Warped Space/Issues 51-52
Issue 51
Warped Space 51 was published in September 1984 and is 98 pages long.
The front cover is by L. Goodwin. The other art is by Gordon Carleton, Anne Davenport, Lynne Anne Goodwin, Robert Jan, Kate Nuernberg, Melody Rondeau, Leah Rosenthal, Virginia Lee Smith, and Nancy Stasulis.
- Editor's Nook (3)
- Warped Communications, letters of comment (3)
- Miscellanea (6)
- Analysis Please: Gross Anatomy by Anne Popplestone (8)
- The Return by Robert Jan (Star Trek - Admiral Nogura) (reprinted from Spock #28) (9)
- An Ill-Made Jedi Part 2 by Deborah June Laymon and Deborah Kay Goldstein (Star Wars) (12)
- Ultimate Gross-Out by Roberta Rogow (46)
- Indy Jones, the Engineer by Roberta Rogow (48)
- Commentary On The Black Sabre Universe by Deborah June Laymon and Deborah Kay Goldstein (Star Wars) (49)
- A Letter Home by Joan C. Wilson (Star Trek) (53)
- The Second Letter Home by Joan C. Wilson (Star Trek) (54)
- Letter From Home by Joan C. Wilson (Star Trek) (55)
- The Paths Of Choice, part 5 by Jackie Paciello (Star Wars - Continuator story) (56)
- Parting Shot by Robert Jan (reprinted from Spock #34) (90)
- Private Notes On The Ecosystem Of Tatoonie by Ben Lars by Virginia Lee Smith (92)
- They'll Always Be an Enterprise by Sara Greenblatt (97)
- Never Lose You. Never by Karen Bates (98)
from issue #51, Kate Nuernberg
from issue #51, Kate Nuernberg
from issue #51, Kate Nuernberg
from issue #51, Kate Nuernberg
from issue #51, Leah Rosenthal
from issue #51, Nancy Stasulis
from issue #51, Nancy Stasulis
from issue #51, Nancy Stasulis
from issue #51, Anne Davenport
from issue #51, Virginia Lee Smith
Reactions and Reviews: Issue 51
[zine]:Once again Ann Popplestone has come up with a good article. i never knew anything about dissection except on how to do a frog back in the seventh grade. Ann has given me some new insight on the area.
An Ill-Made Jedi" is enjoyable for me because of the emphasis on the Force, and Luke's further training by Yoda. of course the idea of siths not all being bad or evil is one I never thought of. The idea of Light and Dark, albeit good Dark, being a balance and necessary for Luke to succeed is an interesting concept. Perja is becoming more and more likeable and interesting to me as a character. it will be fun to see how this series will continue.
The commentary on the Black sabre series is very much appreciated by this reader. it did clear up a lot of confusion for me. Thank you, authors.
"The paths of Choice" — all I can say is I have a hard time waiting for the next installments to arrive. i get into the stories so easily that i hate for the end to come. Keep up the good work, Jackie. I enjoy the series very much.
I enjoyed all the shorts and poems, especially "parting shot" and the cartoon on the next page. "The Ecosystem of Tatooine" was fun to read and i found I could see most of these critters scurrying around the desert of the planet, if only we'd seen sojiie of them in the movies.
All in all, another good issue for WS. I've never read one I didn't like. [1]
[zine]:Thank "you kindly for WS 51. It did my ego a lot of good to read in the Editorial that lay stories were "very nice pieces," In company with the excellent work I found in the rest of the zine, I felt very flattered indeed.
Gordon's cartoon on the back cover (Lick Observatory) was very much tongue-out-of-cheek and was quite gigglesome ... even though I'd never heard of the place before I got the gist of it.
"Gross Anatomy" reminded me of the sort of things I used to read in FANTASY & SF; I'm thinking of or, Asimov's little articles. I'm glad that there are people like Ann Popplestone around to remind me of the "S" in SF.
