians with Gem and her people. Gem and McCoy share a night of gentle love that turns to bitterness far McCoy as he realizes there is no way he can remain with Gem, who he loves, nor was it ever intended that he do so.") (8)
• Between the Lines (editorials) by Ingrid Cross & Joyce Tullock (28)
• CENTERFOLD by Lovett
• Some Planets Are Like Home by Joyce Tullock, art by Marty Siegrist ("A shore leave spent in a bitter-sweet affair uith 'the only innocent call girl in the whole damn perverted galaxy'. A time that brings back memories of his marriage and the need to be really loved by someone.") (30)
• There Is One Alone by Ingrid Cross, art by Suzan Lovett ("Among other things, a rape recovery story: On a shore leave McCoy becomes the victim of a brutal rape. The doctor is helped in his recovery from the shattering experience by the loving care of Uhura and the concern of Kirk and Spock.") (42)
• I Am With You, poem by Joyce Tullock (69)

• 

  from issue #6.5, Richard Pollet

• 

  from issue #6.5, Suzan Lovett; the artist often took on subjects that other fans didn't -- this one is of Uhura comforting McCoy in a emotional way -- from the story "There is One Alone," a rape recovery story

• 

  from issue #6.5, Sue Keenan

• 

  from issue #6.5, Marty Siegrist. McCoy and a female character in an intimate pose -- something fairly uncommon in fanart

• 

  from issue #6.5, Suzan Lovett

• 

  from issue #6.5, Suzan Lovett

• 

  from issue #6.5, Suzan Lovett

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 6.5

• Love's Guidance / McCoy & Natira's first night. Pretty nice.
• The Teacher / The Vians use McCoy again, this time to teach Gem about love.
• Between the Lines (editorials)
• Some Planets Are Like Home / McCoy spends a sunny shore-leave day with a local courtesan. Nicely done; interesting anger.
• There Is One Alone / McCoy is raped, destroying his relationship with Kirk, and finds solace with Uhura.
• Poetry:
  • Sad One / Joyce Tullock
  • I Am With You / Joyce Tullock

Issue 7

front cover of issue #7, Suzan Lovett

back cover of issue #7

Odyssey 7 was published in July 1983 and is 143 pages long.

It has a cover and a centerfold by Suzan Lovett. Other art is by Kate Maynard (also a centerfold), Marty Siegrist, Lydia Moon, Sherry Veltkamp, Barbara P. Gordon, Ann Crouch, Vel Jaeger, Sue Keenan, Marilyn Johansen, and Bev Zuk. Edited by Ingrid Cross & Joyce Tullock. The calligraphy is by Allyson Whitfield-Dyar.

From the editorial by Ingrid:

For those who wonder why we do a fanzine, let me tell you one of my reasons: it's because of the opportunity to work with the talents such as you find in this issue of Odyssey. We've always been fortunate to work with excellent writers and artists when producing these zines and this issue is no exception. They're all a wonderful group: cheerful, patient (especially Jeanie, Jane, Jeanne and Allyson)...and most of all, supportive. I'd like to thank everyone involved for their special magics, especially Suzan, our staff artist. Suzan puts up with a lot from us: weird ideas and off-the-wall notions that she accepts calmly, then tempers with her unique blend of talents. She is a major(and oh-so-quiet) force behind Odyssey!

This issue, we added a new member to the editorial staff: Nancy Tullock. She's another person who gently prods us in the right directions, lends emotional support, and who has taken unto herself the title of "associate editor"! She didn't write an editorial because she's a shy redhead, but wants people to know she's interested in doing a Scotty zine and/or Hurt Reynolds zine and would like to know if others share her interest. Write to her if you are (address redacted). For a non-sister, she's okay in my book!

Due to the tremendous response to 6.5, we've been under considerable pressure from all of you to do another adult McCoy issue. Well, even though we are self-confessed D.O.B.'s, we cannot write it all ourselves! So this is an official notice that we are now accepting well-written, plausible submissions (male/female material only) for an adult McCoy 7.5.

