Shadowstar/Issues 6-7

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Shadowstar · Issues 1-5 · Issues 10-11 · Issues 12-13 · Issues 14-15 · Issues 16-17 · Issues 18-19 · Issues 20-22 · Issues 23-24 · Issues 25-26 · Issues 27-28 · Issues 29-30 · Issues 31-32 · Issues 33-34 · Issues 6-7 · Issues 8-9

Issue 6

cover of issue #6, Mary Jean Holmes

Shadowstar 6 was published in Spring 1982 and contains 134 pages. The art is by Jean Danielsen, Anne Davenport (interior cover), Mary Jean Holmes (front cover), L.J. Juliano, Kyym Kimpel (interior back cover), Karen Pauli, Carol Paulson, Jay Sinden, Mary Wood, Joan Zweber (back cover).

  • from issue #6, Anne Davenport

  • from issue #6, Kyym Kimpel

  • from issue #6, Mary Jean Holmes

  • from issue #6, L.J. Juliano

  • from issue #6, Mary Jean Holmes

  • from issue #6, Mary Jean Holmes

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 6

I've finished reading Shadowstar #6, and, like I once said, every succeeding issue gets better. L.J. Juliano's artwork is beautiful, he's definitely a man of the shadow touch (probable pun intended). Will he be doing any more Shadow stories?

Mike Goodwin, watch out! Karen Pauli's coming in fast on the outside lane. How long before she decides to publish her own cartoons? Also liked "Getting Away From It All."

The other stories and poems were good, but the novels you're writing are hard to put on an equal basis with them, so I won't. I don't think Tal Westar is dead, and I have the feeling Han is the person he talks about in one chapter. Like he said: "Too many coincidences."

Since my singing voice is about as good as Luke's, I didn't try to work out how "Triptych" was sung. I read them as poems, although it tends to lose some of the feeling that would exist if one heard them sung.

I agree with you in "The Revenge of the Editor." Han couldn't be the Other. I don't have any idea who it is, either, but Han Leia, and Lando are at the bottom of my list. We'll just have to wait for May 27, 1983 for the answer, because you just can't second-guess George! [1]

Like it? I love it!

I never saw the SW Christmas Special, and had no trouble accepting "To Wooka" by Linda Ruth Pfonner. The characters grew! And that's most important....

When I saw the picture at the end of "It's Not My Fault!" I was afraid of another "Leia gets spanked" story, but I was pleasantly surprised. Leia was perfectly in character, and did she ever deserve what she got! I wish the story had been longer!

Comments about the Other: You stated you believe the Other must be Luke's Mother — I disagree, for some of the reasons you already pointed out. There was no foreshadowing, and there isn't enough time. I have speculations:

#1: It is Han. Even if he's not able to deal with the disciplines of training a Jedi requires, he is "outside the matrix," and has already shown he can beat Vader — look what happened at the 'Death Star — he wasn't expected.

#2: Luke's father will surface. I'm not fond of this idea, but hen, I'm not Uncle George.

#3: Obi-Wan is Luke's father. Why would he stick around the desert all those

years? It was stated in TESB that it's sometimes difficult to read the future. Perhaps when Obi—wan said Vader killed Luke's father, he was referring to the Death Star? [1]

I've held my silence long enough — now I have to write. I've been a reader of Shadowstar since issue one, which is a pretty good record, considering I'm not a great fan of fanzines. I find the majority of them are poorly done and aimed at too specific an audience for my tastes. Although I love Star Wars,, horror movies, and SF and fantasy literature (especially the works of Tolkien, Kurtz and McCaffrey), I can't say I'm particularly a fan or "groupie" of any one of them. I like variety and I like quality. Shadowstar has both.

I get bored with most fanzines quickly because they're so restricted in the topics they deal with. I think you 'zine is the only one I've read which doesn't "specialize" in any one fan group. It's true there does seem to be a preponderance of Star Wars derivative fiction it, but I think that's because a lot of space is devoted to your novels. Still, all in all, except for issue #6, you've kept a balance of SW and "other" fan fiction.

