Code 7

You may be looking for Code 47, Level 3, Authorization 10, a War of the Worlds zine.
Code 7 is a series of Starsky & Hutch slash fanzines published in the 1980s. It was one of the first S/H zines published.
Code 7 was edited by Karen B (of ZebraCon fame); they were great zines, with a strong editorial hand, and some beautiful art.
All four issues were strong, but "Code 7" #4 was possibly the best S/H ever. It included stories by a Who's Who in Starsky & Hutch slash fandom of the time: Suzan Lovett, Chameleon, Terri Beckett, Jean Chabot, Belle Eyre, Lyndy Harding, Paula Smith, April Valentine, Pat Massie, Lynna Bright, Jody Nye, B.L. Barr, Leah S. and Katherine Robertson.
Karen wrote of this zine's beginnings in the program guide for CopCon (1983): "I met [Jean C.] and [Pam J.] at Mos' Eastley Con, and the three of us clicked and formed BOUND IN LEATHER PRESS. I'd been wanting to do an S/H zine for some time, and at that convention, CODE 7 was born."
==Publication Context==
===The Political Climate===
The early 1980s in the United States were rife with political and social turmoil. Phyllis Schlafly, Anita Bryant, Jerry Falwell, the Moral Majority, and what many fans referred to as the new McCarthyism was a reality. LucasFilm had hopped into the fray with Open Letter to Star Wars Zine Publishers by Maureen Garrett in the summer/fall of 1981, an event that had to have had a cooling effect on sex, explicit and otherwise, in fannish works. This is the climate from which the first issue of Code 7 sprang.
One prominent zine ed comments on "sensitive material" in her editorial of a how-to zine published in March 1982: 
===Code 7 and S/H Fanfiction History===
Slash underground and drawerfic had, of course, been circulating among small groups of friends before "formal" zines were printed. One example of some fans' familiarity with the topic of S/H fiction in these pass around stories are comments about Trace Elements in the widely-read S and H. Several reviewers in #37 spoke of the stories in "Trace Elements" as having already too-familiar slash plots or execution. One fan wrote: "But she takes it beyond and beneath the usual first-time story with her insights into the characters." Another fan said, "This story contains no surprises. There is nothing here that hasn’t been done before and more creatively." Another fan described the story, What's a Partner For? as "a standard post-Sweet Revenge first-timer."
Even though their circulation was small, and one needed to be a member of the right fan community to know about them, more formal zines were soon to follow. These were publications that could be purchased by any fan in possession of the publisher's address. 
Forever Autumn was the first S/H fiction zine published. It was issued in the UK in March 1980. 
Next, a single slash story was published in the second issue of Ten-Thirteen in February 1981. 
It is commonly understood that the first full S/H fiction zine published in the U.S. was Code 7 in Summer 1981, and then Trace Elements in 1982. 
Hanky Panky, though a letterzine, contained much art and fiction. That zine began in January or February 1982.
Some other very early slash zines were The Phone Booth (the front cover art is dated 1982, one piece of inside art is dated 1981), Fly United (likely mid-1982), Cucumbers and Crisco (likely 1982). All three of these zines were very roughly produced and considered pass-around zines.
A single slash story, A Handful of Sand, was printed in September 1981 in Daily Reports #2. 
There was contradiction regarding which full S/H fiction zine was first, Code 7 or Trace Elements, but this was based on semantics and definition. This is because the editors of Code 7 issued an announcement in June 1981 that the Code 7 had been canceled. There is an announcement regarding Code 7 in S and H #22: 
The reason? According to some fans, "Code 7" was at the printers when Karen B heard that anti-slasher fen were threatening to send the zine to the stars and to the producers of the show. She pulled the zine at the last minute and removed all the names. 
In reality, the editors of Code 7 secretly published their zine, anonymizing the authors, and distributed it to a select group of people. Because of this, some fans did not consider it a 'real' zine.
