Pros in multi-media zines: Concupiscence 3
Dec. 7th, 2011 08:30 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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discoveredinaljBounding onwards through old multi-media zines. For background, see here.
Concupiscence 3 was published by Manacles in 1993. It has 155 pages. There are two Pros stories (which come to 23 of those pages) and six others.
The cover is a plain blue cover, almost indistinguishable from the first in the series, and there are no interior illustrations. The print is large and clear and in two columns per page. The first Concupiscence had little boxes containing teasers on the front page of each story, but this didn't, and I missed them. Didn't notice any typos, but I haven't read all of this zine.
There are no adverts at the back of this one, but I don't know whether there should be, because at least one page of the frontispiece is missing: mine starts at page (iii). I bought the zine second-hand but it had obviously been looked after, so perhaps it came like that. Page iii summarises a universe that one of the stories bases its characters in.
I bought this zine despite the smaller Pros content, because both Pros stories were by Maggie Hall, and I loved both Facets II and Blue Skies, which I found online, and then I was lent 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' (also Maggie Hall), which I also enjoyed. So I had been keeping an eye out for more.
Pros content:
All Talk, Maggie Hall, 11pp. Starts with Bodie and Doyle in bed, but a long way from PWP. Doyle realises that Bodie is not enjoying something, and is furious that Bodie wasn't honest, and determined to thrash it out. We get Bodie's POV: he can't believe that Doyle doesn't want to do something that Bodie likes doing very much. Doyle, by contrast, absolutely glories in something else. All tied in with issues of masculinity and dominance and confidence in sexuality and how people view things differently. Loved the two different takes on the same acts.
No Middle Ground, Maggie Hall, 12 pp. This is one with the pair of them not talking, despite some dogged effort on Doyle's part. One night together has affected their day to day relationship disastrously. Doyle wants to talk, Bodie really doesn't want to, and shows it. Doyle wants to continue where they left off, Bodie doesn't. There's more to this than just 'two of them in a room until they thrash it out': several months go by before it is resolved.
Enjoyed both of these a lot.
Non-Pros content:
Wolf of the Goddess, Erica St. Jeanne, 45pp. First, and by far the longest, story in the zine. It's set in the universe of books by Heather Gladney, which I do not know. Very sword and sorceror, with dreams and visions and hereditary enemies. I got about two pages into this the first time, then skipped ahead looking for the Pros stories. The second time, I got six pages in, encountered descriptions of 'sliding into him as if he was female' and 'vulnerable as a girl' (he's already small enough to come up to other guy's shoulder, with long long hair), and skipped ahead looking for the Pros stories. I shall finish it one day - unread reading material is not to be borne in this house - but not today. I had another look before writing this, and this time I got to prophetic dreams and skipped ahead looking for-- oh, you get the idea.
Suite of Hours, Colette T Bolech. Eroica, 23 pp. I don't know anything about this show. Apparently, Eroica is unabashedly sensual and in love with a buttoned-up general who works for NATO and who doesn't want to admit his interest in Eroica. Lots of lonely masturbation and then even more lots of rather less lonely mutual masturbation.
Terranova's Adventures Underground, Jane Mailander, Wiseguy/Beauty and the Beast, 40 pp. Originally I put 'Wiseguy/some monster in the sewers crossover (but still Frank/Vinnie)', but now I know who the monster is. (I am astonished at the sheer volume of telly I have never watched.) It's also bound up with the words of a Leslie Fish song. I really got into this - which I didn't expect - but I have absolutely no idea how close it is to either show (and I totally skipped the song. Ahem). Jane Mailander often seems to be going off in odd directions in her Pros fic, so perhaps she is here too, but I wouldn't know. Wiseguy fans should probably be warned that it may be 40 pages long, but Frank and Vince are apart for 35 of them...
First Steps, Dawn Woods, Batman, 21pp. No idea whether this is film, TV or comic Batman, but there's a lot of 'the bat inside' which seems to be a barely-repressed id. Bruce Wayne has recently kicked out a teenager called Richard, can't stop thinking about him, and finds him again. Wayne knows what he wants; much waiting for Richard to work out what he wants. I enjoyed this, but could have done without the Robin explanation: it didn't seem to fit with the rest. First Steps, by Dawn Woods.
As My Whimsey Takes Me: Erica St Jeanne, 3pp Peter Wimsey and Bunter considering how to extract a relation of Bunter's from an undesirable liaison. First few paragraphs were a fair imitation of Dorothy Sayers' style, but then it seemed to me to tail off.
I bought this secondhand and it had to come across the Atlantic, and I would say that if I had paid the same price and bought it in person (thus avoiding postage), I would have thought it a lot better value. The postage from the US practically doubled it. (If the seller sees these reviews: I am not complaining about the price. I am complaining about post offices.) I did know when I bought it that there were only two Pros stories, and I was relieved to enjoy them, All Talk particularly. I really like Maggie Hall's way of handling tense dialogue: there is no weeping, and there is just enough breaking off, swearing and starting to explain again to emphasise that these are not characters who routinely bare their souls without getting annoying and obtruding into your awareness of 'how the author is doing it'. The Jane Mailander story was very readable without knowing the programmes, and was sort of a bonus, since I hadn't expected to like it at all. First Steps was an interesting run through someone's thoughts, even though I am not terribly interested in the someone. And, um, I still haven't finished Wolf of the Goddess. I keep skipping ahead to... well, you're probably ahead of me by now.
