Planet Magazine No. 39

Originally published as Planet Magazine No. 39 (September 2003) on the classic Planet Magazine site.

Planet Magazine

September Quarter 2003 * Issue No. 39 (Vol. 10, No. 3)
Wild Science Fiction & Fantasy on the Web — Since 1994
Price: 1 Handful of Space Dust
to track down this issue

Space art of a planet's dark crescent with a blazing star rising behind it
Cover illustration: “In Darkness Light” by Greg Martin

Table of Contents

Editorial & Letters · About the Authors · About the Artists · About this Magazine

Stories

Poems

Editorial & Letters

Planet Digital Assistant

With this issue, Planet Magazine announces the unveiling of the debut of yet another restructuring plan to achieve our long-stated goal of “Profitability within our Lifetime (aided by the eventual synthesis of cherry-flavored personal-DNA-tailored longevity chewing-gum)”. Our former business model of boosting revenue by simply giving away the magazine while refusing advertising has led to a sideways death-spiral in our finances from zero dollars in net income for fiscal 1994 to just-less-than-zero net income for F2002. So we rolled up our sleeves, sat back on the couch, and thought hard about how to make all of this work. And just before we dozed off to the Yu-Gi-Oh! cartoon theme song playing on TV, we had a brain-hurricane that we like even more than we like compound modifiers (or parenthetical asides):

As of our next issue, Planet will become a combination Science Fiction Zine/PDA/Phone. What this means is that readers will be able to not only read Planet but also, for example, schedule job interviews through monster.com while calling in late to work. However, unlike other combo SFZine/PDA/Phones, we are not merely a publication stored as text or images on, say, a Treo, Kyocera, or a Samsung, or even a PocketPC or Symbian phone — what one might accurately call a mere PIM (personal information magazine). No, we aim to be as incredibly slick, complex, and difficult to configure as the finest home-networking hub available: Imagine, if you will, a ubiquitous, always-on, wi-fi broadband online magazine that is tightly integrated on software and hardware levels and offers such techno-slick features as an embedded voice-over-Internet-protocol function to make free International calls while reading Planet, or even a Java-based PalmOS emulator for the PalmOS; that way, you can concurrently run more than two of the thousands of Palm apps out there in split-screen mode (one of those screens being an issue of Planet, of course). And we also want to be scalable, big-time! We call our concept a “screenheld” zine-puter (trademark pending in 15 adjacent realities). In short, we will make the high-end Sony Clies look like blocks of balsa wood decorated by super-intelligent capuchin monkeys whose brain implants didn’t take.

And you can bet your sweet lawsuit that we know a thing or three about cerebral augmentations that didn’t “take”! “There was really nothing there to ‘take’ the implant,” the surgeons said. What do they think I am, an idiot? “Our computer models all assume a normal, minimum mass of cranial matter,” they simpered, shrugging as they peeled off their feckless gloves and headed out of the recovery room without bothering to close the drapes again. So that stupid kid and his unnecessary nose job in the next bed could lower his limited-edition “FamiCom” GameBoy Advance SP and smirk at me. Sounded like he was playing “Yu-Gi-Oh! Worldwide Edition”. That’s a pretty good one, but the PS2 “Duelists of the Rose” has a better story. Needless to say the graphics are better on my 37-inch TV! But none of that is important right now.

Ideally, the best way to carry around a screenheld zine-puter like Planet would be on our Planet-branded TabletPC device, which should only set you back $2,500 or more, if you don’t already have one. (And who doesn’t own a TabletPC these days? After all, this recently invented Microsoft platform has been around for about ten years, ever since other companies actually invented it first.) Or, using our hardware-emulation mode (via Internet-subscription ), you could buy a wireless Palm or PPC and call up our screenheld zine-puter on that, giving you the much-sought-after “handheld-within-a-handheld” experience (and potentially “handheld-within-a-handheld-within-a-handheld” in split-screen mode). Or, if you don’t have the money, simply use the screenheld that is your current desktop computer at home or at work (although you still have to buy our $175/month Internet subscription).

As part of this Planetary change, and with the blessing of the Nine Cryptic Masters From Zheleltaira, we are reorganizing the Planet Magazine holding company as well. The “content” component of Planet will now be called PlanetMagazineOne, while the “process/production/hardware” side will be spun off as PlanetMagazineSource. The latter spinoff will in turn reacquire PMOne and spin that off. This sequence will be repeated for many iterations and in different combinations. In this way, we hope, no one will know who owns what, and we should be able to raise a lot of venture-capital funding and use that to fuel a lavish lifestyle of limos, Snapple diet peach iced tea, and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards before it all comes crashing down and we are forced to come up with a new marketing gambit.

