Mourning, A Tribute

Multi-Media Genzine 

Publisher: AllGen Press

Review: Wow.  That's the first thing that came to my mind as I read the stories, poems and tributes that are included in the zine "Mourning".  The zine is the first from the new AllGen Press and while it's sad that circumstances were that this was their first zine, it's a wonderful debut for the press.  I'm happily anticipating many more releases from AllGen in the future.

First off, the overall zine.  It's 200+ spiral boung pages of fanfic, poems and art dedicated to the victims of the tragic  events of September 11.  There are many fandoms represented in the zine, although admittedly, Sentinel has the most stories.  But even if you are not a Sentinel fan, I think  you'll enjoy the zine. There are shows that I'm not into that fandom, but I was drawn into the story. 

I'm not going to try to comment on every single story, there's simply too many.  But there are several that especially caught my attention and my emotions.  So I'm going to go by fandoms represented. Authors, please don't feel left out if I don't mention your particular story.  You all did a great job with a difficult subject.  It's not your fault if I'm not into a particular fandom. :)

Gotham Burning, by D.L. Slaten.  This is the very first Batman fanfic I've ever read.  To be honest, I wasn't sure it would work.  But oh my, did it ever.  I had tears in my eyes at the closing image.  It's a beautiful story.   

I rather wish there had been more Highlander stories.  The one included, Always Hope, by Christina A is good, but seeing as how the original Highlander lived in New York, it would have been nice to have seen Connor's reaction.  (in other words, Beth needs someone to write more HL stories.  <bg>)

The Invisible Man story is good, although I stayed sort of lost since I don't know the characters.  Not that it mattered, the emotions were the same shared by us all.

The Man from UNCLE story, The Day Jeffrey Died by Karen Poitras and J.H. Hindman, is wonderful.  I've been a fan of UNCLE for years, but have never read much fanfic.  As with the Batman story, I was curious as to how it would work.  Again, it worked beautifully and again, there were tears as I read it. 

In fact, I'm trying to get my sister to read the zine, based on the Batman and UNCLE stories.   

There are several Magnificent Seven stories that are well written, but since I'm not a fan, I didn't really know the characters going in.  Kudos to the authors for presenting stories that didn't depend on the readers knowing the details of the show or the characters. 

My favorite of the multi-media stories is No Degrees by Jane Mailander.  There are many shows represented in a series of short scenes.  It's well written and shows the events of the day through the eyes of many of our favorite characters.

The Professionals and Real Ghostbusters stories are well done.

The Sentinel stories make up the bulk of the zine.  Not that I'm complaining, being a Sentinel fan.  I'd have to say that I am amused that Blair's mother, Naomi, seemed to get the worse deal of out several of the stories.  Some stories have Jim and Blair travelling to New York to help, some have them staying in Cascade helping and dealing with the events.  Of the stories that stuck in my memory, "Hope" by Lyn Townsend, "Guardian Angels Unawares" by Besterette and "Miracles and Tragedies" by Mary Ellen. Each for different reasons, but I think all three because they capture the emotions and hopes so very well. 

There's a Seven Days story that echoed what many of us wish we could do.  hmm.. wonder how the Doctor would have handled it? 

Stargate SG1, "Please Let Me Help" by Chrys and "Together" by Sheila Paulson are both very powerful.

Starman.  If there's a story that I had to say I didn't quite get or follow, it's the Starman story.  By no means is that a reflection on the author.  Tis my fault, I just didn't follow it.

The fanfic stories end with Starsky and Hutch.  Another story that I was curious as to how they'd relate it to current events and it worked. 

The zine closes with a series of poems, essays, thoughts and prose that share the author's emotions with the readers.  They all represent the many emotions we've all felt since 9/11/2001.  

whew..  If you've made it this far, thanks!  There's simply no way to do the zine justice in any fewer words.  So now, go and buy a copy of the zine.  $5.00 of the price goes to charity and it's a wonderful zine to curl up and spend an evening reading.

Reviewer: virginia