The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Zine
Title:	The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
Publisher:
Editor:
Author(s):	Sharon Emily
Cover Artist(s):
Illustrator(s):	Signe Landon
Date(s):	June 1976
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	The Day the Earth Stood Still and Stranger from Venus
Language:	English
External Links:
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The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face is a 67-page novella written by Sharon Emily. It is based on movies 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' and 'Stranger from Venus' (with a bit of Vulcan mysticism thrown in,) and a variation on a theme originated by Harry Bates in the short story, 'Farewell To the Master.'

There were 256 numbered copies printed.

This story was originally printed in The Other Side of Paradise #1 (Jan. 1976) with illos by Signe Landon. The standalone version is identical in content, including the illos, to the one printed in "The Other Side of Paradise."

Note from the author from the zine's last page: "The outline and rough draft of this novella was first conceived about ten years ago as a single unit -- when first I became victim to 'Klaatu's' magnetism. Therefore, it's more accurate to say that 'my' Sarek is a Kaltro-like hero.."

This story was one of the subjects of the essays The Right of Fanzine Reviewing: Part 1 by Sharon Emily and The Right of Fanzine Reviewing: Part 1 by M.J. Fisher in August 1976.

Gallery

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  front cover by Signe Landon

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  inside art by Signe Landon

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  inside page showing art and sample text

Reactions and Reviews

The largest story in the zine is 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.' This is a story that is admitted by the author to be a re-write of the movies Stranger from Venus and The Day the Earth Stood Still. It is well-written and coherent, but to those of us Emily fans, it is also a disappointment. I would much have preferred something original from the author.

'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' is probably a must for all Sharon Emily fans.

The main story is one of those seemingly interminable Sharon Emily offerings that all of us know and that some of us are reasonably fond of. This one, 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face'... has one of her patented forlorn heroines who performs all sorts of unlikely deeds and a Sarek-like hero who, for some incomprehensible reason, fell in love with her. At least we won't have to worry about a sequel... at the end of the story, the heroine fell under a convenient bus and died.

The bulk of this issue is taken up by "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Sharon Emily. This 72 page novelette is taken from two old sf movies, and as you read it you get the feeling that you're watching them again. I found this story very disappointing. It was like you reading a first draft; it was boring.

Sharon Emily presents a "What-if?" story based on "The Day the Earth Stood Still," with her Mary Sue falling in love with the alien and dying in the end under the wheels of a bus. I could not wade through all its 71 pages, though I' did read the first half. The movie was by far superior.