Or My Name Ain’t Pegasus,
Andrew G. McCann, Editor
September 2003

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor: I have finally published “Happenings”, ISBN 1-4116-0135-1, via Lulu Inc., a company in North Carolina. I have been able to keep the price low at $12.57 plus shipping. The collection contains 25 of my best science fiction tales published in assorted zines, among them ten stories about the Langford Joh series from Planet Magazine. To get a copy, go to www.lulu.com/happenings and click the title link next to the book cover. That will take you to Lulu’s page where you can click the “order cart” to enter your card information and proceed to checkout.
Thanking you in advance for your interest,
William Alan Rieser

Dear Editor: My book “MotherShip” is No. 1 at this major e-book site. Look in their Top Ten and Bestsellers lists: www.fictionwise.com.
Tony Chandler
(Planet Magazine author)

Dear Editor: Just wanted to let you know you have an outdated link for Gak (Planet artist). He now resides at www.gakart.com. Like the site.
Entrpy

Dear Editor: I would like to submit my site for submission into your links section: SeanAlonzo.com is the official site of occult fiction author Sean-Alonzo, exploring symbolism, alternative history, philosophy, secret societies, and other areas of the esoteric tradition. Sean-Alonzo

Letters to Ultra-Rare Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards

Dear Daisy Beast (Level 1, 10 Attack Points, 10 Defense Points; price $0.10): I have a theory. I’ve not fleshed out my thoughts any more than that yet, but I wanted to take an early stand on this important issue — whatever issue that might turn out to be.
Regards,
Mia Furst

Dear Bush (L0, 10,000 Atk, 0 Def; price $87 billion): I was wondering if I would be able to create the most boring blog ever — but I soon found out that’s been done many times over, and not always intentionally. And boredom is often in the eye of the beholder. I’d sure hate to fall short in an attempt to bore, although that might be kinda interesting. So then I decided to try to create the shortest — and maybe, in a sense, the “worst” — blog ever as part of my relentless campaign to gain attention, and eventually a profile in Wired magazine or The New York Times. To ensure a certain level of moronity, I have also decided to call it a “we”, rather than a “blog”, since both words come from the original term “weblog”. So, Bloglcome to my We! And I look forward to the next update to my we, which I’ll be uploading to the December issue of Planet as soon as I can figure out the password to the FTP server!!
Write On,
Jess Goaway

Dear The Golden Dragon the Misplaced Preposition Of (Level 20, 20,000 Atk, 20,000 Def; $20,000): Here’s the plan: We outsource most US jobs to India and China, wait till the middle classes expand in those countries and start making big wage demands, and then we ship the jobs right back to the US, which by then will be an impoverished backwater among the civilized nations, ruled by a super-elite, of which I wll be a part, if not the leader. Once the US middle class starts up again, and assuming the governments of India and China are wise to us, we would then be faced with two scenarios, both of which would be equally satisfactory: Either move jobs to Antartica, where super-strong walruses will do all the physical labor and super-intelligent penguins will do all the intellectual labor, or move all jobs and production to the Moon, where an enormous workforce of Moon-Men is even now itching to get to work. Of course, once middle classes are established among the Walrii, the Penguine, and the Moonia nations, we’ll have to raise the bar a notch and start considering virtual labor, other-dimensional labor, nano labor, and even demonic labor. Gotta stay competitive!
Onward!
Rich “Lee” N. Tyteld

Dear Nonexistent (L2.5a, 0 Atk, 0 Def; $Infinity): Get ready for “Gigli 2: Into Space!” In this sequel, starring Eric Christian Olsen as a handsome, “centered” homosexual who falls hard for Derek Richardson as a non-gay, low-rent mob enforcer (who is forced to kidnap the brilliant young alien son of a Space Diplomat and hold him till just about the closing credits), a sudden fluctuation in the quantum suds, which is caused by a power surge in the main engine’s grid array as well as in its array grid, gives Derek’s character the ability to wish himself out of the film and into this Letters column.
Regards,
Martin Breast

Dear Something Scribbled, Possibly in Chinese (Trap Card; $0.50 in supermarket vending machine): I just finished slogging through all 10,000 pages of the new “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, and I must say it wasn’t a surprise to find that the character who dies is Boromir. I knew he was bad and never trusted him since he tried to take the Lightning scar from Harry. Even though he apologized profusely, it was fitting that he was soon slain by a group of Uruk Muggles out for a Sunday drive.
Ha-Ha,
E. Ville-Nemesess

