September, 1977. Star Trek had been off the air for eight years. A movie was still over two years away. Papers had announced the development of Star Trek: Phase II, a series which never happened and which, surprisingly, the Contact crowd, so close to the center of Fandom, was apparently unaware. At least Bev swore up and down in the 1990s that she’d never heard of the show, and would have remembered if Roddenberry had used the name of her Trek sequel for his own.

At this point, Bev and Nancy seemed to have hit a creative wall. They announce in their editorial that there may be no Contact 5. They apparently felt in a rut, dismissed as a “get em” zine (a serious charge for fan fiction in the 1970s!) and even unsupported by fans and fellow creators who weren’t sending them the diversity of material they felt they needed. They felt there was too much torture, too much Hurt-Comfort, in their pages. It’s a point all creators seem to reach. As the historical drama of Contact unfolds, it’s heartening to know it didn’t stop Bev and Nancy. They still had years and issues ahead of them.The cover is designed and drawn by Russ Volker, probably one of his most striking designs. The table of contents page lists a half dozen fan fiction legends, not even counting the editors.

This issue contains “The Rack,” a piece by J. Emily Vance which is billed in Bev’s and Nancy’s notes and in other sources as the first “response fic,” the first story to be written in response to discussions happening in Fandom. Ripped from the headlines, as it were. The discussion was whether or not Kirk and Spock were, in fact, lovers. “The Rack” speculates (horribly) on what impact such discussions can have on the lives and careers of real people. No one had heard of J. Emily Vance before. In fact, “she” didn’t exist. The name was a corrupted anagram of parts of the names of the three actual authors: “J Em” for Martha J. Bonds, “ily V” for Bevily Volker, and “ance” for Nance-y Kippax.

Here are the links to the PDF and CBZ files.

Contact04.pdf
Contact04.cbz

This issue contains:

BACK WHERE HE BELONGS (poem) by Crystal Ann Taylor; illo by Laurie Huff
THE ONLY OTHER THING (story) by Ginna Lacroix; illo by Merle Decker
THE CHALLENGE (poem) by Nancy Kippax; illo by Russ Volker
BORN OF ASHES (novella) by Martha J. Bonds; illos by Pat Stall
MOVING (poem) by Pete Kaup; illo by Kathy Carlson
INTERLUDE (poem) by Bev Volker; illo by Judd
THE WRITING CONTEST: THE WINNERS
SITUATION HELP by Karen Moody
THE SADISTS by Sheila Clark
END RESULT by Shirley S. Maiewski
NEW CONTEST
THE CHANGELING (poem) by Martha J. Bonds; illo by Kathy Carlson
SUN GOD AND SHADOW (poem) by Amy Falkowitz; illo by Signe Langdon
THE HUNGER IN THE MOUNTAIN (story) by Jennifer Weston; ilLos by Leslie Fish
THE NATURE OF LOVE (poem) by Martha J. Bonds
R’VAMO (poem) by Susan K. James; illo by Signe Landon
THE REAL THING (story) by S. Schildknecht & M. Bonds
REVOLUTIONS (poem) by B. J. Volker; illo by Signe Landon
SENSORY PERCEPTION (poem) by Carolyn Venino; illo by Merle Decker
THE RACK (novella) by J. Emily Vance illos by Alice Jones
SO CONSTANT THE CHANGE (poem) by Beverly Volker
WE REACH (Ads)

By March, 1977, Contact had expanded to encompass works by more than two dozen writers and artists. This is the first issue which includes work by Martha Bonds, a young woman who had been discovered by the Contact editors and brought to court at Bev’s house. She became the third “sister” in the family of Contact. A writer, a zine editor herself, a musician and leader of the filk group Omicron Ceti III, Martha was and is to this day a major force in Fandom. Nor were any of the other contributors slouches. Contact’s quality was increasing with each issue, and the iconic cover by Pat Stahl was the strongest of the series.

Here are the links to the PDF and CBZ files.

Contact03.pdf
Contact03.cbz
Alternate PDF as scanned by Janet Quarton

This issue contains:

THEN TO PIECE THE BROKEN CHAIN by N. Kippax & B. Volker
Poem: A FLOWER IN THE DESERT by Martha J. Bonds
ABYSS by Jeanne Powers
THE FIRST STEP by Susan Dorsey
Poem: CORUNDUM by Jane Aumerle
NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY by Martha J. Bonds
Poem: TO JIM by Trinette Kern
FEU D’AMITIE’ by Nancy Kippax
Poem: BEGINNINGS by Beverly Volker
WHEN THE TIME COMES by Beverly Volker
NOT YET TIME by Beverly Volker
WRITING CONTEST
THE TEST by Sheila Clark
THE STARS GO DOWN by Cheryl Rice
NEW CONTEST
Poem: THE MELD by Beverly Volker
BORN OF THE SUN by Johanna Cantor
Poem: THE ENTERPRISE by Martha J. Bonds
Poem: TONE OF REFLECTION by Pete Kaup
Poem: ON COMPANIONSHIP by Trinette Kern
THE SPIDER’S WEB by Susan K. James
Song: “THE ENTERPRISE SONG”
DIFFERENCE IS A VIRTUE by Marion Dougall
Song: “YOU’RE MY HOME, ENTERPRISE”
PHASE II: SyNOPSIS
CHAPTER 3: THE REUNION by B. Volker & N. Kippax
Poem: REUNION by Martha J. Bonds
WE REACH! ( ADS)
Poem: REASONS by Beverly J. Volker

