Posted 13th of July 2000

APE Magazine

June 2000 -Blake's 7 graphic novel style comic strip featured in the newly launched APE Magazine!

Read about it at The Aquitar Files - the B7 Webzine

What is APE Magazine?

You could describe it is a magazine which features fiction, art, poetry, pop lyrics and more...written by young, unconsciously hip and mostly London-based writers. Loulou Harris went to the launch party in a converted warehouse and was surrounded by dozens of very arty types in existential black and a couple of rock bands of such breathtakingly fringe cool that she had to make apologies and leave for the familiar coziness of a salsa club.

This was young, hip and literary London that was too iced to bother about looking or sounding cool, just honest, raw, enthusiastically, almost geekily arty. If you can be that way. Loulou and hubby were hopelessly out of place, being totally out of practice at small talk with people who don't want to talk about ecommerce...

How did Loulou or Blake's 7 come to be associated with such a wildly out-there and dangerously poetic publication?

Well, one of the editorial team, is an old friend of Loulou's and saw Loulou and Reba on that infamous "Lost in Space" documentary about B7 fandom, in which Reba spoke so eloquently about the reason for the popularity of fan fiction. He was actually quite taken with the idea and thought it would be exciting to have a B7 comic strip in APE magazine, since the age of readers ensures that they will all have fond memories of B7. So he asked Loulou to write a B7 story in graphic novel format: the rest is history.

What? Blake on the front cover?

Yes indeed. Look out for it in WHSmith's, Borders, the MOMA in Oxford, the Institute of Contemporary Art in London. "Blake's 7" is written on the front cover of issue 1 and there's a picture of Blake too...

What's the story?

Written by our very own Loulou Harris, this is a four part story which begins with a PGP Avon imprisoned and at the mercy of Federation psychiatrists. Issue 1 features Part 1 - parts 1, 3 and 4 are original stories - part 2, many Aquitar Files readers will recognise as a version of the story "In the Lattice of Memories Which Intertwine", part of "Between Life and Death".

How much?

Price £3.99. It will be on the shelves a while yet and when the retailers return unsold copies, you'll be able to snap copies up by mail order.

Is it worth it?

Hey, Loulou is doing her best to entertain here. The 4 part story will feature angst, A/C, A/S and V/Soolin romance as well as Loulou's own take on some of the events PGP which lead to Avon's re-invention as a Federation agent 20 years later. And the rest of the magazine is terrific too, but it is very different to what most of us conservative sciffy fans are used to and it ain't Jane Austen, okay?

To look at some excerpts, please visit The Aquitar Files.

Their website is: http://www.apemag.demon.co.uk/home.htm, and there is an email address for people who want issues.


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