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Secret Smile
| Fan Art | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Secret Smile |
| Artist: | Shelley Butler |
| Date(s): | 1999 |
| First Published: | |
| Medium: | |
| Genre/Style: | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TOS |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Secret Smile is an illo by Shelley Butler.
It was printed in Beyond Dreams #1.
This illo was the winner of a Philon Award.
Publisher's Comments
The publisher wrote about selling this zine at the 1999 Shore Leave:
At the beginning of the con I was braced for nastiness, for confrontations, for folks to challenge me, especially since the cover of Beyond Dreams I is pretty inescapably intimate. (Hey, I like pictures of Kirk and Spock naked, embracing! Don’t you?) But as the hours and days wore on, I realized that wasn’t going to happen, and I became really comfortable. Oh, there were a few twentyish-men who held BD in their hands and said, “I just don’t get it” with a hint of challenge in their voices. But I just said, “If you don’t get it, you wouldn’t be interested, so you shouldn’t buy the zine.” At the suggestion that they might actually buy the zine, they uniformly dropped it like a hot potato and moved on. [1]
Fan Comments
1999
The B&W drawing of Kirk embracing Spock on the front cover of Beyond Dreams 1 is an excellent Shelley Butler piece. Spock is in front, nude to the waist, and Kirk is behind him, holding him. Both faces can be seen. Kirk is really nicely done. Spock is just a tad off, but that may be because one never sees him with a smirky, sexy, satisfied expression on his face in the series. I guess the work is called Secret Smile [2] because of Spock’s expression. It is Spock—it’s just not a facial expression we’re used to. If you’re into art, this will be a nice one to add to your collection if Butler is doing prints of it.[3]
2002
I loved BD1's cover — you can just see Spock's contentment (and delight) and Kirk's possessiveness and determination. [4]
2001
I was totally floored the first time I saw this cover. It's simply gorgeous! Kirk is embracing Spock from behind and both men are bare-chested. The look on Kirk's face is one of total devotion. And of course there is the slightest smile on Spock's face. A smile that is only for Jim. I will admit, I prefer to see Spock not so 'built up' but more as he really is: slim with less obvious muscles. But that is just my preference and certainly did not take away from how realistically the artist has captured them. How lucky we are to have Ms Butler's work in our fandom!" [5]
2002
I truly love this piece of art. I have spent an awful lot of time that I could have spent reading the wonderful stories in the zine just looking at and admiring the cover. The expression on Spock's face is marvelous, very subdued as one would expect, but very loving as well. He is clearly content, even happy, to have Kirk holding him somewhat possessively. I also love the expression on Kirk's face of quiet determination, like he's determined never to let go. Just beautiful! [6]
References
- ^ from The K/S Press #37
- ^ This art by Shelley Butler was nominated for a 1999 STIFfie Award.
- ^ from The K/S Press #35
- ^ from The K/S Press #59
- ^ THe K/S Press #51 (04/2001)
- ^ from The K/S Press #74