Furthest North Reviews, issue 6 (part 3 of 3)

[SERVAL]

YARF! #22
---------

Published by Jeff Ferris, PO Box 1299, Cupertino California, 95015-1299,
January 1993, $5 ($1 postage), 60 pages, full-size zine

The return of Yarf... It had been a while. Having the publisher move
(twice, I think), changing some editors, and generally having life
get in the way of leisure are some of the causes for the delay. But
the major obstacles seem to have been removed, and they offer a tentative
schedule of every nine weeks. That seems feasible.

This is another small issue, on the heels of 21, which was really thin.
Under a Roz Gibson cover, we find: "The world of 2400", which is
background material for Roz Gibson's world of stories, the most notorious
inhabitant of which is Jack Salem. Some good points have been raised
in this group over the legitimacy of including this in the fanzine.
Because that is what Yarf! is: a fanzine. One that never pretended
to always be above-averaged SuperQuality Only pro-looking magazine;
rather, one that is a forum for its readers and some of the amateur
writers and artists of furrydom to show their talents. There will be
some ups and downs. Watts Martin and Zjonni Perchalski are ups. Jim
Alves' "Ralph the Wonder Hamster" seems to be a down. It balances.
This said, the material on the world of 2400 is interesting to read,
and explains some of the background in which the Return to New York story
which was publicly serialized in Yarf was set. But the six pages of
seemingly disjointed pages following it has the awful feel of issue-padding.
Then again, maybe they had so little tribs in that they had to put
something in to flesh out the issue to 60 pages. Which, alas, is not
a good thing to do, if that's what they did.

This is followed by In Our Image chapter 2, illoed again by Jimmy Chin.
Not surprisingly, clearly the best piece of the issue. Watts Martin
stands as a very good reason why Yarf exists. True, he may have published
the "Gift of Fire Gift of Blood" stories somewhere else; but Yarf had
enough publicity to boost him up to a considerable readership.

Dave Peyton's "Not Buffalo Wings" is, I think, a wink to one of the other
discoveries of the zine, John Nunnemacher's solid "Buffalo Wings" serial.
Now, treatment of other people's stories is not new in Yarf; one just
has to remember the many Morrigan jokes that appeared a while back. But
I fear this one does not work, for two reasons: one, this is not particularly
funny, as Stuart gets published yet the others downplay this good news;
and two, by doing so, they are completely out of character. Which destroys
it for me. And makes me wonder why it was accepted to run.

Then a couplf of Jay Shell illustrations. Interesting style and treatment.

Followed by a couple of Richard Hernandez illos. Well executed, and one
cute gag. Good textures and anatomy. Not bad.

One RJ Bartrop pic, definitely one that stays in mind. Very good pose
and expression.

Then there's the last staple of the zine, Empires. This time, everything
is done by Chris Grant, with lettering done through computer, a good
touch (compared to his own lettering).
To answer a previous concern, I can say with confidence that yes, the
story *does* go somewhere, and some of the characters introduced are
very important to the future. Grant is simply a little slow in his
pacing. I personally also like that he has made an effort to develop
the secondary characters to a certain point, and not made them carboard
cutouts. War is a team effort, and it involves a lot of people on a lot
of levels. Showing how a rescue, or intelligence, or combat branch
operates takes different viewpoints, and different teams having to
coordinate with each other (when possible).
(As a side note, some of the names are fun to read. For example, "Lt. Ariot
Blaumreich" is a transparent look-alike of Eric Blumrich, who is credited
for his characterization of the Lieutenant. And Lt. Chrysalis Flynn marks
yet another returns of a character from old, for those few who have read
the 7th RDK board from Furnet lo, those many many moons ago.. :)

So, there is a point to the story. And I have to admit Grant's style of
art and story is starting to grow on me. Either that, or I'm soft.. :)

Ralph the Wonder Hamster. The current main point of contention of the
magazine. Somehow, this is very reminiscent of Kim Thompson's battle
with the readership of Critters when he introduced Duck Bill Platypus,
a strip that was even more confusing than this one.
I'm not sure Roy Pounds was appropriate as inker here. His style is one
which specializes in line shading, although he does use a certain amount
of black spaces (no pun intended) here. Yes, the result gets very busy
indeed. The layout, though, seems appropriate to the story: flowing
wildly and without interruption from one even to the next. The 'panelless'
approach is not new, though does not seem used to its best potential in
this case. But it does convey the sense of madness that permeates the
strip, seemingly voluntarily. :)

The issue rounds up with some Robert and Katrina bits, a nice Monika
Livingston piece that was a commission from the Oregon East Symphony
orchestra with the express request of being furries, the usual fun
Freefall by Mark Stanley, the Last Bits column (which still uses Lance
Rund's tiger-n-computer routine, even though he's not writing the text
anymore), and a back cover by Jim Hayden.