I also think it's important to have a vehicle for original fan fiction -- after all, where do you suppose future authors of SF and fantasy are going to start out, the market being what it is? I don't know of any other fan publication that encourages original fiction that's not based on professionally published words or media. Bravo!

[snipped]

Lo and behold, my $4,00 wasn't wasted. [1]

Here I thought "Getting Away From it All" was going to be one of those "funny thing happened to me on the way to" stories (like "Images in Ice" which was very good, too). Karen proved me wrong, however, with a story both politically complicated and elegantly solved. And she says she doesn't understand politics! Watch out world, if she ever decides to run for office!

"Tibanna Sunrise" helped fill in a SW story line gap with a totally plausible motive behind those lines from TESB concerning Lando's administration of Bespin and his relationship to Han. It might be fun and equally interesting to hear some other peoples' favorite theories on the how, why, and wherefore of their exchange in TESB...

The idea for family-sects of Tactalke seems very well-developed and could happen in a universe which subscribes to the IDIC philosophy. "To Wooka" nicely expanded our knowledge of several Imperial cultures at once (even though some of them do not appear in the copyright versions of SW). Except for getting a little sentimental in tone. Pfonner's story was very satisfying.

I'm still wishing I had been able to witness the Royal Wedding myself, but circumstances... However, I was consoled by having Karen fill in odd comments on the script and the way it turned out on stage.

G. Llewellyn has my sympathies for the treatment Han gave Leia in "It's Not My Fault." Jnyone can take just so much, and sometimes, I can't believe how forbearing Han is toward his rebel allies. I would have thought anyone who thumbed his nose at the Empire the way he does would be tempted mightily to do the same to the rebels — especially when he has to deal with hotshots like Luke and Leia who are at least five years (ten years?) his junior.

[...]

A Chance to Live. How are they going to get out of it THIS time? Seriously, though, I enjoy reading your novels -- even in parts -- because they are well worked-out. I know how you slave over getting the motives and the words Just right, and how you get your friends roped into doing critiques under the guise of proofing.

And now, onto the poetry and other stuff... My analysis of the poetry in Shadowstarr makes me feel the quality was rather uneven. Mary Jean's "Triptych" shows her genius for songwriting, but as some of the lines are in a difficult meter, I rather wish I had the melodies printed with the songs. However, despite that, I quite enjoyed them, except for "Reply," which had an aw ful lot of numbers in it (that his mercenary side showing?). I felt "Lady in the Night" and "Cell Thoughts" would have worked better as prose poems rather than free verse.

Anything else that I haven't commented on in Shadowstar #6 is beyond my ability to express appreciation. People who can stay in character for protracted letters amaze me. I've only done it myself under extra ordinary circumstances. "Sanddreams" was the only piece outside of my own "Challenge" that dealt with Vader and Kenobi. Interesting that Stuemke took Kenobi's part and I took Vader's. Sometimes I think your serendiptitious fillers are all works of the Force. I don't know the family his tories of the principal SW characters well enough to know all the implications of "Sanddreams," but I enjoyed the story, any way.

As to who the Other is...I've always rooted for Chewie or Artoo, but Artoo was ruled out in TESB by his inability to register the Force, and Chewie has too much of a sense of humor and cynicism to allow him self to become ruled by it (not that humor and cynicism aren't compatible with the Force, but I doubt Chewie's brand of it is). Luke's mother, huh? Hmmm...except we have n't met her yet in any form. Han, eh? Possible.. .maybe even probable... He does have to get out of the carbonite in one piece (or at least in one functioning piece). Well, we'll know soon enough with Revenge of the Jedi coming next year.

