DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Fanfare, whole no. 10, December 1943

Transcribe
Translate

Fanfare, whole no. 10, December 1943

Page 36

36
   "Well," she began again, "it was..."
   "--The Octopus! So you are his accomplice!"
   She opened her mouth. Indignant denial reached the tip of her tongue. It got no further. 
   "Prove it!"
   She got two words out: "I never--"
   "Perjury!" screamed the mental voice. "This woman has accused my client of being the Octopus. She has thot for every telepathic pick-up in the court to detect, that she was with the Octopus on the afternoon of February 31 2756. & now she dares to think that she has never seen the Octopus!" 
   Alicia's head whirled. "He's crazy!" she thot dazedly. "As well say all of them are the Octopus!"
   At the thot she saw a wave of sheer horror sweep along the despondent line of authors & characters. Rap's eyes were ;ole a St/ Bernard's. Cummings' long face was longer. But some of those faces had grown cunning.... crafty....
   An awful thot hit her with the stunning effect of a $2 Quarterly. Could that be the answer to all the things she had been noticing? The disappearance of Von Hetzdorp &the arrival of that Russian in his place; the everlasting reduplication of Cummings' Collapsible Universe; the labyrinthine confusion of  cartoons involving Tarzan & Buck Rogers - & more recently, those unexplained, unnatural plagiarisms & reprints cropping up everywhere. Could it be that some master criminal was subtly insinuating his evil personality into fantasy - making away with authors & characters - replacing them with creatures of his own! Were all these classic profiles merely parts of the infinitely multiple personality of the Octopus?
   Was she the Octopus too?
   All over the great hall she saw men & women & monsters rising to their feet, brandishing strange weapons -- in the audience, among the authors, at the lawyers' table. She spun in her chair. The judge towered above them all, ray guns in both hands. 
   "You are at my mercy!" the evil thot-voice snarled. Fu Manchu - Jack Darrow - Booth Cody* - all are parts of my infinite personality. & now that personality will envelope all fantasy, for all Time! I shall be the only god of the fans!"
_________________________
* Who's this? We pass.

Saving...

36 "Well," she began again, "it was..." "--The Octopus! So you are his accomplice!" She opened her mouth. Indignant denial reached the tip of her tongue. It got no further. "Prove it!" She got two words out: "I never--" "Perjury!" screamed the mental voice. "This woman has accused my client of being the Octopus. She has thot for every telepathic pick-up in the court to detect, that she was with the Octopus on the afternoon of February 31 2756. & now she dares to think that she has never seen the Octopus!" Alicia's head whirled. "He's crazy!" she thot dazedly. "As well say all of them are the Octopus!" At the thot she saw a wave of sheer horror sweep along the despondent line of authors & characters. Rap's eyes were ;ole a St/ Bernard's. Cummings' long face was longer. But some of those faces had grown cunning.... crafty.... An awful thot hit her with the stunning effect of a $2 Quarterly. Could that be the answer to all the things she had been noticing? The disappearance of Von Hetzdorp &the arrival of that Russian in his place; the everlasting reduplication of Cummings' Collapsible Universe; the labyrinthine confusion of cartoons involving Tarzan & Buck Rogers - & more recently, those unexplained, unnatural plagiarisms & reprints cropping up everywhere. Could it be that some master criminal was subtly insinuating his evil personality into fantasy - making away with authors & characters - replacing them with creatures of his own! Were all these classic profiles merely parts of the infinitely multiple personality of the Octopus? Was she the Octopus too? All over the great hall she saw men & women & monsters rising to their feet, brandishing strange weapons -- in the audience, among the authors, at the lawyers' table. She spun in her chair. The judge towered above them all, ray guns in both hands. "You are at my mercy!" the evil thot-voice snarled. Fu Manchu - Jack Darrow - Booth Cody* - all are parts of my infinite personality. & now that personality will envelope all fantasy, for all Time! I shall be the only god of the fans!" _________________________ * Who's this? We pass.