Phasers & Light Sabers

Zine
Title:	Phasers & Light Sabers
Publisher:
Editor(s):	Eliana B. Cortez and Susan Shonkwiler
Date(s):	March 1982
Series?:
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	multimedia but mainly Star Trek: TOS & Star Wars
Language:	English
External Links:
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front cover

flyer

Phasers & Light Sabers is a gen multifandom 49-page anthology. It has extremely sparse small illos.

A flyer notes that the creators of this zine hoped to have it available at the Science Fiction Weekend at the Registry Hotel in Irvine, CA on April 8, 1982.

Story Summaries

From a publisher's ad:

Luke takes off on his own smuggling career. A story of Darth Vader's privately-trained Jedi, Cindy. Like finds out about his father, or does he? Marion Ravenwood tells of 'The Man I Knew Ten Years Ago.' An Esperanto story, the first of many adventures with the crew of the Esperanto and the Enterprise. Plus lots more.

Contents

• Pseudo-Intro by Susan Shonkwiler and Eliana Cortz (1)
• The Esperanto Story ("The story of the USS Esperanto, her Captain Erin Pike (Christopher Pike's sister), first officer Alaina Drake and their encounter with the commanding crew of the Enterprise. Kidnapping, political intrigue, love, friendship, Klingons...what more can one ask of a story?") (Star Trek: TOS) (3)
• Oh, That's the Trouble with Tribbles by James W. Kipp & Robert K. Gilliam (Star Trek: TOS)(13)
• Star Trek Forever, poem by Robert K. Gilliam (Star Trek: TOS) (14)
• On Your Own, Kid, Part One by Eliana Cortez ("Luke gets a ship and a first mate. "The story of Luke's travels as a smuggler. He acquires his own ship, the Neptune, the biggest white elephant in the galaxy, and his first officer (and wife) Morgan Trevor. When Morgan and his unborn child is captured by the Empire, Luke must try to rescue them...") (Star Wars) (15)
• Woman of the Empire (to be continued) by Susan Shonkwiler ("Vader trains a Jedi woman. "Lady Cynthia, Vader's newly trained Jedi, has been giving information to the Rebellion. When Vader finds out, she is tried as a Rebel, alongside Luke, Han, and Chewie. Where she manages to charm all three, but, especially Han. Be warned, Cindy is a tough Lady."") (Star Wars) (21)
• An Elf's Lament, poem by Susan Shonkwiler (Star Wars)(32)
• Birth of a Jedi by Eliana Cortez (Luke dreams of who his father was. "Fine out what made Darth Vader say he was Luke Skywalker's father.") (Star Wars) (33)
• Welcome Crew ("An article about the open house of Rockwell International, home of the space shuttle and Apollo. Including a speech by astronaut Joe Engle. Astronauts signatures in cement, like in Hollywood. And they said that there were no more real heroes.") (37)
• P.A.L. (Phasers & Light Sabers) Survey Results by Susan Shonkwiler and Eliana Cortz (39)
• Star Trek Word Search by Susan Shonkwiler (42)
• Stars, poem by Susan Shonkwiler (43)
• Marion Reavenwood, Introspective, poem by Eliana Cortez (Marion's thoughts at seeing Indiana Jones for the first time ten years ago) (45)
• The Man I Knew Ten Years Ago ("Marion Ravenwood tells the story of her first encounter with Indiana Jones.") (Indiana Jones) (46)
• Time's Merging, poem by Susan Shonkwiler (48)
• Portrait of a Man, poem by Eliana Cortez ("How would you describe Indiana Jones? Here's how we do.") (49)

Reactions and Reviews

Weighing in at 49 pages is a zine by Eliana Cortez and Susan Shonkwiler. This zine is filled with many of the pitfalls that come with a first-time zine. Some empty space, puzzles, blatant Mary Sue fiction, both Trek and SW, and continued stories are included. Interesting ideas are here, but they get lost in short stories that should have been developed more. But there is a cartoon on page 36 I found screamingly funny, a poem on page 45 that had something, and definite potential. Borrow this one, and keep an eye out for issue #2.