Dear Metal-Toothed Rapper (Pimp Card; $0.50 in da club): Me Hulk. Me angry. Me angry about way represented in movie “Hulk”. Me grow to giant size in movie but pants not rip and still stay on. Embarrassing. Other super-heroes laugh at me — say I wear Lycra pants. Make me angry!! Me better write back when calm down. Hulk-Mama always say, Hulk, don’t write letters to editor when angry. Sound too much like Bizarro Hulk, and can’t smash things with words anyway. Only with your fists! Want to smash Director Lee’s cameras. Will show him crouching tiger and hidden dragon! Me go before other super-heroes read this letter and laugh more at me, and say I Bizarro Hulk! Especially that Superman! Me hate him too. He wear pretty Lycra all day long, but no one say anything! Angry!!!
Hulk

Dear Hanging Chad (Level 100, 100,000 Atk, 100,000 Def; $[Soft Dollars Only]): I heard the Russian Space Agency is offering rides on the Soyuz for $20 million. Since journeying to space has been a life-long dream for me, I jumped right on it. The one hitch is that, although I’m wealthy, my assets are tied up and I am a bit short on cash right now. So to save some money, I signed up for the half-price, one-way special!
Be Seeing You,
Dennis Frito

Dear Finally Ran Out of Names for Creatures (Level 1, 0 Atk, 100 Def; $[Finally ran out of money too]): They say a fish rots from the head. In other words, a society becomes corrupt because its leaders become corrupt first. But what I get from that is, if you’re going to eat a large number of people (perhaps a whole nation), eat members of the government first, then the people. Otherwise, if you’re not quick about it, you might as well just go directly to the people and eat them. Because those in the government will taste bad. They rot quicker, it seems. This matters to me because I am a Saturn-sized space creature who is running dangerously low on the internal gases I expel to propel myself among the stars. Thus, I need to eat very soon. Why this matters to you is that I’m just outside Uranus and closing in fast. Thank you for your wonderful, colorful languages, which I have studied via my built-in, long-range mega-Bluetooth capability as I’ve homed in on your world (that Voyager satellite you sent out was most helpful with directions, by the way). I never metaphor I didn’t like — get it? And I’ve never met a type of creature I didn’t eat!
See you soon,
Lucky Wander Demon

Dear Editor (Charm Card; $[Priceless]): I patented a girl I saw on the subway the other day. She was real cute, but more to the point, and legally speaking, I found her to be new and useful. And those are the required conditions for a successful patent, which I filed online as soon as I got home. Specifically, I patented her precise gene expression. That might not mean I can actually walk up to her and touch her, but I hope she appreciates the recognition and my thoughtfulness and will go out with me on a date. But she should be warned! If she spurns me and eventually marries another, she’ll have to pay marketing rights to me if she decides to have kids. Sure, I know what I’m doing seems unfair and creepy — but then, everyone else is doing it. Plus, I’m a creep.
Fondly,
A. Nieuw-Lowe

Enough with the smilicons. :) , schm:) , we say!

About the Authors

Graham Adair (“Death on the Wire“) is 34 years old, married with two young girls, and lives in a small town called Haddington outside Edinburgh, Scotland. He writes for a hobby and has had nine stories published so far. Graham has been published twice in Planet: in March 2001, with “Temporal Exile“, and in December 2002 with a poem called “Quantum Physics: There’s a Thing“.

John Bailey (“Carrick Castle“) is a teacher of English and has taught in Australia, UK, Viet Nam, and Italy — and in between perfect pronunciation in class and slurred speech in bars — he likes to empty the ideas from out of his head and onto paper or screen. Crime, Thrillers, Romance, boy! He’s tried the whole gamut — sure he’s got a track record – he writes so much he forgets the rent — and on to the next town. So the only thing published so far is police Wanted notices…and this story.

Christian R. Bonawandt (“A Careful Plan“) has had more than a dozen works published or scheduled to be published since 2002 — including the short story “Death By A Salesman,” which appeared in the September 2002 issue of Planet Magazine. He is currently working to sell two completed novels.

Fraser Butterworth (“Four Poems“) is a computer project manager with a desire to be a full-time author and poet. Sometime in the next century it may happen, along with pigs flying. Until then, he lives in South Africa with his wife and four dogs, three of which will become seeing-eye dogs for the blind.

George Condon (“Jump Ship” and “Sometimes, I Dream of Roses“) drifted through careers in electronics and software development before winding up as a specialist in computer security. He lives with his wife in the most exciting city in the world: Toronto, Canada. Being married to a native of Central America has given him a window into another culture that is priceless. They both enjoy travel, jazz, good food, and photography. George has always loved science fiction and finds that writing about imagined futures is a welcome relief from a career field that emphasizes facts and analysis. Besides, even though he usually likes his job, there are some days at the office when the thought of being in another galaxy or in a parallel universe has a lot of appeal.