The Black Sabre series looks interesting ... especially since it takes the sugar coating off the Star Wars universe. Rebellion isn't much fun after all ... and like most things consists largely of hard work and much that is, to say the least, unpleasant. A minor appreciation I have for the characterizations is the Wookiee language, it was nice to see Han's name come out as "Runs-Alone." Full marks for including the authors' commentary on their universe, too ... it explained a lot of things that had me puzzled.
Kate Nuernberg has a nice style. I'm fond of artists who don't glamorize their subjects. I appreciate the hard work put into stippling, too ... all those damned little dots! Thinking back to the Black Sabre commentary again, the colonization of Corellia sounds very much like that of Australia.
Joan V-Jilson's "Letters" were on the borderline between schmaltz and reality, but fortunately overbalanced into the latter.
I wasn't over-fond of the section of the Continuator series that I read (though Nancy Stasulis did some brilliant illos for it), but this was more because it wasn't my type of story rather than any flaw in the execution, perhaps it will grow on me.
Ahh. Loved Virginia Lee smith's "private Notes on the Ecosystem of Tatooine." I'd just reread DUNE and was feeling feisty and environmental at the same time. Charming idea and illustrated with appropriate vigor.
Anyway, thanks again for the pleasant read. [2]
[zine]:Paula Smith's comments on reviewing were most thought-provoking, interesting, and accurate. A most useful summary of the qualities to look for, or to avoid, in fan fiction. I'd recommend this as useful to anyone who wanted to write a review (or for that matter, to anyone who wanted to write).
Jackie Paciello's "Paths of Choice" — the bit about the rebel agent turned dictator was interesting. Not all the Rebels would be good people, of course — there would be the occasional Stalin or Pol Pot amongst them, out for power under the cloak of a good cause. Or is Culloden a double agent? He gives the impression of being an evil Force-user, not exactly a Jedi-gone-wrong, but something along the lines of the Emperor. I also liked the material about Luke seeing his lightsabre as his "focus" into the Force — although, as he was using a new sabre in "Jedi," he didn't really have this over- dependence on the lightsabre suggested here. Although this isn't really the universe of the three films, it is a fascinating and' very acceptable one.
Helena Ming's "Be Still My Beating Hearts" was fun. Liked the illustration, too — noticed the Devo poster "We are not men."
Susan Wyllie's "The Star Trek Wars" was broader in its humor — liked the sardonic point made about those poor security guards. Poor C3P0; I can just see him trembling in fear as he risks getting his arm knocked off yet again.
Darth's lightsabre batteries failing? Egad! He must have offended a gremlin. Joan Marie Verba's "A Death in the Family" was another "McCoy gets the chop" tale, though certainly not as nasty as the "Mere Puppets ... etc." story in WS 49! I expected that McCoy was still alive after all!
Gordon Carleton and Kim Dyer's "Good Knight, Christine" was another fun story. A good thing about that "practically indestructible," though.
Paula Smith and Gordon Carleton's "Error, Error" was hilarious. That bit about the Mirror World Kirk having a tattoo (probably rude) on his bottom was rather suggestive.
Spock's familiarity with the appearance of of this part of the Captain's body has K/S overtones.
Marcia Brin's "Reflections" is a rather slight but thoughtful character sketch of Princess Leia.
"Aftereffect" (also by Brin) was some what disturbing. Not an alternate universe story either, but not after the victory of ROTJ. Luke slowly going over to the Dark Side — despite Vader returning to the Light. And it seems that owning Darth's red light sabre is corrupting him (rather like the One Ring).
Damn. Can't comment on the REMINGTON STEELE story as haven't seen this particular series. Susan Perry-Lewis' illustration is very attractive.
"Star Trek III" — ye Ghods. The idea at the end, about leaking a really warped version of the plot, sounds like the truth. The concept of a hate-ridden, bestial Spock (like a mutated version of Khan) is unnerving. Sounds as if Spock and,' Khan had somehow merged. And after Spock died a heroic martyr's death. It is the most bitter, cynical, and spiritually ghastly idea, some thing the Marquis de Sade might think up in an especially depressed mood.
