The Way Forward: Crusades of Blake, edited by Sondra Sweigman
This is a big fat zine (166 pp) which speaks of the love that the editor
and her contributors have for the series and its ideals, and especially for
the character of Blake. The presentation is excellent, with generally clear
typesetting (though the sans font was a bit fuzzy in the ink-jet printout),
some nice greyed-out images of Blake behind the title pages, and a sturdy
format. Personally I'd have preferred a cheaper black-and-white approach,
saving the colour printer for occasional pictures, but Pat Fenech's colour
photomontages are very pretty.
Few of the stories in 'The Way Forward' try to recreate the goal-oriented
adventures of the original series; still fewer play with its science
fictional trappings. There's also little speculation here about what
ordinary life might have been like in the cramped and sterile environment
of the Earth Domes. Instead, most of the stories examine Blake's character,
either taking an introspective approach or revealing the man through his
actions. The former approach is exemplified by 'Wind-Up Toy', in which
Jacquelyn Taylor postulates that Blake fears he's being used by the
Federation to betray his friends. ('Kayn's Hands' is another well-written
'what-if' piece by the same author.) The latter approach is taken by Sondra
Sweigman's chilling 'The Choice', which highlights Blake's
ultra-manipulative side. Also by 'Grey Scale' (Jean B Hubb), which retells
an incident from the Second World War. For its original setting, plausible
characters and realistic moral dilemma, this story was my pick of the zine.
The rest of the crew isn't entirely neglected in 'The Way Forward's focus
on Blake. Sally Manton's 'Fellow Feeling' has a plausible Vila narrator,
while Michael J Miller ('The Ghost of You') creates an engaging cameo of a
post-'Blake' Soolin struggling to come to terms with disability. While
several stories feature Avon, surprisingly, Jenna and Cally play only minor
roles. Criticism of a 'men-only crusade' is only partially allayed by a
plethora of female one-off characters, who do feel a bit like 'the usual
suspects'.
Serious zines focusing on Blake face a few problems. Blake's lack of memory
can make him a somewhat dull or confusing PoV character. The fragments we
know of his background can make for repetition among stories that try to
mesh closely with the series. There are few opportunities to expand the
cast to include season 3 or 4 characters. Most seriously, perhaps, as few,
if any, of us are revolutionaries by trade it's difficult to portray this
side of his character realistically. Thankfully, 'The Way Forward' doesn't
succumb to the temptation to whitewash Blake. Despite its gen
classification, the zine doesn't shrink from violence, torture and killing,
nor does it glorify any of them. On the whole, though, the stories in 'The
Way Forward' have an upbeat feel, which occasionally seemed slightly at
odds with the subject matter. I'm not convinced that the virtues celebrated
here would survive under Federation repression, but it's nice to hope.
Tavia
5 June 2001