Friday, 8 June 2007

Fanzines Reviewing Fanzines - TSV #50 & 'Decade'

More blasts from the past! At the same time that RTP! was reviewing the end of the fanzine Telos, it was also taking a look at the two issues that helped mark ten years of the fanzine TSV (now turning twenty this year and celebrating with issue 75). Here are the reviews as published in issue 1:
TSV #50

Flagship of NZ fandom releases an issue of 'curly' proportions!

This Tom Baker issue was sometimes dull in comparison to previous issues becasue it lacked variety, a bit like the 'Key to Time' issue, but not on such a grand scale. The 'super-annuation commercials' were very well documented. I'm just wondering why the hell they weren't shown in Christchurch! Unfortunately TARDIS Tales came to a conclusion and the centre page is a montage of all the characters featured over the years. Is it just me, or are Peter Adamson's cartoons becoming more 'lined' with each issue? Paul [Scoones], if you are going to feature fiction, does it have to be continuity laden 'Dark Doctor' material?

- Wade Campbell
Ouch! Not the most positive of reviews, but can possibly be forgiven as fanzine-envy in that issue 50 of TSV was a lot more mature that issue 1 of RTP! (said fanzine-envy also evident in a less than flattering attitude towards the then recently defunct Telos fanzine). And 'Decade':

NZDWFC - Decade

Ten years and 50 issues worth of work is remembered in this special

This is as usual, an exhaustive guide of detail and achievements by the club. But a bit like The Web Planet, I got the impression that it was never going to end. It is always a pleasure to know about other fans, but I felt this took it a bit too far, such as Paul Scoones' life story and his anecdotes, such as "I ran a fanzine where you had to answer questions before you became a member", were, well, a bit uncalled for. As was a write-up about Matthew Dentith of all people. Some flak also has to be taken for the non-inclusion of Graham Muir. Shame on you! This review might be considered derogatory in nature, but this was the general consensus of people I have talked to. Sit back, and another ten years might pass you by as quickly as it did just then!

- Wade Campbell

3 comments:

Alden Bates said...

Wow, harsh!

Paul Scoones said...

There's nothing quite like an RTP fanzine review to remind you that you can't please all of your readers all of the time! :)

Graham Muir was most definitely invited to contribute to Decade. As Graham was one of the leading lights of the first ten years of TSV I was of course very keen to include his views.

I don't recall the reason why he wasn't in there now, but it would be either that he declined, or failed to send in anything by the deadline.

Matthew R. X. Dentith said...

Six months late, I realise, but a late night search of my name brought this up. I don't even remember 'Decade' having anything baout me in it at all. Can't have been all that interesting if Wade found it fatuous, though...