Thursday, August 26, 2004
(F) Das Fangold, File 770, For the Clerisy, Future Times
Das Fangold # 7 / Alexis A. Gilliland, 4030 8th St. S., Arlington VA 22204 / Very irregular perzine (I’ve never seen an issue before) by one of fandom’s great personalities, a distinctive (multi-Hugo-winning) fan artist and published writer. This issue sports Morrie the Critic talking politics with a right-wing “I” character (Alexis swears it’s not Taras Wolansky) on election politics, Abe Ghraib, and other horrors of the W age. Set up Morrie with another brewski, I’m with him all the way.
File 770 143 / Mike Glyer, 705 Valley View Drive, Monrovia CA 91016 / NEW E-DRESS MikeGlyer@cs.com / $8 for 5 issues, $15 for 10 / The way Mike’s been publishing, it might take a few years to work out a subscription; this is the first issue in about 18 months. Much of the news and many of the eulogies are stale. Still, it’s good to be reminded of the dispute over Harry Warner’s fanzine collection (thanks to Robert Lichtman and Rich Lynch), and of historical interest are the ‘03 Westercon (thanks to John Hertz), the ‘03 Con-Version (from Calgary, thanks to Dale Speirs), and the ‘03 World Fantasy Convention (thanks to Martin Moose Wors- ... Martin Morse Wooster). One of F770's unique functions was always to serve as a fannish yearbook, and all kidding aside, these are well-wrought accounts. Another forte of this multiple-Hugo-winning fanzine is the publication of beat tidbits of fannish life, such as David Bratman’s misadventure with paranoid airport security after a Loscon, a fans competing in weightlifting competitions and – please God – surviving Iraq. There’s also a piece about Janice Gelb’s close brush with the California gubernatorial race, Forry Ackerman’s largesse with Hollywood, Dennis Lien on Minn-STF’s penchant for mock-murdering its presidents. But best are Glyer’s impeccably-reproduced photographs, and I’m not talking about the one of me, or even that of legendary Lionel Fanthorpe. I’m talking about the shots of Sierra, Mike’s daughter – loveliness incarnate. F770 has been fandom incarnate in the past, when its news was fresh, its stories new; it was then a true locus, a genuine focal point, for our hobby, a place where all could find all, where events and dates and stats didn’t o’erwhelm the humanity of fandom. Let’s hope this issue marks a return to that status, to frequent publication, up-to-date information, a current and unifying voice.
For the Clerisy #s 56-57 / Brant Kresovich, P.O. Box 404, Getzville NY 14068-0404 / kresovich@hotmail.com / $2, LOC, or trade / The clerisy are people who read for pleasure, but the real world lends an edge to these issues. He compliments my comments on the Abu Ghraib atrocities, but true to his calling, Brant has found the perfect quotation to sum up the obscenity. That’s about it, though; books and spectacles, of all things, take over the text: Brant discusses the superb work of Kate Wilhelm, include her surprise Hugo winner Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang just before depicting “Glasses-wearing People We Admire or Dread”, from Groucho to Buddy Holly, then launches into a cool discussion of Auto-Experimentation, which is not what you’re thinking, but rather the familiar type of story in which the hero tries out his secret serum on himself. Dr. Jekyll to LSD. Oscar Levant, the FBI, rock journalism all get notice in these enthusiastic yet critical journals of what and why people put their eyes onto written language and the things they glean from the experience.
Future Times Vol.7 #5-8 / Jayne Rogers, Atlanta Science Fiction Society, P.O. Box 98308, Atlanta GA 30359-2008 / www.asfs.org / Good clubzine from a group of media fans, with broad interests. A number of enthusiastic contributors – Lewis Murphy, Bill Downs, Mark Woolsey, Jan Sides – keep members up to snuff on SF, horror fiction, Dark Shadows and so forth with solid reviews and lots of news. Moving article about actor Richard Biggs, dead far too soon. Good cover art, especially Tim Flanagan’s sexy Ubik girl in May. August is the Dragon*Con issue, and since I’m mad at Dragon*Con for denying me the chance to see Julie Schwartz at Torcon, I’ll ignore that event here. Zine is good, though – a negative review of Fat White Vampire Blues a positive review of King Arthur, a rather snitty review of Spider-man 2, and an interesting interview with writer Karen Traviss. ASFA has a lot percolating, such as guest speakers and a rather suspicious alliance with a Klingon group that recently hosted a putt-putt challenge, for charity. T’gor-ha!