While on the subject of submissions, I'd like to make a gentle reminder. When submitting fiction to us, please double-space your material! It's easier to read, editing changes are simpler to handle, and it prevents eye- strain when typing the final copy. Don't be angry at us if we ask you to retype a single-spaced story.... Also, please number the pages in your manuscript. We're less likely to lose a page or get them hopelessly mixed-up should they be dropped. Thanks for your help!

I guess that about v/raps it up for this time. Why not drop us a line and send a SASE to be kept informed on all the things that are going on? We are interested in knowing what you'd like to see, where we could change things...and in finding out what you've enjoyed! Take care.

From the editorial by Joyce:

... about Odyssey 7. Since the last movie, we've discovered something is happening in fandom and we're right in the middle of it. What I'm talking about, of course, is the fact that McCoy has, once and for all, come into his own. As Suzan's cover illo demonstrates, McCoy, as a part of the Big Three and as a character in his own right, is here. For many years McCoy fans have lamented over the fact that so many zines deal almost totally with Kirk and Spock material. Good material, mind you, and well written — but because of the popularity of the Kirk/Spock relationship, McCoy was of necessity a little pushed aside, almost to the point that he was becoming a shadow-figure. Well, as often happens in such cases, good came from the bad. McCoy fans had to write about him themselves, had to think about him, about what makes him unique. Gradually, they developed him into a very complicated prose character. Following the Kirk/Spock "cue," writers often tended to almost unconsciously portray him as a "loner," keeping him slightly "apart" from that magnificent captain and his first officer. And that's how the McCoy of fan fiction learned, quite by accident, to stand on his own. So we shouldn't have been surprised when so many readers responded to 6.5 by saying something akin to "McCoy has arrived!"

Not to say that he was ever "away." It's just that it has been only recently (since about the time of the first movie) that fans have stopped apologizing for their interest in him. Have even cultivated it. So the circle has turned. The "rediscovery" of the complexity of his nature has provided fandom with a new, challenging vision of Star Trek. Very new. Very fresh. And some of the fine talent you'll see in Odyssey 7 should be more than proof of that.

• Editors' Corner by Ingrid Cross & Joyce Tullock (2)
• The Healers by Jeanne Powers ("An assignment early in McCoy's Starfleet career brings him to a reptilian planet where he meets one of the Great Healers. They are a nomadic group of Vulcans who travel about the planet and have the ability to cure emotional ills. When McCoy finds the healers are a dying race, he tries to persuade one of the mysterious women healers to leave the planet in order to preserve her life. She refuses, but gives McCoy a gift that he will treasure for the rest of his life.") (4)
• The Twilight Man by Tess Thomas ("McCoy slips away from a party being held at his home in Georgia following the V'Ger mission. He sits on the old yard swing to relive memories of his youth and to wonder about the future.") (22)
• Still Waters by Suzan Lovett ("The Enterprise is transporting several entertainers to ceremonies welcoming a new member of the Federation. The Captain has plans for one of these entertainers, the intriguing, beautiful Fern. Fern, however, has plans of her own and they involve McCoy, not Kirk.") (also in Antinomy) (26)
• Transition: We Are Children...We Seek Something More, poem by Ingrid Cross (38)
• Jim, We've Got a Problem by Jeanie Humphrey ("McCoy comes to the rescue of a Klingon child being mistreated by a slave dealer and finds himself and the Federation involved in a serious diplomatic incident.") (48)
• Remember by Sharon F ("In a Personal Log entry, McCoy pours out his feelings following the death of Spock.") (69)
• For in that Sleep of Death, poem by Sherry Veltkamp (74)
• HBS Revealed by the editors ("HBS is 'How Bones Suffers'") (76)
• Puzzles and art on the theme of How Bones Suffers
• Meet Me in St. Louis - interview with Deforest Kelley by Joyce Tullock, Ingrid Cross, Lorraine Beatty (78)
• Idylls of a Gentle Healer, poem by Vel Jaeger (86)
• Delivery, or Mysteries of the Dragon Slayer by Joyce Tullock ("A lazy shore leave day on the beach turns to terror as McCoy finds a small child trapped in the pit of a ferocious lizard-like creature.") (90)
• For Services Rendered by Jane Mailander ("McCoy recounts one of his adventures in which he assisted a unicorn-life creature give birth to her child and received a precious gift for his help.") (101)
• Leonard McCoy - Captain by Sue Keenan ("The Enterprise is in orbit around Earth while the life support systems are overhauled. McCoy has returned to the ship to pick up a book when a mistake by the repair crew engages impulse engines. The doctor finds himself on the bridge and responsible for returning the ship to orbit.") (109)
• The Doctor's Plea, poem by Joyce Tullock (114)
• Lagniappe Noel by Lorraine Beatty ("To please McCoy, Captain Kirk has arranged a Christmas shore leave for the two of them on the planet Asphodel. McCoy, however, is not pleased. There is a secret on Asphodel that he does not want to share with his friend.") (116)

