Mark Allen

A long time ago… when coin-operated Xerox copiers were the highest of high tech in an otherwise drearily lo-tech world, and versatile home computers were still a wet dream…fans of science fiction brandished colored paper, scissors, glue sticks, staplers, ring binders, pens and ink—to boldly go where no man (or woman) had gone before: the late-70’s / early-80’s science fiction fanzine. With both feet planted firmly within their own earnest interpretations of graphic styles of the present (particularly romance novel cover paintings and, to a larger extent, high school yearbook page layouts), these thrifty fans nevertheless weren’t afraid to look forward at what other people in the present thought the future might look like one day. And they drew, cut and pasted everything they saw. The homespun tomes would lay prostrate, arranged according to genre (each wrapped in glistening shrinkwrap, and hope…and maybe a little bit of The Force), usually splayed across unfolded card tables at science fiction fantasy conventions, hawked quietly by costumed fans planet-wide. These self-published nuggets might have disappeared down a black hole if it hadn’t been for the archive-ally inclined internet, which simultaneously revolutionized science fiction fandom while obliterating many of its older styles…forever. Click (more…) below for a kaleidoscopic cover gallery of pure past paper magic—with web links guiding you to names, dates, auctions, sales and the occasional full-disclosure. [WARNING: about 150 small images will load]

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For those that have been following the story of Ioan Tudor in Romania, the man who suffered from the bizarre skin condition (here, here and here), the latest on the story follows below…

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The missionary working periodically with Ioan paid him a recent visit, and shares this report and these photos:

“I went back to see Ioan Tudor last Saturday. It had been just a few days short of one year exactly since I had first seen him. Seeing him left no question that he was much better, and that is an understatement. What they did to him in the hospital, and why, I am sorry to say I think will be left as a bit of mystery—but one that I will continue to look for answers to. The doctors in Bucharest did skin grafts on the palms of his hands and I think you will be able to see that in the pictures. He has good use of his right hand but the last two fingers of his left hand have limited mobility. As to his feet, ankles, and the back of his hands, he said they did not do any surgery—though he is scheduled to return to the hospital in this upcoming week for skin grafts on the backs of his hands. As to the dramatic changes in his feet, ankles and back of his hands, he is unaware that they did anything besides soak his feet, ankles and back of his hands with a solution which he thought was Betadine. I am sorry that I can not tell you more but there in no other sign of invasive care, I suspect that he was soaked in something more like 3 WEA (phenyl mercuric nitrate) and he promises to get me one of the empty bottles. When I used this on him last year there was a noticeable change in the growths. But this then makes me wonder why they did the skin grafts on his palms when such a dramatic change came with only soaking? If you have any questions I will try to answer but as if often the case here, Ioan does not seem to know very much about what happened to him.�

(click each image for larger)

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