Over all, the issue is a bit of a letdown. Buffalo Wings is sorely
missed, and there seems to be less stories as time goes by. Where
are the Double Helixers stories? The David White stories? The
wonderful Webfed stories by Waverly Pierre! Dave Kuhn stuff!
Nitrocoon! There used to be more variety, up to issue 20. Thinking
about it, that's when the troubles started with scheduling too. If
those are indeed finished, there's a chance this zine can be still
act as showpiece, *if* the readers are ready to give it a chance, and
that quality material is submitted. After all, they can't invent
good stuff if no one submits some..

I hope this zine gets better. I'm staying with it for the moment.




Ever-Changing Palace #5
-----------------------

Published by LX Limited, 11846 Balboa Boulevard #123, Granada Hills California,
91344, Fall 1992, $7 ($3 for airmail, $2 for surface postage), 96 pages,
full-size zine with full colour laser cover

This could be called the Wyman-Gallacci issue of the zine, with the only
stories by Vicky Wyman (Diamond Seas par one, Xanadu 2000 part 2, and the
last part of Most Dangerous Game text story) and Steve Gallacci (Phelia
part 4). A board game (seriously :) and five illos close the issue, plus
a beautiful Carspecken colour back cover.

Nothing much from the fans, then. But the quality of the current material
is hardly in question, most of it coming from the creator herself. :)
It is very nice to finally see Diamond Seas published *somewhere*, and
Xanadu 2000 is shaping up interestingly. More than any other issue,
this is a must for any fan of the Xanadu universe, being so thick with
Wyman art and stories. Nothing much more need be said. You like it or
don't. :) And the price is, in my eyes, justified for the quality of
the product, both in contents and production.






Wildlife APAzine #3
-------------------

Edited by Matt High, 11726 West Ave #B3, San Antonio Texas, 78216, $7 ($1.50
postage) - less for subscribers, 86 pages, full-size zine.

(Chee, I write this as issue four is out. Either Matt is fast, or I'm
reaaal slow.. :)

Several new contributors to this APA zine, including David Du Perre (who
I remember from Critters lettercol, way back when), Michael-Scot McMurry,
and James Lomax. This, aside from the usual stable of Howell-Sutton-Riley-
Nakagawa-Fitts-Littlejohn and others. It makes a very disparate mix.

So this mix can be that someone will eventually find something he or she
likes; it also means there's a good chance of finding something not to
someone's tastes. Mel. White and Riley, for instance, offer two poles
of creativity; or Kjartan Arnorrson is followed by Tracy Kazaleh, and
that's an odd mix if I ever saw one. :) Now, personally, I find this
variety interesting, but then again I like a lot of things (or I'm not
critical enough, who knows).

So far only a couple of material consists of stories, Mel. White's and
Karno's tribs. This allows a welcome link to future issues, and is
a nice break from the tons of full-page illos. :) There's little to
actually say, I find: it is what it is, a lot of artistic endeavours
from a wide range of people, some known, some less. Decent price for
the thickness and variety of the product. For those with an open mind,
and a taste for new things, something to check out. Issue four is just
out, will be reviewed when I get my hands on it. :)





Station!
--------

Published by Happy Maggot Graphics, 19672 Stevens Creek Blvd #299, Cupertino
California 95014, January 1992, $7 postpaid, 64 pages full-size zine

Subtitled: "The Magazine of Inane and Incomprehensible Furry Stuff". And
more apt a description is difficult to find.

Well, maybe not the inane part. But this is full of WEIRD stuff. And
when I say full, I mean full. The main part is a story, "Gainesville
Bill and the Last Charade" which runs 22 pages. Extremely weird.
Completely gone. And, for those who can take non-sequiturs, uproariously
funny and full of wit. This is a bunch of in-jokes, margin sketches,
and similar stuff from the talents of Jimmy Chin (as you have never seen
him before, and may never again), William Haas (most of them his - but
then again he's the one behind the whole thing; yes, he's the one to
blame :), Jeremy Kidd Wolf, Leah Hirsch, John Nunnemacher, several
others, and a couple from Tom Verre and Eric Blumrich.