• 

  from issue #7, Barbara P. Gordon

• 

  from issue #7, one of the two centerfolds, this one by Suzan Lovett

• 

  from issue #7, Lydia Moon

• 

  from issue #7, Sherry Veltkamp

• 

  from issue #7, Ann Crouch

• 

  from issue #7, Sue Keenan, "Push the red button, Doctor."

• 

  from issue #7, detail from "Push the red button, Doctor." -- the editors had to go through every issue and color the button on this illo red. It is the only color in the zine.

• 

  from issue #7, Vel Jaeger

• 

  from issue #7, Marty Siegrist

• 

  from issue #7, Sherry Veltkamp

• 

  from issue #7, one of the two centerfolds, this one by Kate Maynard

• 

  from issue #7, poem by Ingrid Cross, calligraphy by Allyson Whitfield-Dyar

• 

  from issue #7, Sherry Veltkamp

• 

  from issue #7, Kate Maynard

• 

  from issue #7, Sherry Veltkamp

• 

  from issue #7, Kate Maynard

• 

  from issue #7, Suzan Lovett

• 

  from issue #7, Suzan Lovett

• 

  from issue #7, Kate Maynard

• 

  from issue #7, Marilyn Johansen

• 

  from issue #7, Sherry Veltkamp

• 

  from issue #7, Marty Siegrist, also used as the back cover of issue #5, as well as the back cover of the Best of Issue of I'm a Doctor, Not a...

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 7

See reactions and review for Still Waters.

• The Healers / Lt. McCoy, on an early off-world assignment encounters Fawn, one of the fast-vanishing vulcanoid "Great Healers". Tidbit for Trekkers: provides an explanation of the ever-present pinky ring.
• The Twilight Man / Vignette: McCoy's re-commission party
• Still Waters / Kirk is hunting the remarkable Fem, but she has designs on McCoy instead.
• Jim, We've Got a Problem / McCoy rescues a Klingon slave child, incurring his own death sentence - revoked when the lad's Dad turn up.
• Remember / McCoy soliloquy after Spock's death - nice interpretation: Remember... Jim
• HBS Revealed / Puzzles and art on the theme of How Bones Suffers
• Meet Me in St. Louis - interview with Deforest Kelley
• Delivery, or Mysteries of the Dragon Slayer / McCoy rescues a child - not to mention her toy boat - from a feverlizard, for small thanks.
• For Services Rendered / Elderly McCoy speaking at graduation exercises tells of a gift of a sunling, given to him for assisting with the delivery of a unicorn.
• Leonard McCoy - Captain / McCoy is stuck alone on a runaway Enterprise
• Lagniappe Noel / Not very clear story about McCoy's orphanage for Klingon hybrid kids and the Christmas celebrations there, with Kirk again putting the moves on a woman who prefers McCoy.

Always a friend for McCoy fans! It seems the good doctor can compete very well for the ladies. "Still Waters" proves that! 'Jim, We've Got A Problem" and Lagniappe Noel" are different accounts of McCoy's humanity. He just cannot give up and if he ever did, the galaxy would be all the poorer. This issue also featured, to test your word power, a crossword and word-finder, and interview with De. Several expressive poems with accompanying illustrations. For all McCoy lovers.

Issue 7.5

cover of issue #7.5, Kate Maynard

Odyssey 7.5 Edited by Ingrid Cross and Joyce Tullock. Published August 1987. Printed offset, stapled, 52 pages. Art by Bev Zuk, Kate Maynard, and Sherry Veltkamp. It is an adult issue.