Keith Crews (“The Dirt Patch Watering Hole“) is a 35-year-old CNC Machinist who’s written four novels and is currently working on his fifth. He’s also written a half-dozen other short stories that we could very well be seeing in the near future.

Ray Dangel (Associate Editor and Staff Robot) wrangles hornets in his spare time.

Robert Cameron Hazelton (“Ladies’ Bug“), while cruising the outer reaches of the Milky Way, occasionally jots
down a poem or two when he’s not busy dodging cosmic debris.

Dan Heisman (“It’s Inevitable“) is a full-time chess instructor and author (seven chess books and the award-winning column Novice Nook at http://www.chesscafe.com) who has dabbled in science fiction since he was seven years old, and even named his son Delen after a character in a science fiction story. He holds a B.Sc. in Math and an M.Eng. in Engineering. He is also related to John Heisman, the football coach who left the endowment for the Heisman Trophy in college football.
Website: www.danheisman.com

Marcelo Hipolito (“Eternal Grief“) is 33 years old and lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He has a degree in Cinema, and also in Business Administration.

Marcelo Machado is 35 years old and also lives in Rio de Janeiro.

Marcelo Hipolito wrote and directed two short-length films: “Bom Dia, Cinema” (Good Morning, Cinema) and “O Homem na Escada” (The Man On The Stairs). He produced and edited the short-length film “Saçaricando” (Having Fun).

Marcelo Machado wrote the short-length films “O Corvo e o Vento” (The Crow and the Wind) and “A Dama de Ouro Preto” (The Ouro Preto Lady).

As a team, Marcelo Hipolito & Marcelo Machado developed scripts for both television and cinema. And also the short stories “Weird World: Bats of a Fur”; “Eternal Grief”; “The Unborn”; “R.I.P.”; “The Circle of Life”; and “Home”.

Marcelo Hipolito & Marcelo Machado are currently working on their first novel.

Sean Hower (“Mother’s Milk“) isn’t very good at writing bios, as is easily witnessed by his published articles. It’s really quite a shame, considering he is a technical writer who wants to dabble in the world of fiction. You’d think he’d be able to describe himself, or at least provide a bullet list of his most charming traits. The truth is, this little gem was written by the capuchins monkeys who help him on his website. So, don’t blame him if it doesn’t make any sense.
Website: http://hokum.freehomepage.com

Justin R. Lawfer (“Jacob and the Sorceress’s Daughter“) is a student at Edgewood College in Madison, WI. His work has appeared on http://dragonlaugh.freeyellow.com, http://www.palaceofreason.com, http://www.pegasusonline.com, and http://www.Spacerat.co.uk. He is a fan of giant monster movies, Monty Python, and fantasy stories.

Marcelo Machado (“Eternal Grief“) is 35 years old and also lives in Rio de Janeiro.

Marcelo Hipolito is 33 years old and lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He has a degree in Cinema, and also in Business Administration.

Marcelo Hipolito wrote and directed two short-length films: “Bom Dia, Cinema” (Good Morning, Cinema) and “O Homem na Escada” (The Man On The Stairs). He produced and edited the short-length film “Saçaricando” (Having Fun).

Marcelo Machado wrote the short-length films “O Corvo e o Vento” (The Crow and the Wind) and “A Dama de Ouro Preto” (The Ouro Preto Lady).

As a team, Marcelo Hipolito & Marcelo Machado developed scripts for both television and cinema. And also the short stories “Weird World: Bats of a Fur”; “Eternal Grief”; “The Unborn”; “R.I.P.”; “The Circle of Life”; and “Home”.

Marcelo Hipolito & Marcelo Machado are currently working on their first novel.

Andrew G. McCann (Editor; “Editorial & Letters“) believes the Internet is indistinguishable from magic.
editor@planetmag.com

Danny McCaslin (“Trump“) lives in Parkersburg, West Virginia, with a wife, a dog, and a fish. He is currently working on a novel that probably will never be published, so it’s okay if you never read it.
Weblog: http://dlmccaslin.blogspot.com

Dave Nordling (“Boy and His Hammer“) resides in the western sprawl of the city zone of Los Angeles as a Republican of California. He is a professional engineer with a major aerospace company in Los Angeles. Dave has been writing poetry for his own amusement for three years now. Some of his work is posted at Unlikely Stories, The Dublin Writers’ Workshop, and “Dufus“.