Thanks again for a fairly upbeat issue (considering that our five favorite heroes are subjected only to those wounds and predicaments expectable in the normal course of war). Very little of the superevil villains and their superevil plots in this issue.[2]

"Letters From a Homesick Wookiee" was cute. I like Chewie as a character, even though he's often totally ignored in a lot of fanfiction. These letters give us a little insight Into the Wookiee mind. Chewie's affection for Han is apparent; he's very tolerant of his partner's childish behavior — he's seen It before and knows that it's just Solo's way of reliving the boredom of a forced stay in the Medcenter. It's also clear that Chewie loves Malla and Lumpy, though he doesn't have opportunity to see them.

"Me an' My Shadow" was...enjoyable. It wasn't really what I'd call a story, nor was it a vignette. However, it was interesting. I particularly liked Han telling the story, first person. I've only seen that done once before, and it didn't come off well at all. Peter Miller did a good Job in that respect, and I also liked the verbal interchanges between Han and Chewle. They were humorous and in character.

"Sanddreams" — Had this been any longer than two pages, I probably wouldn't have read it. Ya see, I'm Just really tired. of all the seemingly endless versions of The Fight between Skywalker Sr. and Darth Vader. Even though each author's version is slightly different and, of course, each author has his/her own style, they still read remarkably the same! I did like Roberta Stuemke's style, from what I could tell in a two-page selection, and I'd love to read something else by her — but not about Ken-obi or Skywalker Sr., please !

"The Royal Wedding" — I only wish I'd seen J.R. at the con! I'd like to know what Scruffy looks like! My favorite line is "I now pronounce you chained for life."

"Getting Away From It All" — Yea! A Leia story! Not only that, but it takes place after Star Wars. With rare exceptions, most Leia stories I've read are oh-so-boring Leia-growlng-up stories. Not near enough has been said and written about the woman Leia Organa — in my opinion, she's much more interesting than the child or teenager. Which leads me to my only gripe about the portrayal of Leia in this story: she keeps referring to herself as a "girl" and that doesn't sound right to me. Though she's young, Leia hasn't been a "girl" for years! She's much more mature than any girl could ever be, and I doubt that she would think of herself in that manner. And I definitely can't imagine Leia loving fancy parties, shopping for pretty clothes and, GASP! gossiping with the other girls. Is Karen talking about the same Leia as the one in the movies and books? I think not.

"Images In Ice" — This is cute. I like the author's style very much. However, I do have two slightly negative things to say about it. First, Luke tells the princess "I think you're really something. To me, that smacks of 1980's USA. And anyway, I've always hated the ambiguous nature of that expression. Second, the ending was disappointing. I thihk it would've been much more effective if the princess had, like the others, thrown a snowball at the icy Oarth Vader and had perhaps succeeded in knocking off a vital part of his anatomy (now wait a minute — get your mind out of the gutter — I meant his head) where the others had failed. The blaster was too easy; not nearly as satisfying as knocking the ol' boy's head off with a snowball! Oh, and I almost forgot — I really liked Leia's feeling uneasy about Luke's obvious infatuation with her, Luke sees what he wants to see in the princess, and Leia is smart enough to realize this. Han, on the other hand, sees Leia for what and who she really is...and likes her as a person as well as a potential lover.

"Tibanna Sunrise" — How nice to see a Lando story. I liked it, up to the point where Lando has to try to get back the Bespin navatape from Calbot. Because Lando had a reputation for being a con artist, I would've liked to have seen him have a more prominent role in the con itself. As it was, Dally had the starring role — not Lando. But more importantly, I thought the circumstances of the story did not support the reality of a con game. Why couldn't Lando simply steal the tape or hire someone to steal it for him?

"To Wooka" — I loved itl The characterizations were excellent and the dialogue was wonderfulI My only reservations concern the "sharing" sequence between Han and Luke at the end of the story. It wasn't the "sharing" itself, but the way. it was written that I didn't feel comfortable with. I had to read it through two or three times to understand and differentiate between what they were actually "saying" to each other and what they were thinking to themselves... Anyway, it was a bit confusing; overall, however, It was a very enjoyable story.