• First Meeting by Madge Longhurst (1)
• To Look at Stars by Sue Keenan (McCoy's ex-wife returns to his life when she and her current husband are given transport aboard the Enterprise. The doctor relives all the pain of his marriage and realizes that he still loves, and always will love Ariana. Her presence strengthens the unending loneliness with which he lives and he thinks of trying to win her back, but he is haunted by what he did on the last night they spent together.) (2)
• Ladies' Choice by Florence Butler (Identical twin sisters, newly assigned to the Enterprise, share the attentions of Dr. McCoy.) (18)
• Centerfold by Bev Zuk
• Soft, Southern Nights by Cathy Brooks (We share the thoughts of McCoy's ex-wife as she attends the doctor's funeral.) (26)
• Bride of Darkness by Sarah Macht DeWitt (A female assassin uses an unsuspecting McCoy as a pawn in her efforts to kill a doctor attending a top secret conference.) (28)
• Portrait by Sherry Veltkamp
• A Small Diversion by Sandra Middleton, art by Kate Maynard (There is a party scheduled on the Enterprise and scuttlebutt from Engineering indicates that someone will slip an aphrodisiac into the drink of the very attractive Lieutenant Elana Peterson and competition will take place to see who will take advantage of the situation. McCoy is concerned, but his plans to protect the lady are disrupted when he accidentally becomes the victim of the love potion.) (41)

• 

  inside art from issue #7.5, centerfold by Bev Zuk

• 

  inside art from issue #7.5, Sherry Veltkamp

• 

  inside art from issue #7.5, Kate Maynard

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 7.5

This is the second adult McCoy fanzine by Odyssey Press, and is 52 pages with very sparse but very nice illustrations (mostly of a naked McCoy). Needless to say, I recommend this for avid McCoy fans, and fans of sexually explicit stories. The first story is "To Look at Stars" by Sue Keenan. In this story, McCoy's ex-wife and her current husband are aboard the ENTERPRISE. McCoy and his ex-wife find they still have a physical attraction for each other. "Ladies' Choice" by Florence Butler has McCoy first with Uhura, and later with a pair of twins who are crewmembers aboard the ENTERPRISE. "Soft, Southern Nights' by Cathy Brooks is a short, first-person story by McCoy's lover. "A Small Diversion" by Sandra Middleton concerns aphrodisiacs and their effects. The longest story "Bride of Darkness" by Sarah Macht-DeWitt, was one I found difficult to follow. It uses a technique that reminds me of the "disembodied voices" technique, only this time it is more of an interlude which interrupts the story at various spots. I think the story would have been easier to follow if the author had used another technique. Still, most of the stories are straightforward, and should appeal to McCoy fans.

Someone had inquired as to the status of ODYSSEY 7.5, the latest adult issue of the McCoy zine — I had speculated that I had donated $10 to the Vagrant Editors' Fund, having given up on ever receiving the zine since I had heard via rumor that ODYSSEY PRESS had bellied up. imagine my surprise when the wee beastie turned up in my mailbox last week — and I do mean "Wee"! The puir thing is only 52 pages long — even at short-run Xerox, it should only cost half that — and these people are always saying they needed 100 advance orders to go to press.

Save your money and borrow a copy, if only to appreciate Kate Maynard's exquisite artwork (but Bev Zuk's centerfold is very disappointing — I was hoping for a worthy sequel to her legendary cover for OBSZINE 4).

The only story of any merit — or length, for that matter — is Sue Keenan's "To Look at Stars". This provides a different, and seldom considered viewpoint of McCoy's marriage to his first wife, Ariana (and yes, I agree with the school that prefers fan-created names that have been around for years, rather than johnny-come-lately pro writers who scoff at the idea of researching fan tradition.) There are a few plot twists that I find a bit hard to swallow, and I disagree with Kirk's characterization, but a longer version might have resolved these problems. I find them forgivable knowing how busy Sue's work schedule is, and how much time she plows into the Kelley fan club [which, incidentally is not officially sanctioned by DK, but received a great deal of support from him and is a lot of fun, something the larger "official" clubs can't offer any more!