Jo A. North (“One Hundred Twenty Three Degrees“) has been writing since she was 12, and plans to continue as long as she can. Jo was brought up in the cold reaches of Maine, by the best parents a child could ask for. She is currently working as a nurse in rehab to get the money to earn her PhD in English and Folklore. While she loves all kinds of literature, her absolute favorites are science fiction and fantasy. She is also a well-published poet. She hopes you enjoy her story in this issue; it was based on the experiences of a friend of hers in the Vietnam War. As always, this is dedicated to her dad, who watches her from heaven. “Love you, Dad.”

William Alan Rieser (“A Slight Case of Indulgence” and “The Calydo Factor“), born in New York City, less than 3 miles from the World Trade Center, originally was a musician and spent many years composing, conducting, teaching, and performing music on the East Coast. His earliest writing influences were Tolkien, H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, and Poul Anderson. He is now retired in Fort Worth, Texas, with his wife, Sandra, who edits his writings and doesn’t give him the slightest break on syntax or style, even though he expresses nought but loving thoughts to her. For several years he experimented with short stories for SF/F e-zines but now prefers to concentrate on more developed themes. In this last year, he published “The Kaska Trilogy” and “The Chronicles of Zusalem” via Writers Club Press, an organization associated with iUniverse and Barnes and Noble. His latest novel, “Luna Parabella“, has received a rave review at Amazon.com. Many other novels have been completed and are awaiting publication, such as “Furnace”. His articles, humorous and serious, are popping up everywhere, especially in his column at scifantastic. Currently, he is working on a mainstream novel and promises a mystery. He enjoys talking to writers, novice or professional, and encourages contact.
Website: http://rieserbooks.homestead.com/rieserbooks.html

Arthur Sanchez (“The Game of the Phoenix“) is a freelance writer from Peekskill, New York. He’s had more than 20 different professions in his life – from Actor to Night Watchmen, from Web Site Designer to Stained Glass Craftsman. But the thing he enjoys most is trying to tell a good tale. His work has appeared in “2 AM Magazine,” “Fantasy Review,” “Anotherealm.com,” and “Chicken Soup for the Romantic Soul.” He is currently working on a series of fantasy novels.
Website: http://www.ArthurSanchez.com

E.S. Strout (“Green T“) has been published in small-press print magazines “Crossroads”, “Lovecraft’s Mystery Magazine”, “Fading Shadows”, “Mad Scientist”, and “Millennium Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine”. In addition to Planet Magazine, his stories have appeared in Internet publications “Jackhammer”, “Beyond s-f”, “Millennium SF&F”, and “Demensions”. E.S. Strout is on the faculty of the U.C. Irvine Medical Center, where he teaches skin pathology to dermatology residents.

Glen Thompson (“Dr. Insanium’s New Friend“) is 18 years old and attends Oberlin College, majoring in physics.
People think he’s crazy because he claims to be a robot and means it literally, but he’s actually just ahead of his time.

Tony Thorne, MBE (“Yesterday the Word“) is an eccentric but easygoing Englishman living in a small town near Vienna, with his attractive Austrian wife. He’s a part-time software programmer and writer of offbeat fiction.
Fiction: short stories in two UK Science Fiction Monthly magazines.
– How to be a Top Executive [Etcetera Press – GB]
– The Quality of Life. [Etcetera Press – GB]
– The Junior Philosophical Society (in negotiation)
– Poetry: Second Opinion [The Poets Yearbook Ltd. – UK]
– Featured in many UK semi-pro magazines, and anthologies.
– Prizes etc: Short Story Competitions 2001 and 2002, (www.literaryagent.co.uk)
– Hon. Mention – Byline Magazine, USA.
Website: www.tonythorne.com

Joe Vadalma (“Psychic Pop-Up“) is a retired technical writer who used to work for a major computer company. He’s a voracious reader of all kinds of books, but is especially fond of science fiction and fantasy. He’s had the following short stories published in internet e-zines: “Absolute Creation,” The Fifth Dimension, June 2002 issue; “Apartment in Clam City,” EOTU, August 2002 issue; “Automatia,” Aphelion, July 2002 issue; “Cosmoergy,” Martian Wave, March 2002 issue; “Count Poperazi,” Swords Edge, January 2003; “Empty Planet,” Aphelion, February 2002 issue; “Gunther,” Dark Moon Rising, October 2002 issue; “Immortal Homecoming,” Aphelion June 2003; “The Key,” Dark Moon Rising, April 2002 issue; “Mist and Shadow,” Alternate Realities, March 2003 issue; “Nothing but a Coward,” Writer’s Hood, March 2003; “Pop-Art Nightmare,” Nocturne Horizons, January 2002 issue; “Sands of Time,” Dark Moon Rising, January 2001 issue; “Shadow in the Sky,” Aphelion, April 2002 issue; “Strange Artifact,” Planet Magazine, June 2003; “Vampire Trial,” Aphelion, October 2003; “Widget Factory,” Aorfe’s Kiss, March 2003 issue. Joe also has written several novels which are yet to be published. To see more of his writing, visit his website, “The Fantastic World of Papa Joe”.
Website: http://www.geocities.com/papajoev

Thomas Wagner (Associate Editor) will take you safely to Topeka if you tell him a very clever riddle.

