From the Central Mailer

by current CM, Kevin Gould

Hi – this is Kevin Gould, present Central Mailer of Interlac, here to give you a little history of the APA (amateur press association) and some info on how to join.

It was a little over 26 years ago when Interlac was started, mostly from the fine people who put together "The Legion Outpost" and were either members or knew of an amateur press association called Capa-Alpha and thought – maybe there MIGHT be enough interest in the "Legion of Super-Heroes" to devote an apa to it.

Back in the 60s; you couldn’t get a stack of DC comics without at least one well-spoken letter from Richard Morrissey. Eventually, Richard took the Drulian by the horns and started the first mailing of – LEAPA (yep…) which quickly became INTERLAC.

Luckily, Harry Broertjes responded to a letter I had sent regarding the Legion Outpost, and suggested I join. I joined as of issue 3, and (obviously) am still a member over 150 bi-monthly mailings later. It’s pretty amazing to realize something that I was doing in college I’d still be doing years later – oddly enough, I don’t think I’m the only one like that in INTERLAC.

Though-out the years, there have been dozens if not hundreds of people and thousands of pages though INTERLAC. Yes, INTERLAC has had its share of well known members – Paul Levitz, Tom McCraw, Mark Waid, and even a guest appearance by Jim Shooter and Dave Cockrum. And then, there’s the story of a couple who met though Interlac, and went on to write a number of Legion comics – Tom and Mary Bierbaum. There’s also people associated with the Legion Outpost who use their creative energies on INTERLAC, including editor Harry Broertjes, Jay Zilber, Mercy Van Vlack and Ken Gale; as well as people who were members of INTERLAC in the past, such as Mike Flynn and the late above mentioned Richard Morrissey.

But it’s also people who have been long time members, such as Valeria Beasley, Art Lewlandowski, Talbot Katz and Roger Caldwell. And then, there are the "newcomers" – if being around an apa for over 5 years one can be a "newcomer" including Eric Schulthesis and Chris Brown.

Give me enough time, and I’d wind up mentioning everyone. True, there’s not as much "Legion" talk as there used to be, though – ask up a question about the "classic" Legion and we’ll talk your head off…

Another "odd" thing is – Lac is still a "print only" apa – yes, there’s the occasional e-mail thread, but it’s still done the "classic" way – each person prints up their own "contribution" (apa-zine) which is sent to a Central Mailer, who then collates and staples all the contributions (see the constitution – er- Chris, what about a hyper-link here – thanks!) which is then mailed to all the active members.

So, after 26 years, INTERLAC isn’t a flight-ring-by-night event. If this has sparked an interest – e-mail or send a letter for more information. Better yet, send in some dues and you’ll get the next available mailing. That way, you’ll see what INTERLAC is all about.

INTERLAC – 26 years "young" and still counting!

LLL,

Kevin Gould

I, personally, am excited by the current state of the Legion. Abnett & Lanning are doing a bang up job. I am actively looking forward to the next issue, and when my local comics shop accidentally shorted its customers (Schultheis is closer to the end of the alphabetic list) I couldn't believe my level of frustration. There were times in the past few years where I could forget to pick up the new issue for a week, but right now I can't stand to wait a moment longer than I have to before reading Legion Lost.

Does everybody in Interlac feel this way? No. And that's perfectly OK. Interlac is about a group of personalities coming together based on a mutual love of the Legion as a concept. And everybody has their own personal favorite Legion period. Probably more die-hard Legion fans were formed during the Adventure Comics years than any other period. I know I developed a love for this period even though I started reading in the mid-Seventies when Mike Grell was the new artist. Some members of Interlac have stopped reading the Legion books altogether. "This is not my Legion" is a familiar refrain in Legion fandom. While each fan has their own unique favorite issues that define the Legion slightly differently for them, most of us share common reference points. Hence we can share our Legion fandom without all agreeing about the individual comic books or the current state of the series.

Interlac Mailing Covers (the front cover) often feature art based on the Adventure era. We can write about when we first read the Legion, and most other Interlac members will recall how they felt about that issue. Interlac has a core of members who measure their Legion fan involvement in decades, not years. As a result Interlac tends to attract members who may be new to Legion fandom, but who are not new to the Legion. 'Lac has an open, inviting feeling: you become part of an ongoing appreciation and critique of all the Legion eras. While many members' zines review the current Legion books it is more our love for the Legion as a concept that carries through.