Issue 8

centerfold from issue #8, Suzan Lovett shows McCoy in a Huckleberry Finn pose

front cover of issue #8, Laura Virgil

Odyssey 8 was published in April 1986 and is 104 pages long. Edited by Ingrid Cross and Joyce Tullock.

The art is by Kate Maynard, Barbara P. Gordon, Suzan Lovett, Sherry Veltkamp, Pat Kilner, Bev Zuk, and Lydia Moon.

• Starting Point by Sue Keenan, art by Kate Maynard ("James Kirk is the new Captain of the Enterprise and Dr. Mark

Piper is his only friend and trusted adviser. After Piper suffers a massive coronary, the Enterprise heads for the medical facilities on Rigel, but is ordered to divert to pick up a new CMO. Kirk is unhappy about the delay and the replacement, Leonard McCoy, is unhappy about being taken away from his current assignment where he was close to finding the formula that would stop a devastating epidemic. Kirk immediately dislikes this unmilitary doctor who appears to have little concern for Piper's welfare, but events soon show Kirk and Piper the true merit of Leonard McCoy.") (1)

• two poems by Linda Slusher, of of which is called Sol III; Vulcan (2)
• A Night to Remember by Cathy Brooks, art by Barbara P. Gordon ("Feeling the peace and comfort of the Enterprise slipping away, McCoy is helped by a short, chance meeting uith Tonia Barrows.") (22)
• Rage Against the Dying of the Light, poem by Sherry Veltkamp (26)
• The Draftee by Rosemarie Eierman, art by Kate Maynard ("We follow McCoy through the first few hours of his reluctant return to the Enterprise.") (29)
• Home by Ingrid Cross, art by Suzan Lovett (32)
• Journey Home by Linda Neel ("Following V'Ger, McCoy finally has the time to reflect on his lite. What of Leonard McCoy? Where does he fit in and where is his home?") (36)
• A Handful of Time by Florence Butler, art by Pat Kilner ("Uhura has suffered a personal tragedy and McCoy as friend and physician comes to help.") (39)
• crossword puzzle by Amelia Hefferlin
• The Staff by Sue Keenan (45)
• Gifts Freely Given by Diane Mikiewiecz & Cindy Deren, art by Bev Zuk ("McCoy is captured by the natives of a semi-arid planet uhen they believe him guilty of stealing food. He is thrown to the Fire Needles as punishment. The vicious, stinging insects inflict much damage before Spock and Kirk can rescue him. While waiting for the return of the Enterprise, Spock uses a heretofore unrevealed Vulcan techinque to relieve McCoy's pain and fear.") (46)
• Eternal Flames, Forever Pain by Jeanie Humphrey, art by Suzan Lovett (60)
• [unreadable] the M.T. (the Alien) (65)
• Filk: McCoy's Dilemma ("With Her Head Tucked ...") by Karen Mitchell, art by Kate Maynard (66)
• [unreadable] by Sandra Middleton, art by Lydia Moon (68)
• Return to Genesis by L. Jeanne Powers, art by Kate Maynard ("A macabre post ST:TWOK story. Kirk cannot accept Spock's death and returns to Genesis to find his friend.") (70)
• Another Piece of the Puzzle by Richard Pollet, art by Kate Maynard (77)
• The Gift of Love, Too by Jeanne Noga ("Lisa Jarmane, Medical Technologist on the Enterprise, means a great deal to Leonard McCoy. He selects Lisa to accompany him on a 3 week assignment at a research station, but the routine assignment turns into a tragedy and shattering experiences that could separate Lisa and the doctor.") (79)
• [Country?] Doctor by Teresa Sarick (78)
• The Gift of Love, Too by Jeanne Noga, art by Suzan Lovett (79)

• 

  from issue #8, Lydia Moon. McCoy's uniform is pulled from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; most fan artists chose to illustrate McCoy in clothing from the TV series. This may have more to do with greater availability of TV footage for references sources vs. the movies

• 

  from issue #8, Kate Maynard

• 

  from issue #8, Bev Zuk

• 

  from issue #8, Pat Kilner

• 

  from issue #8, Barbara P. Gordon

• 

  from issue #8, Suzan Lovett. McCoy's uniform is pulled from Star Trek I: The Motion Picture; most fan artists chose to illustrate McCoy in clothing from the TV series (see Bev Zuk's illo this same issue). The layout of the drawing is stylized (McCoy's upper body floating against planets) and has more of the 'look and feel' of a studio publicity still than Lovett's more dynamic fanart.