Nancy Wilcox (“Another Day, Another Voyage“), an avatar of the hereditary overmother of Sagittarius III, is based in this reality in Oil Country. One can, on ritual occasions, spot her worshippers performing “The Dance of The Nervous Aside”. Locals profess to believe these are indigenous Russian Thistles, and ignore the odd gulping sounds — as well as the odor of fried rabbit that drifts through the mesquite and cactus. What a wonderful base this reality is for interstellar conquest. And the rabbit is quite good, too.

Planet Magazine WANTS to be read!

About the Artists

Anselmo Alliegro (art for “Jump Ship“) gained a scholarship to Parsons School of Design in New York City in 1995. He is a working artist, and has exhibited in galleries and benefits throughout New York. He works with fine art and science fiction art. Anselmo has been drawing since he could hold a pencil, and has loved science just as long. A sample of his paintings can be seen at: http://www.geocities.com/ajalliegro/.

Ehrad (art for “Another Day, Another Voyage“, “The Calydo Factor“, “Death on the Wire“, and “Four Poems“) is a long time photo-retoucher with several passions in life… space art, mysticism, gardening, family, and cartooning. The cartooning aspect of her life is at present an all-consuming fire, and she is currently exploring the concept of “wholeness” through a tribal sci-fi comic called ERADUON, due to be published online in early 2003. Aside from all of the other craziness that is her existence, she still maintains an enormous love for all life forms, and has set about the task of knitting the universe together into the diverse mosaic that it truly is.

Romeo Esparrago (Chief Artist Emeritus; art for “Eternal Grief“, “The Game of the Phoenix“, “Green T“, “Jacob and the Sorceress’s Daughter“, “Mother’s Milk“, “One Hundred Twenty Degrees“, “Sometimes, I Dream of Roses“, and “Trump“) is a highly collectible piece in the “Space Power Artists Go!” series of action figures. There is also a humanoid Romeo Esparrago, who is based on this doll and also works for Planet, but as a Deep-Space Network Systems Analyst.
Website: http://www.romedome.com/

Mike “Warble” Finucane (art for “A Careful Plan“) is an artist who works with fantasy art mostly, but can do science fiction, as well. He has been published in Christian Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine, and can do futuristic formats in art. He has also been published in Psychology Art Journals.
Website: http://www.geocities.com/artofwarble/

Greg Martin (cover illustration, art for “Boy and His Hammer“) lives in Seattle, Washington, where he pursues digital illustration as a hobby that runs parallel to his real job of graphic design. He’s currently a junior in the Visual Communication Design program at the University of Washington. Greg has been working on the computer since his junior high days, playing around with various techniques and teaching himself how to make his ideas appear the way he wants them to on the screen. His favorite form of art is realism, and as he is a perfectionist and loves nature, he usually ends up drawing scenic views of nature. Lately, he’s been working to perfect what he
considers the three most important aspects of a piece: 1) dynamic light 2) volume, and most important, 3) refined scene composition. He is hopeful that as time progresses his work will evolve to epitomize these three points. Over the last few years he’s been less and less happy with the end results of his illustrative work, and as such, is newly committed to upping the ante, so to speak, in terms of both quality and precision in his work. Greg’s goal is to put forth images of exceptional quality in the areas of of composition and dynamic content. He hopes to meet this challenge head on and succeed, but he’s afraid that we’ll have to be the judge of that! Greg is also making an effort to bring his growing knowledge of good design theory and concepts into play in his works. His Website may be a portfolio of his illustrative works, but the site itself is a piece in progress demonstrating his design prowess (such as it is). Design aspects aside, he hopes you enjoy everything his site has to offer! Feel free to drop him a line via e-mail in the future.
Website: http://www.artofgregmartin.com/

Andrew G. McCann (art for “The Game of the Phoenix” and “Yesterday the World“) is able to create happy pictures under deadline pressure, which is why he would make a great governor of the great state of California.