File 770 143 / Mike Glyer, 705 Valley View Drive, Monrovia CA 91016 / NEW E-DRESS MikeGlyer@cs.com / $8 for 5 issues, $15 for 10 / The way Mike’s been publishing, it might take a few years to work out a subscription; this is the first issue in about 18 months. Much of the news and many of the eulogies are stale. Still, it’s good to be reminded of the dispute over Harry Warner’s fanzine collection (thanks to Robert Lichtman and Rich Lynch), and of historical interest are the ‘03 Westercon (thanks to John Hertz), the ‘03 Con-Version (from Calgary, thanks to Dale Speirs), and the ‘03 World Fantasy Convention (thanks to Martin Moose Wors- ... Martin Morse Wooster). One of F770's unique functions was always to serve as a fannish yearbook, and all kidding aside, these are well-wrought accounts. Another forte of this multiple-Hugo-winning fanzine is the publication of beat tidbits of fannish life, such as David Bratman’s misadventure with paranoid airport security after a Loscon, a fans competing in weightlifting competitions and – please God – surviving Iraq. There’s also a piece about Janice Gelb’s close brush with the California gubernatorial race, Forry Ackerman’s largesse with Hollywood, Dennis Lien on Minn-STF’s penchant for mock-murdering its presidents. But best are Glyer’s impeccably-reproduced photographs, and I’m not talking about the one of me, or even that of legendary Lionel Fanthorpe. I’m talking about the shots of Sierra, Mike’s daughter – loveliness incarnate. F770 has been fandom incarnate in the past, when its news was fresh, its stories new; it was then a true locus, a genuine focal point, for our hobby, a place where all could find all, where events and dates and stats didn’t o’erwhelm the humanity of fandom. Let’s hope this issue marks a return to that status, to frequent publication, up-to-date information, a current and unifying voice.
For the Clerisy #s 56-57 / Brant Kresovich, P.O. Box 404, Getzville NY 14068-0404 / kresovich@hotmail.com / $2, LOC, or trade / The clerisy are people who read for pleasure, but the real world lends an edge to these issues. He compliments my comments on the Abu Ghraib atrocities, but true to his calling, Brant has found the perfect quotation to sum up the obscenity. That’s about it, though; books and spectacles, of all things, take over the text: Brant discusses the superb work of Kate Wilhelm, include her surprise Hugo winner Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang just before depicting “Glasses-wearing People We Admire or Dread”, from Groucho to Buddy Holly, then launches into a cool discussion of Auto-Experimentation, which is not what you’re thinking, but rather the familiar type of story in which the hero tries out his secret serum on himself. Dr. Jekyll to LSD. Oscar Levant, the FBI, rock journalism all get notice in these enthusiastic yet critical journals of what and why people put their eyes onto written language and the things they glean from the experience.
Future Times Vol.7 #5-8 / Jayne Rogers, Atlanta Science Fiction Society, P.O. Box 98308, Atlanta GA 30359-2008 / www.asfs.org / Good clubzine from a group of media fans, with broad interests. A number of enthusiastic contributors – Lewis Murphy, Bill Downs, Mark Woolsey, Jan Sides – keep members up to snuff on SF, horror fiction, Dark Shadows and so forth with solid reviews and lots of news. Moving article about actor Richard Biggs, dead far too soon. Good cover art, especially Tim Flanagan’s sexy Ubik girl in May. August is the Dragon*Con issue, and since I’m mad at Dragon*Con for denying me the chance to see Julie Schwartz at Torcon, I’ll ignore that event here. Zine is good, though – a negative review of Fat White Vampire Blues a positive review of King Arthur, a rather snitty review of Spider-man 2, and an interesting interview with writer Karen Traviss. ASFA has a lot percolating, such as guest speakers and a rather suspicious alliance with a Klingon group that recently hosted a putt-putt challenge, for charity. T’gor-ha!
