Fanzines: AGAINST THE SITH #1 (1978)

I never really got into the fanzine "scene." What little I knew about those fan-to-fan publications came from articles in the book Star Trek Lives! and Starlog magazine. However, on an impulse, I packed two bucks into an envelope and ordered the first issue of a Star Wars 'zine called Against the Sith out of the Starlog classifieds back in '78. I still have it, in fact.

According to a quick web search, Against the Sith was one of the very first Star Wars fan publications, and ran for nine issues between '78 and '80. It was the work of sisters Nancy & Tracy Duncan of Eugene, Oregon. Although the Duncan girls provided the entire contents of the first issue, other fans eventually contributed material as well. According to the Fanlore site, "The zine folded after 'The Duncan Scandal': 'The first fans who hated SW but loved TESB are writing in. The Duncans of 'Against the Sith' are a major subset of discussion after they circulate a long letter to fanzine editors, demanding a boycott of TESB and the destruction of the film by Lucas.' (!)

The first issue is pretty amateurish, if ambitious, with a couple of fan fiction pieces, a poem or two, and some scratchy illustrations. One of the stories purported to tell of Han Solo & Chewbacca's first meeting! The issue also includes a pretty harsh review of Alan Dean Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye - young Nancy Duncan was quite put out by the absence of Han Solo, it seems.

Looking through it again tonight, I note with some amusement that the issue is dedicated to "Ficus, our favorite vegeton," from Quark!

As a kid,though, I thought Against the Sith was rather marvelous, and it did inspire me to "publish" my own short-lived (and essentially uncirculated outside of some supportive relatives) 'zine, Outer Space/Inner Mind, which was more of a general sci-fi mag. (I'm going to go look in my parent's house this weekend and see if any copies survived - I don't have any.... but thinking about it, that adolescent effort was the direct ancestor of this blog.) I also "published" a few other magazines, and was interviewed by my local newspaper about my efforts.

I guess that's what started my so-called career in the publishing industry.

I also once had an issue (#7) of the Star Trek fanzine Enterprise Incidents (back before it went "pro.") That was a much slicker publication. I remember actually finding it on the magazine rack of  a bookstore I visited with my folks when we were on a vacation. Unfortunately, my copy seems to have disappeared over the last 30 years. Too bad, too - I remember it had a really well-drawn Trek comic in it that I'd love to see again....