Matt Morrow (art for “It’s Inevitable“) received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1994. Since then, he has worked as a prepress technician in the printing industry and later moved on to creating editorial illustrations full time for a national computer magazine. Currently, he is pursuing a freelance career and has worked on a variety of projects including package art, advertising, Web icons, and fantasy illustrations.
Website: www.tconl.com/~mz9000/

Alan Rabinowitz (art for “Carrick Castle“) has been illustrating for over 12 years. His primary art medium is oil paint on masonite or board. On occasion or request he will produce digital illustrations. His work can be found on fantasy and science fiction art related: book covers, games, calendars, advertisements, magazine covers, posters and more. He generally works in the Publishing, Advertising and Fantasy Game industries. Alan is currently working on several projects for a few top-tier companies. He has a steady workflow from several consistent clients and is always ready to impress and work for new clients, art directors and art buyers with his illustration. Alan started his professional career as an illustrator after graduating Rochester Institute of Technology in 1991 with a BFA in Painting and Illustration. His first job right out of school was for two covers for Marvel Comics – Conan Magazines. He has since trained under his mentor of six years John F. Murray at The School of Visual Arts and the John F. Murray School of Art. He studied a traditional academic approach to Drawing and Painting that can be traced back to Jean Leon Gerome and other 19th Century French Academicians at the Ecole de Beau Arts in France. This training technique is known as the Riley Method. The Riley Method was taught to John Murray by Frank Riley at The Art Students League of New York. During and after Alan’s training, he has developed a steady working relationship with many of his clients, most of which are top tier companies in their perspective industries. He has illustrated Book Covers, Calendars, Portraits, Advertising, Card Game Illustrations, Magazine Covers, Interior Illustrations and more. His work here will speak for itself as far as quality, photo-realism, and digital art go. “I have always been inspired by traditional, classical and academic works of art. I enjoy the ‘intellectual’ painters, especially those of the 19th century, as well as the Old Masters. I also love creating my own worlds, painting the characters and their environments as I envision them.”
Website (RABZ Illustration): http://www.fantasy-illustration.com/

Rick Shelton (art for “The Dirt Patch Watering Hole” and “Psychic Pop-Up“) is an artist who, like many, started drawing at an early age. Unfortunately, he still continues to do so. Among his influences are the artists Heironymous Bosch and H.R. Giger, the authors Franz Kafka and H.P. Lovecraft, and the bands Babyland and N.I. Nails. Although he was born in Texas, he grew up in Japan, and now lives in England. Rick’s online gallery “Rats In The Walls” (see below) showcases some of his “dark fantasy illustration” — among other things.
Website: http://www.anticybr.org/rats/

Robert Sorensen (art for “Dr. Insanium’s New Friend“) was born in Summit, New Jersey, has lived in Paris, France, and currently resides in Colorado. His education includes studying painting at L’Academie des Beux Arts de Chaville and studying acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute in NYC, followed by professional work in a theatrical touring company and later, work in TV, films, and documentaries. Robert also wrote an SF screenplay about saving planet Earth from an alien invasion in the year 2059, with the title “QUANTEX-Z or ATOMIC VISIONS”. Robert is an avid international voyager whose passion is to visit, contact, and experience the cultures and peoples from all over Planet Earth and has visited most of Europe, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Turkey, and most recently Mexico. Robert has exhibited his artwork extensively in Paris, once in London, and several times in the United States. In his artwork, Robert most often takes dream images and bites out of his own life and puts them on canvas, paper, or the computer screen. His themes include the hidden aura-energy within all living and non-living subjects and their surrounding environments.

Patrick Stacy (art for “Ladies’ Bug“), like many before, started young. His main emphasis in childhood was in comics. Never content, the challenge was then to illustrate freehand — now that would be talent. Early influences are still inspirational today, such as the legendary Frazetta, Vallejo, and Parrish. Classical influences were Rubens and Caravaggio. Stacy was winner of the L.Ron Hubbard’s Illustrators of the Future contest in 1996 and has two illustrations within the volume.

Alain Valet (art for “A Slight Case of Indulgence“) is a fantasy-surrealist-SF illustrator.
Websites: http://www.magikglasses.com/aez/alainswf.html and http://www.artmajeur.com/alainvalet

Planet: We put the “point” back in “pointless”!