Leah Rosenthal's "Corellian Graffiti" was about as much a downer, but the depressing aspect is a comment on real life — which so often ends up like that. Or is it rather a certain way of looking at real life? It's also an extremely funny story. I chuckled a lot at each dismal revelation. And poor Han being stuck permanently in the carbonite, and Leia keeping him upstairs — funny, yet heart- achingly so. And poor Luke losing his way and gradually losing touch with the Force. And the kids turning out bad — especially the youngest. "Day of the Droids" continued to be well- drawn and entertaining, but a little disappointing. Perhaps it's because I don't really like to see rebellious droids as villains.
After all, they are an oppressed race in the SW universe, rather like slaves. I remember the scene in SW when the barman won't let the droids into the bar — it's done for humor, but there's a bit of bite there as well. Droids would have a lot of good reasons to revolt against humans. This might be one of the future moral problems of the galaxy which will be described in future installments of the SW saga. The situation shown in "Day of the Droids" is a bit "Birth of a Nation"-ish. The backcover (Gordon Carleton again) was extremely funny.
I liked the little sketch of Darth carrying Luke on p. 2 of WS 50. Luke looks definitely drunk! I can just envision an alternate world in which Luke goes over to the Dark Side and ends up attending various Imperial orgies (now we know what gave the Emperor those bloodshot eyes).
I very much liked Lynne Anne Goodwin's mermaid cover for WS 51; at first didn't see this as media-related, and then remembered SPLASH. As the mermaid wearing a bra and has a differently shaped tail fin from Madison's, I .wonder if she is from a different culture or even race (there are probably different sub-races of mermaids, as there are different sub-races of Klingons). Is the cover mermaid a small one, or is the shell a giant variety? Beautifully done.
Would agree with Cindy Manship about Han Solo appearing slightly different from his "official" incarnation in the Black Sabre stories — he's definitely a more brutal character in these, though close enough to the "normal" Han that the unlikeable traits seem like a "dark side" to the man we know — here the brutality is even more unnerving.
Ann Popplestone's "Gross Anatomy" was interesting, although I'm familiar with much of the material here. I thought at first the title would be a horrid pun. The material here is a good background to all these body-snatcher and Frankenstein stories as well as being historically interesting. I was intrigued by the detail about skeletonized Crusaders.
Robert Jan's "Return" was a lovely surprise. A Star Trek ecology story, in fact a Save The Whales story. A very refreshing and original approach.
"An Ill-Made Jedi" (Deborah June Laymon and Deborah Kay Goldstein) — I liked the T.H. White Arthurian reference — definitely was set in an alternate universe. I mean, Han and Lando as slave traders (and apparently of the most despised variety!). They were disreputable enough in the three films and Han at least was a smuggler, but neither gave any impression of having the sheer brutality and callousness needed for slave trading.
Kate Nuernberg's artwork is definitely improving, and is starting to look rather good.
Interesting background for Han — raised in a Jedi monastery! And apparently an ex-Imperial military background as well. I al ways saw him as decidedly working-class (so did Nikki White, who wrote a very sad account of Han's childhood in a galactic slum). The Black Sabre universe version, closer to the Byronic Hero archetype, is a much more complex character, but rather less likeable in some ways.
I thoroughly agree about the unpleasantness of public transport as described on p. 24 — at least in inner city and the more run down suburban areas. The long-distance com muter train I ride on is quite pleasant and I feel at ease with the people. Interestingly, quite a strong difference between the groups who prefer the non-smoker and the smoker sections exists — one time some teenagers from the smoker section came into the non- smoker section and left because they found it boring. One time John and I were running very late and just managed to jump into the last carriage — it was the smoker. The people there are definitely a lot more lively and talkative; a party-like atmosphere. However, the smell of stale, soaked-in smoke is so noxious that we moved as soon as we had a chance — I couldn't take it, and the smell of smoke usually never bothers me except when I have a cold. I've heard that even some smokers find the smell of an old well-used smoker section unpleasant.