Concupiscence 3 was published by Manacles in 1993. It has 155 pages. There are two Pros stories (which come to 23 of those pages) and six others.
The cover is a plain blue cover, almost indistinguishable from the first in the series, and there are no interior illustrations. The print is large and clear and in two columns per page. The first Concupiscence had little boxes containing teasers on the front page of each story, but this didn't, and I missed them. Didn't notice any typos, but I haven't read all of this zine.
There are no adverts at the back of this one, but I don't know whether there should be, because at least one page of the frontispiece is missing: mine starts at page (iii). I bought the zine second-hand but it had obviously been looked after, so perhaps it came like that. Page iii summarises a universe that one of the stories bases its characters in.
I bought this zine despite the smaller Pros content, because both Pros stories were by Maggie Hall, and I loved both Facets II and Blue Skies, which I found online, and then I was lent 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' (also Maggie Hall), which I also enjoyed. So I had been keeping an eye out for more.
Pros content:
All Talk, Maggie Hall, 11pp. Starts with Bodie and Doyle in bed, but a long way from PWP. Doyle realises that Bodie is not enjoying something, and is furious that Bodie wasn't honest, and determined to thrash it out. We get Bodie's POV: he can't believe that Doyle doesn't want to do something that Bodie likes doing very much. Doyle, by contrast, absolutely glories in something else. All tied in with issues of masculinity and dominance and confidence in sexuality and how people view things differently. Loved the two different takes on the same acts.
No Middle Ground, Maggie Hall, 12 pp. This is one with the pair of them not talking, despite some dogged effort on Doyle's part. One night together has affected their day to day relationship disastrously. Doyle wants to talk, Bodie really doesn't want to, and shows it. Doyle wants to continue where they left off, Bodie doesn't. There's more to this than just 'two of them in a room until they thrash it out': several months go by before it is resolved.
Enjoyed both of these a lot.
Non-Pros content:
Wolf of the Goddess, Erica St. Jeanne, 45pp. First, and by far the longest, story in the zine. It's set in the universe of books by Heather Gladney, which I do not know. Very sword and sorceror, with dreams and visions and hereditary enemies. I got about two pages into this the first time, then skipped ahead looking for the Pros stories. The second time, I got six pages in, encountered descriptions of 'sliding into him as if he was female' and 'vulnerable as a girl' (he's already small enough to come up to other guy's shoulder, with long long hair), and skipped ahead looking for the Pros stories. I shall finish it one day - unread reading material is not to be borne in this house - but not today. I had another look before writing this, and this time I got to prophetic dreams and skipped ahead looking for-- oh, you get the idea.
Suite of Hours, Colette T Bolech. Eroica, 23 pp. I don't know anything about this show. Apparently, Eroica is unabashedly sensual and in love with a buttoned-up general who works for NATO and who doesn't want to admit his interest in Eroica. Lots of lonely masturbation and then even more lots of rather less lonely mutual masturbation.
Terranova's Adventures Underground, Jane Mailander, Wiseguy/Beauty and the Beast, 40 pp. Originally I put 'Wiseguy/some monster in the sewers crossover (but still Frank/Vinnie)', but now I know who the monster is. (I am astonished at the sheer volume of telly I have never watched.) It's also bound up with the words of a Leslie Fish song. I really got into this - which I didn't expect - but I have absolutely no idea how close it is to either show (and I totally skipped the song. Ahem). Jane Mailander often seems to be going off in odd directions in her Pros fic, so perhaps she is here too, but I wouldn't know. Wiseguy fans should probably be warned that it may be 40 pages long, but Frank and Vince are apart for 35 of them...
First Steps, Dawn Woods, Batman, 21pp. No idea whether this is film, TV or comic Batman, but there's a lot of 'the bat inside' which seems to be a barely-repressed id. Bruce Wayne has recently kicked out a teenager called Richard, can't stop thinking about him, and finds him again. Wayne knows what he wants; much waiting for Richard to work out what he wants. I enjoyed this, but could have done without the Robin explanation: it didn't seem to fit with the rest. First Steps, by Dawn Woods.
As My Whimsey Takes Me: Erica St Jeanne, 3pp Peter Wimsey and Bunter considering how to extract a relation of Bunter's from an undesirable liaison. First few paragraphs were a fair imitation of Dorothy Sayers' style, but then it seemed to me to tail off.
I bought this secondhand and it had to come across the Atlantic, and I would say that if I had paid the same price and bought it in person (thus avoiding postage), I would have thought it a lot better value. The postage from the US practically doubled it. (If the seller sees these reviews: I am not complaining about the price. I am complaining about post offices.) I did know when I bought it that there were only two Pros stories, and I was relieved to enjoy them, All Talk particularly. I really like Maggie Hall's way of handling tense dialogue: there is no weeping, and there is just enough breaking off, swearing and starting to explain again to emphasise that these are not characters who routinely bare their souls without getting annoying and obtruding into your awareness of 'how the author is doing it'. The Jane Mailander story was very readable without knowing the programmes, and was sort of a bonus, since I hadn't expected to like it at all. First Steps was an interesting run through someone's thoughts, even though I am not terribly interested in the someone. And, um, I still haven't finished Wolf of the Goddess. I keep skipping ahead to... well, you're probably ahead of me by now.
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Date: 2011-12-08 10:26 am (UTC)