About this Magazine (Masthead)

Planet Magazine, Vol. 10, No. 3 (the 39th issue)

Home Site: http://www.planetmag.com

Mirror Site: http://www.etext.org/Zines/planet

Lord Wizard
Andrew G. McCann
editor@planetmag.com

Exalted Ornamentalist
Romeo Esparrago

Royal Scrivener and Staff Robot
Ray Dangel

Bard of the Empire
Tom Wagner

What In The World Is Planet Magazine?
Planet Magazine is the free, award-winning quarterly Web-zine of short science fiction and fantasy by emerging writers and digital artists, whom we hope to encourage in their pursuit of the perfect tale or illustration. There could be other reasons we’re doing this, of course, motivations that are obscure and uncomfortable; instincts linked perhaps to primal, nonreasoning urges regarding power and procreation — the very same forces, no doubt, that sank the Atlanteans and their alabaster-towered oceanic empire. And the Dark Gods laffed.

Planet has been available electronically via the Worldwide Web and Tin-Foil-Hat Receptron since its January-March 1994 debut issue. Total circulation is “thousands ‘n’ thousands” per issue worldwide. Feel free to download this zine or make a single printout, as long as you don’t charge for it or alter it in any way. That would be illegal and, quite frankly, “not nice.” Submissions are welcomed (see below). Planet does not carry advertising or offer a subscription service, but issues are always available at our Web site, with new ones published every March 1, June 1, September 1, or December 1 (or thereabouts). Letters to the editor are encouraged and are likely to be printed.

Guidelines For Submissions
Planet accepts original, unpublished, short science fiction and fantasy stories and poems, as well as digital art, from anyone famous or unfamous (use the lengths in any recent issue as a guideline). We are open to the experimental but will not publish anything we judge to be porno, gore, or in violation (as far as we are able to tell) of any copyrights (such as stories that use Star Trek, Star Wars, or Hello Kitty! characters). Since Planet is free and carries no ads, we can’t pay anything except the spirit-sustaining currency of free publicity and life-enhancing good vibes. For full details on submitting stories, poems, or artwork, please visit:
http://www.planetmag.com/submit.htm.

* E-mail text submissions as plain, unformatted files (either as an e-mail attachment or, if short enough, in the body of the e-mail message) to editor@planetmag.com. One submission at a time, please. Two submissions max.

* E-mail illustration submissions separately as e-mail attachments, but compress them first using StuffIt, WinZip, or PKZip. Alternatively, you could send the URL for an image. Images should be 256-color, 16-color, 16-gray, or B&W GIFs or JPEGs only. Send any questions about illustrations to editor@planetmag.com.

Distribution Sites
Planet Magazine is distributed only in Web (HTML) format, which can be read best with any Web browser, such as Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, iCab, or OmniWeb. Earlier issues of Planet are also available at our Web site in four other electronic formats: text (.txt) for any PC or Mac word-processing program; Acrobat (.pdf), a full-color version for PC or Mac using the free Acrobat Reader); DocMaker, a full-color, self-running file with sounds for Mac only; and Palm (.prc), a text version that requires a Palm PDA and a DOC reader like the freeware CSpotRun or PalmReader. The main place to find Planet is on the Web, either at our home page http://www.planetmag.com or our mirror site at http://www.etext.org/Zines/planet.

Copyrights & Disclaimers
Planet Magazine as a whole, including all text, design, and illustrations, is copyright © 2003 by Andrew G. McCann. However, all individual stories and poems in this magazine are copyright © 2003 by their respective authors or artists, who have granted Planet Magazine the right to use these works for this issue in both electronic form and any resulting print-outs by readers for noncommercial, individual use. All people and events portrayed in this magazine are entirely fictitious and bear no resemblance to actual people or events. This publication, along with every past issue of Planet Magazine, is registered with the Copyright Office of the U.S. Library of Congress. Since our first issue, dated January 1994, Planet Magazine has been freely available via the Internet; a trademark for the name “Planet Magazine” is pending. You may freely distribute this magazine electronically on a noncommercial, nonprofit basis to anyone and print one copy for your personal use, but you may not alter or excerpt Planet in any way without direct, written permission from the publisher, who can be contacted at editor@planetmag.com. Any unauthorized access, reproduction, or transmission of Planet Magazine, in whole or part, is strictly prohibited by U.S. federal law and international copyright law. Planet Magazine is published by Cranberry Street Press, Garden City, N.Y., USA, Andrew G. McCann, publisher.

Colophon
This issue was created with Macromedia Dreamweaver 4.0. The Planet Magazine logo was designed by Romeo A. Esparrago, Jr., using “Startling” by Dave Bastian, at http://www.davebastian.com/. (Previous logotypes were in Arquitectura and Times New Roman). The text typeface is Arial, and in some older issues Helvetica or Geneva. Please visit the guest artists’ Web pages to learn about the tools they used for their illustrations. Each issue of Planet Magazine is cured with Dragon’s-fire to ensure techno-magic compatability with all Internet applications.

Planet Magazine ISSN: 1526-1840

“Planet Magazine” is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office