This week’s Featured Article is about Gennie Summers, (2 August 1924 - 25 May 2010), who was a prolific gen artist and occasional writer. Her main fandoms were Star Trek and Star Wars. She was very much a Klingon fan.

Summers was introduced to fandom in 1973 when she read a newspaper that supplied the names of several fans, one of them being Jacqueline Lichtenberg, the creator of the Kraith series of Star Trek The Original Series short stories and novellas. Summers wrote Lichtenberg and was sent the address of the Star Trek Welcommittee. Some of Summers’s art was used as covers for HolQeD, quarterly journal of the Klingon Language Institute.

Summers contributed her art to dozens of zines. In a 1990 fannish autobiography she wrote:

“I didn't get in touch with fandom until 1973, though I knew there were other fans. I just didn't know how to find them. When I did, a new world opened up.

I'd never made it as a professional artist; I'm self-taught. But through fandom, I can share with others what I create, and enjoy their creations in turn.”

Learn more about Gennie Summers’s contributions to fandom history on Fanlore!

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This month on the podcast, to celebrate it's ongoing anniversary, and it's franchise's latest movie finally dropping on Amazon Prime, let's discuss one of Shotaro Ishinomori's most influential creations: Kamen Rider! A pop culture JUGGERNAUGHT in Japan, Kamen Rider not only changed the game for live-action tokusatsu shows, but it's influence was felt on ALL media in Japan--including anime, manga, videogames, and more! And joining me to discuss just how huge this karate bug man's legacy has been on anime & manga (and nerd culture in Japan in general!) since it's release is Mr. Vintage Henshin himself, Mach Dent! Got any questions or topics you'd like to hear about in the episode? Leave a comment, send a DM, or email me directly at [email protected]!

Want to get a shout-out in the special thanks segment of this episode? All you have to do is tip me 2 or more “coffees” at my ko-fi account here!

With the greatest respect to Tom Baker, one of my very favorite things since coming back to Who fandom in this century is that it’s no longer Standard Whovian Orthodoxy that Tom Baker is THE Doctor, full stop, and all the rest are “other actors who played inferior versions of the Doctor.”

This week’s Featured Article is about The Eye of Argon, a novella written in 1970 by Jim Theis. The story was considered a rather obvious pastiche of Robert E Howard’s Conan The Barbarian, most evidently with the protagonist’s name being Grignr the barbarian.

Regarded as the worst fantasy story ever written, The Eye of Argon was a subject of mockery in literary circles. The story has since then been commonly used for turkey readings and party games at conventions. One can also find many dramatic readings of the story on Youtube.

In recent years, the story has been viewed in a more sympathetic light, given how the author was a teenager when he wrote it and quit writing due to the incessant mockery he received.

Learn more about this infamous piece of fiction on Fanlore!

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For this week’s Featured Article, we’re attending a fan-run convention!

Shore Leave first started as a Star Trek focused con in 1979, but has has since broadened to include other science fiction media. After 45 years of running strong, the con is scheduled to come back in 2025.

Shore Leaves takes place annually in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The con's mascot is a rabbit, as a reference toward the Star Trek: TOS episode "Shore Leave", where McCoy encountered the white rabbit from Alice and Wonderland.

Are you curious? Head over to Fanlore and learn more!

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'Friend Books' were DIY notebooks used by young fans in the '70s and '80s as a way of connecting with other fandom members. Each person would list their interests, comment on others' content and add their own before passing the Friend Book along.

Posted back-and-forth between different states, or sometimes even across the globe, Friend Books were a great way for fans to form communities in the pre-internet era.

Find out more about Friend Books in this week's Featured Article.