The Tatooine Tribune (Star Wars fiction zine)

Zine
Title:	The Tatooine Tribune
Publisher:	Karen Miller & Shayne McCormack
Editor(s):
Date(s):	1981-1982
Series?:
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Star Wars
Language:	English
External Links:
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The Tatooine Tribune is a gen Star Wars zine with two issues. It was published in Australia. It was reviewed in the second issue of Jundland Wastes.

Issue 1

cover of issue #1

The Tatooine Tribune 1 was published in March 1981 and contains 73 pages.

• a report on the 1980 TESB promotional tour
• Solo Fleeced by Graham Love (a humorous Han tale) (3 pages)
• Point of Honour by Shayne McCormack (the story of a moral Imperial) (19 pages)
• The Hollow Man by Karen Miller (Leia and Luke after TESB) (6 pages)
• The Turning by Karla Tayler (why did Darth Vader go to the Dark Side anyway?) (5 pages)
• A Corellian Complication by Eva Albertsson (17 pages)
• A Monologue by Susan Clarke (2 pages)
• To the Threatened, poem by Pamela Freeman
• Solo's Soliloquy, poem by Pamela Freeman
• Luke's Filksong by Susan Matthews

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 1

Hip, hip, hurray X 3: that's your reviewer giving three cheers for this outstanding new zine from Australia. Mid slickly-written and slickly-produced plastic fiction, and passionate but illiterate tales, it is a pleasure to come across a zine filled with good stories fold with style. This zine's main problem is reproduction. Occasional typos, changing type sizes, smudged letters, difficulties with the stencil create a distinctly amateur appearance. People who care about this aspect will find Tatooine Tribune constantly irritating. This is unfortunate, because the quality of the fiction deserves better. 'The Hollow Man' is my favorite of the stories. Essentially a vignette, it presents a conversation between Luke and Leia in which he tells her Vader is his father and she shares her sorrow over the loss of Han. Both are beautifully characterized and the emotion is presented honestly and effectively, without sentimentality. This is a strong piece which I enjoyed very much. 'Solo Fleeced' by Graham Love is a nicely written shaggy-dog (or sheep) story with a charming little alien and a genuinely Australian flair. 'Point of Honour' is the least successful item, suffering from a cliched plot and a rather stodgy style which makes its point by telling instead of showing the reader. The story of the Last Honorable Officer (and war hero, of course) who wins over his browbeaten crew by his humane attitude and, revolted by Imperial brutality and corruption, defects to the Alliance, is pure corn. Nevertheless, this story has been done before worse, and the author deserves credit for trying to deal with the Imperials as human beings, although is success in this endeavor is debatable. In 'A Corellian Complication' is a delight, written in a wild individualistic, magnificently believable first-person style that brings the protagonist to vivid life. She is the Compleat Corellian, and may be unique in fan fiction in that despite a healthy interest in Han Solo's person, she manages to spend some time alone with him, clad only in a towel, without winding up in bed! There are several other improbable elements in this story, but it is told with such panache that the reader almost hates to quibble over them, and is generously willing to sit back and enjoy the roller coaster ride. 'The Turning' is a plausible version of Darth Vader's fall to the Dark Side, with an almost surrealistic tone in spots. The final vignette, 'A Monologue' is an adequate but undistinguished piece describing Han calling to Luke from the carbon-freeze. All three pieces of verse in this issue are excellent, showing an unusually poetic command of language. 'To the Threatened' sensitively describes Leia's thoughts of Han has a smashing last line, while 'Solo's Soliloquy,' although somewhat more strained, is a perceptive comment on teh Corellian's role in the saga... Since I am not familiar with the original, I can't say how much of 'Luke's Filksong' is her [the author] own, but it hardly matters. The final product is so powerfully moving and evocative, so delicately understated, that it deserves to become a classic. The art, most of it by Susan Campbetll, mainly quite good. In particular, two portraits, one of Luke and one of Han are outstanding, reminiscent of Joni Wagner at her best, with a very life-like quality. Needless to say, I recommend this zine highly. If the editors can bring the quality of their reproduction up the quality of this first edition's contents, I would expect this to be a strong contender for the FanQ award for best zine next year.

Issue 2

The Tatooine Tribune 2 was published in February 1982 and contains 80 pages.

cover of issue #2

• The Pirate & The Lady by Bes Shahar and Jeffords (Mari Sevenstars and Lady Vader) (41 pages)
• For Auld Lang Syne by Marcia Brin (6 pages)
• Chewie's Chair by Graham Love (8 pages)
• The Vengeance of Merridig by Susan Matthews (3 pages)
• The Confrontation by Karla Taylor (4 pages)