Liked the T.S. Eliot and other quotes.
Roberta Rogow's two INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM filks were fun. I cackled over the last line of the second one. One of the funniest things in the film was that Indy did not even notice most of the awful things on the dinner table — he'd have certainly reacted to the snakes! — because he was so wrapped up in a one-upmanship contest/conversation with one of the villains.
I was very interested in the commentary on the Black Sabre universe.
Leah Rosenthal's drawings. Melody Rondeau's and Anne Davenport's cartoons were all amusing, especially the Monty Python references in the ST II cartoon.
Liked Joan C Wilson's story in three letters. There's an element of tragedy in the upbeat conclusion after seeing ST III.
Lynne Goodwin's mouse and frog were delightful.
Jackie Paciello's "Paths of Choice" — I I enjoyed this as much as ever; the various plot threads seemed to be starting to converge. I was not entirely surprised at the way things turned out on Carnum.
The interesting speculation that the Alliance might be corrupted by the stress of was and the temptation of power was an uncommon one in fan fiction, though it certainly reflected the dismal facts of history. Culloden seems quite as evil as anyone in the Imperial hierarchy, and I certainly suspect that it would need someone of the special talents of Luke to handle him without bring ing about some utter tragedy. Very much liked Nancy Stasulis' three full-page illustrations, especially Han looking rather shaken after his visionary dream.
Virginia Lee Smith's transcription and illustration of Ben Lars' ecological notes on the Tatooine desert creatures was delightful. Luke's adoptive uncle comes across as a much more many-dimensional and wiser man than he seemed in the film. I'm always fascinated by this background material. I'd always thought of womp-rats as small, but hungry, and rather destructive of crops and foodstuffs, and being prolific fast breeders likely to increase to plague proportions, rather like rabbits, rats, and mice. Luke always seemed a fairly sensible lad and certainly wouldn't shoot an animal unless there was quite a good reason to do so. I hope Luke encourages the protection of the beautiful avarines (concern for ecology would probably be part of the Jedi way). The ithicas sounded to be an interesting menace — perhaps material for a future story here! I wonder if the Imperials might try using mutated "murders" of ithicas as a means of psychological warfare.
I was rather moved by the poem and short prose piece on the fate of the Enterprise, by Sara Greenblatt and Karen Bates respectively. The second one was pretty obviously pre-ST III yet was even sadder than the swift and glorious death shown in the film.
Liked Gordon Carleton's back cover. Wonder if it tasted good? [3]
Issue 52
Warped Space 52 was published May 1985 and contains 98 pages. The front and back wraparound covers are illustrations from Ladyhawke by Susan Perry-Lewis.
The interior art is by Gordon Carleton, Sara Campbell (calligraphy), Robert Jan, Kate Nuernberg, Susan Perry-Lewis, Karen River, Leah Rosenthal, and Nancy Stasulis.
From the editorial:
"The Paths of Choice" concludes for real in this issue; be certain to write and let Jackie and me know if you want to see more Continuator stories in future issues.
Unfortunately, some of the material bumped from WS 51 was also bumped from this issue in order to vary the mix as much as possible. Due to space constrictions, I'm not yet certain exactly what is going in, and what will be held for WS 53, but am sure the material in both this and the next issue will please most readers. Since our publication schedule has slowed, the backlog of material slated for publication has grown considerably, and I do apologize to those of you who are waiting (im)patiently for your submissions to hit print. We'll go to print with WS 53 and subsequent issues as quickly as we can raise the capital.
That's a hint to those of you who enjoy reading WS to subscribe. Due to rising printing and distribution costs, we'll have to cut down on the total number of copies printed. Since we don't get to as many conventions as we'd like, we can't promise WS will be available as readily in the past as it has been, and our inventory of back issues is shrinking. Assure yourself of getting a copy of each future issue by subscribing now! I do know that definitely slated for WS 53 is Roberta Rogow's humorous tribute to V's Diana, Charles, and Lydia — in filk format — Marcia Brin's SW story "A Look in the Mirror," [4] and Carol Mularski's ST story "David & Jonathan [5].