"It's Not My Fault" — Let me make this perfectly clear...it is not the author or the author's style I'm picking on. I do not like the purpose behind INMF — that is — to give Han an excuse to spank Leia! I'm sure there are people who think that this IS a cute idea or she deserves it, but I am definitely not one of those people. I find the idea of a grown man spanking a grown woman neither amusing or erotic. In my opinion, Han would NEVER do such a thing, and Leia Organa would not hesitate to kill any man who would even so much as make the attempt! This is a Let's Humiliate Leia story. [2]

Issue 7

Shadowstar 7 was published in the summer of 1982 and contains 102 pages.

The front cover #7, Mary Jean Holmes
back cover of issue #7, L.J. Juliano

The art is by Lee Christopherson, Jean Danielsen, Ann Davenport, Tim Eldred, J.R. Holmes, Mary Jean Holmes, L.J. Juliano, Kyym Kimpel, G. Llewellyn, Karen Pauli, Carol Paulson, and Mary Wood.

  • from issue #7, Tim Eldred

  • from issue #7, Kyym Kimpel

  • from issue #7, L.J. Juliano

  • from issue #7, Mary Wood

  • from issue #7, Mary Jean Holmes

  • from issue #7, Mary Jean Holmes

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 7

I enjoyed "Mammoth Alpha." Why? I'like comics. "The Silence of Emotions" was good. It dealt with a topic I've never read anything about before. I loved "The Proposal" and the way they tried to explain things to Luke. (Banthas, huh?

"The Day" by Marcia Brin was great. I've had the pleasure of reading some of her works before and enjoyed them immensely.

"The Plato Patrol" was interesting and that's all I'll commit myself to at the moment. I'll say this: it was different. Now, to the biggie, A Chance to Live, part three. I loved it, do you hear (or should that be read), loved it.

I found out that some of my ideas about it were right. Tal does know Han (now, if only I could figure out what will happen in 'Revenge of the Jedi". I have a few theories about part four, but I'll only mention one. Han makes a wig for Leia out of his beard and that leads us to your next novel. [3]

I Just read Shadowstar #7 and, as usual, it was terrific! This issue seemed to have a lot of new writers and illustrators (well, new to me — maybe not to you). I don't know where you've been digging these people up, but I suggest you register a claim — you're striking gold, lady!!

Let's take Tim Eldred, for example. This guy's good. His opening installment of "Mammoth Alpha" was beautiful. He even draws Dad Well (it seems most humans have j trouble drawing Wookiees, for some reason). < He's definitely got talent! It looks like L.J. Juliano may have some competition in - the comic-art department.

This is not to say Larry's been outmatched. "Dragon, Guardian of Xanadu" shows Mr. Juliano has an equally well-crafted yet totally different style. I have only one complaint about "Dragon," and that's his use of snakes. Why can't people use scorpions or Ceti-eels or other deadly creatures in their stories? But snakes! WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SNAKES? I HATE snakes...but I enjoyed Larry's piece a lot, anyway. If there does happen to be a competition between these two excellent artists, I hope it's of a friendly nature and takes place on the pages of Shadowstar, with a victor never to be chosen. That way, I can continue enjoying both artists' works forever.

I also hope to continue enjoying the art of Anne Davenport, Lee Christopherson, Karen Pauli, and Jay Sinden, along with Jean Danielsen, Carol Paulson, Kyym Kimpel, and Mary Wood (of course, the editor's own art goes without mention as she would more than likely edit out any compliments paid her artistic capabilities when this letter goes to be typed, anyway — praise does tend to embarrass you, doesn't it?). All of these fine artists and many more whose neunes weren't mentioned here in order to conserve space have presented me with great interpretations of people and places and instances as they see them. My thanks go out to each and every one of you for showing me — pictorially — the wondrous worlds and beautiful peoples the writers of the stories, poems and such have penned.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c from a letter of comment in "Shadowstar" #7
  2. ^ a b from a letter of comment in "Shadowstar" #8
  3. ^ a b from a letter of comment in "Shadowstar" #8
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