Reemergence
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Reemergence |
| Publisher: | v.1: Oddbalz & Mayhem Press, later agented by Agent With Style, v.2: Agent With Style |
| Editor: | |
| Author(s): | LRH Balzer |
| Cover Artist(s): | Warren Oddsson |
| Illustrator(s): | Warren Oddsson |
| Date(s): | v.1: 1996, later reissued and revised in 2014 v.2: 2014 v.3: 2015 |
| Medium: | print zine |
| Size: | |
| Genre: | gen |
| Fandom: | X-Files/Man from UNCLE, second volume includes NCIS |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Reemergence is a crossover series by LRH Balzer.
Issue 1
Reemergence: The M.I.A. Affair is a gen crossover 117-page novel by LRH Balzer. The inside art and color cover is by Warren Oddsson.
It is set just after the last UNCLE episode and in the middle of the third season of the X-Files.
It was first published in September 1996 by Oddbalz & Mayhem Press. In 2014, this zine was revised and agented by Agent With Style, who blurbed that it was "... newly re-written to add 15% more story and two gorgeous art galleries!"
Summary from the distributor: "Two weeks earlier, Napoleon and Illya had successfully knocked over Thrush. Now all that was left was the clean-up. But during the last raid on a Thrush stronghold, Napoleon and Illya are captured, and it is unlikely they will escape from this alive. One minute, they are facing death, and the next minute, they're gone. Missing in action. Presumed Dead. But in December, 1995, two young men appear on the scene that weren't there a minute earlier... Napoleon phones an old friend, Rick Matheson, who in turn sets up a meeting with Fox Mulder. Mulder and Scully end up harboring two of the most out-of-place, out-of-time individuals they have ever met."
Author's note from the zine: "For those of you who have read my Collection series, please note that this zine does not take place in that time line. This is a separate universe from that one.
Cathy, Warren, and I were speculating once on what Napoleon would be like if suddenly dropped into the nineties. This story comes from that time of laughter around a dinner table. I hope you have as much fun with it as we did."
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Reactions and Reviews: Issue 1
1997
It is not slash, but I just enjoyed it so much, I don't care. It's REEMERGENCE: THE MIA AFFAIR by L.R.H. Balzer.This is a MUNCLE/XFILES crossover and surprisingly enough, it works extremely well. In it, THRUSH, which is in its last throws, have gotten their hands on a time machine and put Napoleon and eventually Illya in it. The next thing they know, it is no longer in 1968, but 1995. The differences, and the differences they have in adjusting are just icing on the cake of this novel.
Napoleon, who has been sent forward first, knowing only that Illya (who has been wounded) will be joining him later, stumbles around modern day Washington, D.C. trying to figure out what happened. Eventually, he manages to contact Mulder and when they all get together, it's definitely an interesting combination.
The highpoints of this novel for me were mostly Illya-centered (not surprisingly), but not all. First of all, there is an early subplot (pre-time warp) about the fact that since Thrush is basically no more, the USSR is pulling out of UNCLE--and subsequently Illya is being recalled. The consequences of his return and even his attempts not to return are all gone over and none of them are pleasant. This was a fairly well thought out storyline and made a lot of sense to me, even Illya's ultimate solution to the problem, one I wouldn't normally like but which does fit this situation and Illya himself. (Damn, it's difficult not to give spoilers sometimes!)
Another high point for me was the hints of a start of Scully/Illya. The idea is one guaranteed to put a smile on my face. I also liked the differences in Napoleon's and Illya's difficulties when faced with suddenly being 27 years out of date. Napoleon has a bit of a problem socially (you just don't openly oggle women anymore), but Illya has a problem with it more on a larger scale: Imagine being a scientist who's been out of the loop for 27 years. Yes, there's been fascinating changes in that time, but you're also extremely out of date.
The last highpoint for me was probably one which I shouldn't mention in too much detail, but just involves Mulder taking Napoleon out shopping for new clothes and where they end up for lunch. :-)
The zine is available for $14 in person and is app. 117 pages. It has artwork (which ranges from the so-so to the very nice) by Warreb Oddsson.[1]
2001
I bought this zine on the strength of the author -- it was written by L.R.H. Balzer, whose Sentinel stories I had enjoyed very much. I was not dissappointed. I don't know enough Man From U.N.C.L.E to be able to quote episode titles, but I've certainly seen enough of both MFU and X-Files to enjoy the characterisations here. And I simply adored the fish-out-of-water aspects of this story -- if Napoleon Solo were suddenly dropped into the nineties, how would he react? What was done here was plausible and fun. I wasn't quite sure I could believe what happened with Scully and Illya, but I didn't mind it. She is, apparently, working on a sequel (yay!) [2]
2002
If anybody here likes Man From Uncle then you should *definitely* consider buying LRHBalzer's "The Reemergence Affair". It's a crossover between MFU and the XFiles -- strange but true.<g> I just got it today and poof, I'm finished. Very good read and has some really interesting twists and turns.[3]
Issue 2
Reemergence: The M.I.A. Affair Redux was published in 2015 and contains 218 pages.
In 1996, the story description as printed on the last page of the first issue was:
Napoleon and Illya have barely started on their backpacking tour of Europe when April Dancer sends a frantic message their way. A mysterious American group is attempting to take over Project EarthSave, and she needs their help to stop them!
Realizing that Mulder and Scully might hold the answers to some of their questions, they invite the FBI agents to join them in a fight to save the world, yet again.
"Reconnection: The M.I.A. Affair #2" begins where "Reemergence: The M.l.A. Affair #7 " ends off. Was Cancer Man responsible for Napoleon and Illya being brought forward in time? What has happened to U.N.C.L.E. and April Dancer in the past 28 years? And what about Illya and Scully? Is there truly hope for them?