ART CREDITS
KATHY CARLSON: pp 55, 97, 106, 61
GERRY DOWNES: pp 41, 42, 43, 46, 48, 50, 52
~RY ANNE EMERSON: pp 63, 64, 65, 68, 69, 71
CONNIE FADDIS: pp 98, 99, 103
LESLIE FISH: PHASE II FOLIO: T’Pania
BRUCE HARRIS: PHASE II FOLIO: James T. Kirk, Back Cover
ALICE JONES: opp p.l, pp 4, 10, 15, 19, 21, PHASE II FOLIO: Stack
VIRGINIA JACOBSON: p. IV
JUDD: p 57
SIGNE LANDON: pp 108, 112
ROBERT LOVETT: p 84
BARBARA MINOR: p 151
JEANNE POWERS: pp 75, 96
CAROL SHUTTLEWORTH: p 74
PAT STALL: Front cover, pp 26, 29, 31, 33, 36, 38, 116, PHASE II FOLIO: T’Prett
RUSS VOLKER: p 23, PHASE II FOLIO: Peter Kirk
JONI WAGNER: pp 88, 93

Contact #2 was published just six months after its predecessor. By this time, the zine had drawn attention in Fandom, and no less than seven new authors appeared in its pages, as well as five new artists. It was also fifty pages longer than the first issue. Contact was moving up in the world!

Here then are links to the PDF and CBZ versions.

Contact02.pdf
Contact02.cbz

This issue contains:

EDITORS  PAGE
THE THIRD WHEEL by C. R. Faddis
POETS SQUARE:
THE TWO SIDES OF ONE by Gerry Downes
THE QUEST by Beverly Volker
ODE TO A FRIEND by Joanne Bennett
AN ACT OF LOVE by Nancy Kippax
POEM: VISION FROM ORION by Beverly Volker
WITHOUT THE GARDENERS’ CRAFT by Kathleen Penland
SONG PAGEl
MCCOY’S SONG by Beverly Volker
BALLAD by Signe Landon
DENEVAN ORBIT by Johanna Cantor
POEM: YOU DO NOT BELONG by Pete Kaup
WRITER’S CONTEST: THE WINNERS
NEW CONTEST
LOGICAL CHOICE by Beverly Volker
KERT RATS by Nancy Kippax
POEM : THE ANSWER by Beverly Volker
NIGHTMARE ENDING by Diane Steiner .
PHASE II by Beverly Volker & Nancy Kippax
CHAPTER ONE SYNOPSIS
CHAPTER TWO: TARRA
ADS PAGE
TRIVIA ANSWERS

Contact #1 was published in 1975. The original issue contains 66 numbered pages, plus un-numbered artwork pages, totaling at least 72 pages. The copy in Bev Volker’s archives is sadly missing the original cover, title page and table of contents and begins with page 3. The page numbers on this copy are part of the photo-copy, but hand-drawn. Were they hand-drawn on the original? Or is this a copy of the original that’s been marked up? The fact that the printing is only on the front of the pages suggests the latter, but it’s hard to know, 37 years later. If anyone has an original copy of Contact #1, please comment!

The two links below point to:

• A pdf file containing 70 pages of this archival copy, beginning with page 3, the Editors’ Page. Updated! This file now contains the cover, as well as Bev’s hand-written draft of the Table of Contents.
• A .cbz file of the pages from Contact #1 which were re-issued in Contact Collected Volume 1 in 1985. Eventually, we’ll add the additional pages to this file. Updated! This file is now a CBZ of the original issue, including the hand-written TOC. We’ll post Contact Collected separately at a later date.
  

Contact01.pdf
Contact01.cbz

A .cbz file is a format developed for reading scanned comic books. It’s really just a zip file containing all the images in jpg format. With the extension .cbz, however, software like CDisplay (for Windows), SimpleComic (for your Mac), Bookman or Cloudreaders (for your iPad) allows you to read the issue on your computer or tablet. If clicking the .cbz link just fills your browser with garbage, try right-clicking on the link and doing Save As.

The original issue contains the following:

NOT OF THAT FEATHER  – Story by Beverly Volker and Nancy Kippax
THE BETTER WAY – Poetry
IN A PIG’S EYE – Letter from McCoy to Spock by Beverly Volker
THE SILENT CONNECTION  – Story by Nancy Kippax and Beverly Volker
Writers’ Contest
UNDERSTANDING – Poetry
AMOK TIME – Poetry by Beverly Volker
EULOGY – Story by Nancy Kippax
Star Trek Song Sheet – Includes “The Good Ship Enterprise,” “Our Guy Gene”
Star Trek Crossword
Star Trek Word Find
THE TRUTH – Poetry
DE PROFUNDIS – Story by Connie Faddis
Fun Fotos
COMMAND DECISION – Poetry by Beverly Volker
Phase II – Chapter One – The Invitation – Story by Beverly Volker and Nancy Kippax
Help! – A plea for a musician to transcribe recorded original Star Trek songs by the editors
Trivia Test
Answer Page (Alas, missing!)

Much of this material is absent from the 1985 re-release. Titles in all CAPS represent material which was reprinted.