Being myself a friend of many of these people, I was able to catch a
certain number of the references and jokes, and saw some of the illos
published elsewhere (a couple I know quite well - ahem...). It boasts
the complete set of Rev and Stephy drawings (a FurryMuck in-joke),
and many many references to Jinx, the farting cat (whose farting is the
least of things to worry about...). This is NOT for the timid, or
conservative. This is 'edge' stuff, a bit. Some sick stuff. Some
*really* sick stuff. All of it weird, guaranteed.

Anyone who likes humour without having to understand it, or anyone
under influence (which is how I think a number of the pieces in this
got done, or at least look like..) will enjoy this immensely. *many
smileys here - 'tis humour I'm doing..)

No, really, it's weird, but it's loads of fun. Don't worry about
'getting' it - it's impossible. It's made to be inunderstandable.
Just read, and laugh.






==============================================

Here closes another installment of FNR. I may or may not do more, depending
if I feel like it. If I do, there'll be more of the same, or whatever
gets thrown in my lap (those are real surprises, lemme tell ya..).

Until then, I hope at least one person was interested in something they
didn't know about, and enjoys a new product; that is the purpose of
this thing, after all...


Serval
--ni...@kavishar.umd.edu

[James Lynn]

Gack! My previous article should *not* have come out like that! I don't
know where I screwed up, but I do apologize to everyone who had to read
through the entire thing only to find nothing new. I'll be more careful
next time. Sorry.

Anyway, I shall try again to post what I really wanted to say.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a previous article, SERVAL (ni...@kavishar.umd.edu) wrote:

> This is followed by In Our Image chapter 2, illoed again by Jimmy Chin.
> Not surprisingly, clearly the best piece of the issue. Watts Martin
> stands as a very good reason why Yarf exists. True, he may have published
> the "Gift of Fire Gift of Blood" stories somewhere else; but Yarf had
> enough publicity to boost him up to a considerable readership.
>

Uh, actually he did publish them in Yarf. 'A Gift of Fire, A Gift of Blood'
ran in issues #5-8, and 'The Lighthouse' ran in issues #16-18/19. The last
two chapters appearing in 18/19 probably made some people decide to spend
$10 on the issue where they otherwise might not have, and therefore gave
my own story a piggyback. :)

Ah, well. I just thought the record should be set straight.

________________________________________________________________________
/ James Charles Lynn -o- jam...@cie-2.uoregon.edu \
|________________________________________________________________________|
| "No, she's absolutely right," said Zeb, patting the enormous pistol |
| at his hip. "This _is_ a penis substitute. After all, if I could kill |
| at a range of thirty meters with my penis, I wouldn't need to carry |
| this thing around, now would I?" |
\________________________________________________________________________/

[Greywolf]

In article <1mveng$s...@pith.uoregon.edu>, jam...@cie-2.uoregon.edu (James Lynn) writes:
>> Not surprisingly, clearly the best piece of the issue. Watts Martin
>> stands as a very good reason why Yarf exists. True, he may have published
>> the "Gift of Fire Gift of Blood" stories somewhere else; but Yarf had
>> enough publicity to boost him up to a considerable readership.
>>
>
> Uh, actually he did publish them in Yarf. 'A Gift of Fire, A Gift of Blood'
> ran in issues #5-8, and 'The Lighthouse' ran in issues #16-18/19. The last
> two chapters appearing in 18/19 probably made some people decide to spend
> $10 on the issue where they otherwise might not have, and therefore gave
> my own story a piggyback. :)
>
> Ah, well. I just thought the record should be set straight.

I sincerely doubt that Serval was implying that Watts Martin had *not* been
published in Yarf, or his comments would make absolutely no sense whatsoever.
"...he may have published the "Gift of Fire Gift of Blood" stories somewhere
else;..." I interpret to mean that "...he may have *also* published...",
_not_ "...he may have published ... somewhere else *instead*;...".
--
-Jordan .. PEACO...@iscsvax.uni.edu
.OO. Jordan Peacock (Jordan Greywolf)
O/\O (New Address): 1610 Parker
~~ Cedar Falls, IA 50613