Story description of the zine that was eventually distributed:
It’s December 27, 2013. Ducky is enjoying the annual post-Christmas medical examiners luncheon with an old friend, Dana Scully, when he receives a call that NCIS has a case. Scully gives him a ride to where the two Marines have been killed, and to her shock, recognizes a third man who is unconscious, someone who doesn’t look a day older than when she last saw him eighteen years ago…
A Delay in Publication: Issue #2
This zine was originally supposed to be ready for pick-up at MediaWest*Con in 2014. It was, however, delayed.
From a note by Agent With Style on May 21, 2014:
Yes, we took pre-con orders for the zine, the price based on what we understood the size of the novel to be, and for those of you who placed an order for this zine, whether to be mailed to you or picked up at the con, we will either give you a refund, or will honor the price of the zine, though we will ask those of you who requested con-pickup to pay for the postage if you want it mailed to you when it does become available. You can also switch the con-pickup to Shore Leave in August, if you are attending that con, and the original in-person price will be honored.
That's the sad news. Now, for the good news!
LRH Balzer, the author, is *adding* 50 MORE PAGES to the novel because the story just needed to be told that way. She wants to do justice to 'all the moving parts, and there are *many,* she says. The zine should be available in mid-to-late June, and will be mailed out the instant it comes back from the printers.
In January 2015, Agent With Style posted:
Several months after being announced, this zine is now available at last. The author, LRH Balzer, thought she had finished the tale begun in REEMERGENCE 1: THE M.I.A. AFFAIR, but after ‘finishing’ the sequel, the characters wouldn’t leave her alone, pestering her with ‘what-ifs’ and ‘how-comes’ and ‘why-nots’. So she did what any self-respecting author would do, she took back REEMERGENCE 2 and tore it apart, to add what she thought would only be about 50 pages more. It turned out that not only did she add those 50 pages, but what was to be only one sequel turned into two more! That’s right, there’s going to be a REEMERGENCE 3 and 4! But while she’s working on those two novels, she has tied up REEMERGENCE 2 into a nice, tight bundle of mystery, laughter and more strong, upspoken characters than you can shake a stick at. Come along for the ride and have a blast while you’re at it! [4]
Issue 3
Reemergence: In the Midst of the Storm was published in 2015 and contains 316 pages. Included in the three fandoms is crosses, it also includes "a smattering of The Professionals."
Agent With Style's summary in 2014:
While investigating the execution-style murders of two Marines, NCIS Special Agents Jethro Gibbs and Tony DiNozzo end up stranded in the middle of a fierce blizzard at an isolated house and fighting for their lives along side of two men claiming to be Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin (two iconic spies from the Sixties), two former FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (now a UFO conspiracy writer and an FBI forensics instructor), and US State Department top-level official Walter Skinner, who knows more than he's saying. Somehow they have to get past their differences and trust each other so they can pool their knowledge and figure out what is going on and how to stop it before whatever is out there kills them.
Agent With Style's summary in 2015:
In this captivating NCIS / Man from UNCLE / X-Files crossover gen novel by LRH Balzer, while investigating the execution-style murders of two Marines discovered next to an unconscious blond Russian male, NCIS Special Agents Jethro Gibbs and Tony DiNozzo must deal with two former FBI agents, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (now a UFO conspiracy writer and an FBI forensics instructor), who appear on the scene with Dr. "Ducky" Mallard, the NCIS Medical examiner. When DiNozzo is abducted from the crime scene and a dark-haired man shows up out of thin air, Gibbs reluctantly has to trust Ducky's acceptance of these people so they can pool their knowledge and resources and figure out what is going on and how to stop it before whatever is out there kills them all.
Publisher's blurb for the zine:
In this thick thrilling Man from UNCLE/NCIS/X-Files crossover by LRH Balzer, trapped with multiple secret agents in an isolated house in the middle of a deadly blizzard, Gibbs and DiNozzo try to figure out who killed two marines -- but they seem to be up against time travelers from the past as well as the future, aliens, and alien hunters. Tony is deathly ill, and Gibbs is willing to do anything to keep him alive, but this 'extraterrestrial crap' might just push him beyond his limits. Mulder and Scully have serious concerns on who they have sheltered in their home, and Napoleon and Illya are still reeling from making another large jump through time. Is Skinner the only one holding all the pieces? Will all these alpha personalities survive the blizzard wreaking havoc outside, as well as the storm brewing amongst themselves? Who's in charge? Who's calling the shots? And in the middle of an assault by unknown sinister forces, does it really matter?
Another publisher's blurb for the zine:
December 27, 2013. Following the events of “Reemergence II: The MIA Affair Redux”. Trapped with multiple secret agents in an isolated house in the middle of a deadly blizzard, Gibbs and DiNozzo try to figure out who killed two marines — but they seem to be up against time travelers from the past as well as the future, aliens, and alien hunters. Gibbs is willing to do anything to keep DiNozzo alive, but this ‘extraterrestrial crap’ might just push him beyond his limits. Mulder and Scully have serious concerns on who they have sheltered in their home, and Napoleon and Illya are still reeling from making another large jump through time. Is Skinner the only one holding all the pieces? Will all these alpha personalities survive the blizzard wreaking havoc outside, as well as the storm brewing amongst themselves?
References
- ^ In 1997, Michelle Christian posted the this review to the Virgule-L mailing list. It is reposted here with permission:
- ^ "by Kathryn Andersen, 2001". Archived from the original on 2016-04-28.
- ^ from Cascade Times, quoted anonymously (March 2002)
- ^ posted by Agent With Style, January 15, 2015