• 

  from issue #8, Suzan Lovett -- the artist appears to be experimenting with her style -- this piece is unique in that it incorporates, at least with McCoy's face, a woodcut appearance; the geometric flavor of the entire work is similar to Teegar's art

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 8

• Starting Point / Nice version of McCoy's arrival on Enterprise and meeting with Kirk. After "Where No Man," Mark Piper has suffered a near-fatal heart attack, leaving an insecure, young Captain Kirk feeling that he is losing all of his friends. As they race to a facility where Piper can receive surgery, they pick up McCoy as acting CMO, worn out and furious at being dragged away from a plague mission just as he was closing in on the answer. Lovely characterization and conflicts emerge. McCoy's file is packed equally with commendations and insubordinations, and he can't seem to hold any assignment for long. Kirk sees him as undependable, neglecting his duty to Piper to do his research, and vows to make this his shortest tour yet. A fine confrontation arises when Piper suffers another attack and Kirk assails McCoy for heading off to bed instead of looking after Piper; of course, McCoy has worked himself so hard over the plague cure that he dare not operate without a few hours' sleep. All resolves. Excellent writing, lots of impact without schmaltz.
• A Night to Remember / Interesting vignette with a sweet fare-thee-well between McCoy and Tonia Barrows (from "Shore Leave"), whom he encounters when Kirk drags him to a bar on shore leave.
• The Draftee / Vignette of McCoy's arrival back on Enterprise for ST:TMP, wishing he'd not taken reserve status.
• Home / Post-V'ger, McCoy analyses his longing for home.
• Journey Home / Kirk/McCoy dialogue over the Doctor's desire to go home after V'ger.
• A Handful of Time / McCoy attempts to comfort Uhura, who has had a renewed attack of grief over a murdered lover and aborted child as another crewwoman's pregnancy is celebrated. Nice writing and an interesting premise/pairing, marred by the fact that McCoy is willing to proceed directly from counselor/confidante to lover, which seems startlingly unprofessional.
• The Staff / McCoy pondering - or perhaps hallucinating - about the caduceus, apparently at the moment of death.
• Gifts Freely Given / After "Dagger of the Mind," McCoy lets slip to Kirk that Spock had used a mind meld. When Kirk dresses Spock down for not placing that talent at his disposal, McCoy defends Spock, recognizing that he does not want to explain that one of the few conditions under which he will use it is to save Kirk. Later, on a landing party, McCoy breaks a local taboo and is condemned to be eaten alive by fireneedles. Kirk and Spock manage to rescue him, but he remains in agony for some time before Enterprise can be contacted. Spock performs a meld to control the pain, and finds that even through the pain McCoy is desperate to get them to help the inhabitants, starving in a drought. When Kirk later tells him of the meld, McCoy is pleased to find himself among Spock's conditions for use of the meld. Interesting first-contact point here is that although the Enterprise could cause rain, they don't dare do so, for it would tend to confirm the inhabitants' belief that executing the thief pleased the gods and caused the rain.
• Eternal Flames, Forever Pain / Another explanation of McCoy's divorce and arrival in Starfleet. In this one, his wife is not only constantly bitching but also sleeping around fairly openly with numerous partners. Her younger sister Nicki - who works with McCoy, has a crush on him, and is distraught at seeing Ari destroy him in a spiral of alcoholism - forces him to confront the truth and take steps for the divorce.
• Return to Genesis / Kirk obsesses over dreams of Spock trying to contact him, and runs off to Genesis. Scott and McCoy pursue, and arrive to find Kirk chatting with Spock's decomposing corpse.
• The Gift of Love, Too / McCoy finds romance with his technician Lisa Jarmane. But after a first-contact attack in which McCoy is darted with poison and unnamed things happen to Lisa, she will not see him and runs away for psychological treatment. (Kirk refuses to even tell McCoy she is gone, which seems odd...)
• Poetry:
  • Sol III; Vulcan / Spock & McCoy soliloquizing on one another's homeworlds
  • Rage Against the Dying of the Light / McCoy battling Death for Uhura
• Filk: McCoy's Dilemma ("With Her Head Tucked ...") / TWOK & SFS

• Art: Nice centerfold of McCoy reading Huckleberry Finn. Several other nice portraits.