[snipped]
I apologize to Gordon here, too. I'm driving him crazy by handing him WS to lay out just before MediaWest*Con V, with little advance warning. I do this every, year, too. Sigh. If artwork seems a little sparse this issue, I apologize to anyone offended. Blame it on my usual lack of organization and procrastination. Jackie Paciello mentioned in a recent phone conversation that the mundane world is taking up an increasing amount of time, and she was right. It is getting harder and harder to travel to conventions, keep up with fannish (and non-fannish) contacts, maintain a publishing schedule, and so forth. There aren't any good excuses, of course, but one must establish and maintain one's priorities. 1985 has been an eventful year so far — in ways both good and bad — and we devoutly hope things will quiet down some in the next few months!
Joyce Thompson wishes it known she is still working on THE WEIGHT COLLECTED, and she and I will issue progress reports on this to all subscribers. We'll be so glad when this monster is finally printed!
- Editor's Nook (3)
- Warped Communications, letters of comment (4)
- Miscellanea (6)
- Tactical Error by Robert Jan (Star Trek (reprinted from Spock #30, the illo that accompanies it previously was published in an unidentified local Blake's 7 in "an altered form.") (8)
- Ilia's Theme by Diane Hall (9)
- Wolf at the Gate by Anne Elizabeth Zeek and Sara Campbell (Ladyhawke) (winner of a 1986 Fan Q) (10)
- The Paths of Choice (conclusion) by Jackie Paciello (Star Wars) (24)
- Galactic Melody of 1984, six filks by Jean L. Stevenson (61)
- Chameleon to the tune of "Many Moons Ago" from "Once Upon a Mattress
- Luke to the tune of "Jenny" from "Lady in the Dark"
- Daughterhood to the tune of "Tomorrow" from "Annie"
- Skywalker to the tune of "Hello, Dolly"
- How to Handle a Smuggler to the tune of "How to Handle a Woman" from "Camelot"
- Solo to the tune of "Mame"
- There's Not Life Like a Fan's Life to the tune of "There's No Business Like Show Business"
- Last Trek by Robert Jan (reprinted from Spock #28) (63)
- Francis by Sheila Paulson (Logan's Run) (64)
- An Ill-Made Jedi (part 3) by Deborah June Laymin & Deborah Kay Goldstein (Star Wars (66)
- The 3rd Letter Home by Joan C. Wilson (Star Trek (86)
- Some More Of The Tail by Robert Jan (prequel was in the previous issue of "Warped Space") (Star Trek) (reprinted from Spock #35) (88)
- The 4th Letter Home by Joan C. Wilson (Star Trek (90)
- Just Luck...? by Anne Wortham and Jeanine Hennig (Star Wars) (91)
- Joseph: A Conversation in the Desert by Roberta Rogow (Starman) ()
- Song for a Distant Traveller, filk to the tune of "Inchworm," by Roberta Rogow (Starman) (95)
- Dear Diary, Chapter 1 by Joan C. Wilson (96)
- I Might by Paula Smith (97)
from issue #52, artist unknown, reprinted from an unidentified Blake's 7 zine
from issue #52, Karen River
from issue #52, Nancy Stasulis
from issue #52, Nancy Stasulis
from issue #52, Nancy Stasulis
from issue #52, Nancy Stasulis
from issue #52, Gordon Carleton
from issue #52, Kate Nuernberg (includes a character that looks very much like Ray Doyle)
from issue #52, Kate Nuernberg
from issue #52, Gordon Carleton
from issue #52, Gordon Carleton
from issue #52, Leah Rosenthal (inside back cover, portrays Jack E. Colter from Romancing the Stone and characters from Miami Vice)