Some comics fandom can be very divisive. "If you don't read the current version of (fill in the blank) and like it as much as Wizard Magazine & I do, then you can't be much of a (fill in the blank) fan." I like the fact that being a die-hard Legion fan has nothing to do with whether or not you enjoy or even read the current version of the Legion. It allows for an ongoing conversation about the Legion that is deeper than a superficial appreciation of the newest issue as the best ever. While I am one of those who reviews the new issues in my zine, it is through the perspective of Interlac that I often catch myself wondering how I'll feel about this issue five or ten years from now.

The comics world feels like it has to reinvent itself every few years to remain fresh. But the Legion is a comic series with history. Interlac is about sharing that history, and about our shared history as well. Next year will be our 150th mailing in April, followed by our 25th Anniversary mailing in June. I invite you to join Interlac, and find out what keeps other Legion fans coming back mailing after mailing, and year after year. Our greeting for new members (translated out of the original Interlac language) is, "Welcome, may you stay for many cycles!" Approaching 25 cycles, I'd say we take that greeting pretty seriously.

Just got another mailing of Interlac out the door, and a friend asks me for the umpteenth time, "Why is it on paper? Online makes so much more sense." Interlac has pretty well hashed this out on the pages of our individual fanzines. Of course our debate was going to be pro-paper. I'm sure online fans have lopsided debates supporting electronic fandom. But if you are visiting this website for the first time, you may be asking yourself the same question. What is the benefit of producing a collection of Legion fanzines on paper.

A physical zine reads differently than an e-zine or e-mail list for two reasons. One is the appearance. When I open up the latest mailing of Interlac I can easily differentiate the contributors. Arthur uses the zine title he drew above text from his now familiar typewriter. Mercy's zines are entirely handwritten and drawn. Hassan's zine is done using the same title and border template in his computer, and the paper always sticks out a bit from the mailing because it's copied in England on British standard paper. Once you get to know these people as individuals, you can anticipate the tone of the zine by recognizing at a glance who the zine belongs to.

E-mail lists and newsgroups, by their very nature all share the same typeface. It can be disconcerting to approach an exchange of ideas in a format where friends & strangers are initially indistinguishable. This is much like hearing an unfamiliar voice on the phone, and not knowing whether you want to talk to them. Of course websites are what we use online to say, "This is who I am." or more frequently, "This is who I want to be." But I know I haven't updated my website in over a year. Interlac mailings come out bi-monthly. I can't imagine getting a group of thirty to fifty pals to change the content of their websites every other month.

More important than the appearance (although we all judge books by covers), I find the content of e-groups to be very different from in print groups. There are far too many individuals online who hide behind the anonymity of their e-mail accounts. Like getting behind the wheel of a car, many people become much ruder than they would if they were interacting face to face. It isn't always intentional, either, but I just know that I'll have to wade through a few flame-wars everytime I read the Legion Message Boards (http://dcboards.warnerbros.com/cgi/Ultimate.cgi ).

In theory Interlac could operate this way, because we are all producing our zines in our own homes. But in practice when you put your name, address, and in most cases phone number in print you have a tendency to think about the consequences a bit more. While it's true that my zine is only circulating among the members of Interlac, I am mass producing my zine. My zine is not only a more direct extension of myself, but in some ways I am doing it for posterity. This is not to say that things are never taken the wrong way in print fandom, but there is more thought involved. If you have a strong response to what you read, the option to just rant and then hit the send button isn't there.

All these pros and cons are nice, but the real reason I believe in print fandom. In Xerox, mimeo, and laser printer. The reason why I print up the bulletin, and staple the whole thing together. Well, I'm a comics fan. I'm probably not off base by saying that you're one too. We all know the advantage of print. You can take your Legion comics around with you to read. The story you started at home can be continued on the bus or subway, and then finished at work or school. You can go back and reread old stories, or track down some minor fact from previous issues. You don't have to worry about whether the website will disappear when the site master leaves college, or how you can sneak a read of the website from a disapproving boss. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone on the planet is connected to the web. While most of the members of Interlac have e-mail, and some even have websites, we get to read great contributions by members who have neither. And their ability to contribute is unaffected by a change in Internet access.

There is currently a small trend of people returning to paper correspondence from their prior Internet involvement. Letter writing and penpals are making a comeback as the shortcomings of the Internet are becoming better known. When I decided to get reacquainted with Legion fandom in early '98 I found that online fandom was lacking in sincerity and depth. There was something that only committing your thoughts to paper offered. If Interlac were just a bunch of facts to be cross-referenced and filed, then the Internet would be the best forum. But were a bunch of people. These are friends and acquaintances who I am having an ongoing chat with. So I'll continue printing up several copies of my zine, and adding it to Interlac for mail out. It wouldn't be the same otherwise.