ODYSSEY 8 is the cost recent in a series of McCoy-oriented fanzines from Odyssey Press. The fanzines they offer are of a consistent quality; I always get then when I can because I know the next issue will be comparable in quality to the last. As with many long-running fanzines, there are conventions which run through all the issues. Here, for instance, the abbreviation "CMO" (Chief Medical Officer) is often used in reference to McCoy; for another instance, McCoy's ex-wife is always named "Arianne."

I found two more artists in this fanzine who I intend to nominate in January [for a Fan Q]: Kate Maynard and Suzan Lovett. Kate Maynardvs artwork, in particular, is superb (her style reminds me of Connie Faddis'). "Starting Point" by Sue Keenan leads off the issue. It is a credible tale about McCoy's first days on the ENTERPRISE. I enjoyed it despite my disagreements on some of the finer points in the characterizations. "A Night to Remember" has McCoy meeting Tonia Barrows on shore leave. The phrase "her hands danced in the air as she spoke" in this story struck me as awkward somehow. "The Draftee" by Rosemarie Eierman is a very short story about McCoy's return to the ENTERPRISE at the beginning of ST:TMP. "Home" by Ingrid Cross is an equally short story which follows ST:TMP. I thought these were fine stories but each could have been expanded. One thing I have noted in Odyssey stories in general is that complicated problems get solved too quickly and easily (sometimes in one line), despite the strengths of the stories in other respects. That's not really the case with the above two stories, but I have noticed it in others. In "A Handful of Time" by Florence Butler, McCoy consoles Uhura after the death of her lover. It's a nice story, "The Staff" on the other hand, was a one-page story I did not understand at all. "Gifts Freely Given" is a story set after the episode "Dagger of the Mind." Kirk is curious about Spock's ability to mind meld. The issue comes to the surface when McCoy is on landing party duty. Here, I didn't find the situation compelling enough to force the solution given. Also, as with "Starting Point," I disagreed with some finer points of characterization. "Eternal Places. Forever Pain," by Jeanie Humphrey deals with McCoy's divorce. Almost all Odyssey contributors write as if they believe that McCoy's ex-wife had no redeeming characteristics whatsoever; this is the case with this particular story, also (I tend to think that, as shown in T.J. Hooker, where the divorce of Hooker and his wife was caused mainly by the wife's inability to cope with the pressures of Hooker's job, McCoy and his wife probably also had different expectations of what McCoy's Job would mean to her. That does not necessarily mean that McCoy's "ex" was a complete villain, just as Hooker's wife was not.) "Return to Genesis" takes place after ST II and is a totally macabre story, "The Gift of Love, Too," by Jeanne Noga revolves around a med tech named Lisa Jarmane This character was once romantically involved with Kirk, and is now romantically involved with McCoy. I presume the idea that she used to be involved with Kirk was put in there so as to be a motivating factor for Kirk to insist that he, and he alone, rescue Jarmane when McCoy is hurt and Jarmane taken by the inhabitants of a planet. However, Kirk's insistence on going alone when anyone else on the ship might have gone, strains credibility. Is Jarmane so Exceedingly Important that only Kirk can rescue her?

Despite some reservations on the basis of my tastes, I think Odyssey, on the whole, has good solid stories, and I recommend not only this issue, but all others in print, as well. (Odyssey Press puts out a list of what they have in print; ask for one when you order issue 8 or send a large SASE. By the way, Odyssey Press also offers reprints of INTERPHASE, which is, in my and many fans' opinion, simply one of the best fanzines ever printed.)