The exact nature, scope and reality of the threat is difficult to ascertain. There were many veiled references in later issues of S and H about fans betraying other fans and how the anti-slash sentiment was driving good writers away from the fandom (or at the very least underground). See S and H issues 21-30. Yet even those rumors were hotly disputed in later issues of S and H. (See issues 30-38) 
Because Code 7 #1 was an underground publication, some fans consider Trace Elements the first "published" US S/H zine, but also understand that Code 7 was printed and distributed many months before. 
The secrecy regarding the publication of Code 7 is given a nod in this statement: 
A fan in early 1982 gives a wink to fellow fen regarding "Code 7": "I haven't seen that much S/H to date -- just one excellent zine (that doesn't exist, of course)." from Hanky Panky #1 (January or February 1982) 
In 2001, a fan wrote: 
Later issues of Code 7 were offered publicly in letterzines and authors and publisher info was included. 
Ironically, many years later, Code 7 was available at Agent With Style, a highly visible zine agent and publishing business.
As early as these Starsky & Hutch slash zines were, Star Trek: TOS K/S has them beat by several years (and in the case of drawerfic such as The Ring of Soshern, My Love Has Wings, and Green Plague, by at least a decade). Some Starsky & Hutch fans would have been aware of these stories as there was a fair amount of cross-pollination between the two fandoms.
The first K/S novel was Gerry Downes' Alternative: The Epilog to Orion (around August, 1976, though it appears an earlier drawerfic was passed around several years earlier.)
The first fiction Kirk/Spock anthology was Thrust (around the middle of February, 1978)
An early K/S fiction series was Yea, Though I Walk by Katy Young (1978). Also see Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn (1980) by Pamela Dale.
===Slash and George Lucas===
Some fans felt that the hullabaloo over slash publications was related to a late summer/early fall 1981 controversy that had been heating up in the Star Wars fandom, and George Lucas' attempt to control fanworks and adult material. "Code 7" was published during this time. 
For more on that general topic, see Open Letters to Star Wars Zine Publishers (1981).
When Trace Elements was printed, a fan described the tensions and fears that the George Lucas controversy added to Starsky & Hutch adult and slash fiction:
===The Black Notebook===
In 1985, a fan wrote described the climate of the time "Code 7" was published: 
==The Long Road to Publication==
The editor of Code 7 says the first issue is all filled up and any more submissions will go into a second issue: 
In April 1981, the editor of Code 7 explains the reasons for a low profile: 
In that same issue of the letterzine, the editor writes: 
In May 1981, the editor gives an update on Code 7: 
There is an announcement regarding Code 7 in June 1981: 
In the July 1981 issue of S and H, aside from a place in the list of canceled zines, there is no mention of Code 7.from S and H #23 (July 1981) But while there is no specific mention of Code 7, a writer takes other fans to task regarding off-screen/off-letterzine goings on regarding threats and legal action about slash, most likely alluding to the “cancellation” of Code 7, as well as a recently canceled zine, "Off Duty", that asked for submissions (“All universes, interpretations and orientations welcome”). 
While they were never mentioned by name and only hinted at by definition, the fact that there were RPS stories probably privately circulating at the time added to the climate of fear and uneasiness. See Purple Banana Underground Stories.
== A Peek into Production Hell ==
From the editorial in Code 7 #2: 
==The Proposed Fifth Issue==
There were four issues published, though Karen B wrote about plans for issue #5 and an issue #6: "In my editorial for 'Code 7, #3, I said that that issue would probably be the penultimate issue of C7... that #4 would be the novel, All Our World in Us... So much for prophecy."
Plans morphed: In the letterzine Between Friends #8, March 1985, the editors says: She asked for readers' preferences: Would they buy a half and half zine, or should she sell them in halves like the zine, Half You, Half Me? Many fans expressed their opinions, and in all letters but one, said they wouldn't be interested in The Professionals content, that they only wanted to read Starsky and Hutch material.
In June 1985, the fifth issue of Code 7 was still planned as a half Pros, half SH zine. From an ad in Word on the Street #9: 
 
Later, the proposed fifth issue of Code 7, was then planned to be an all-Professionals zine. There is a submission request in Who Do We Trust Times #7 in March 1987: "Code 7 #5 is still accepting submissions of any length. The only requirement is that all stories must be B/D. Planned for early '87."
Regarding a Professionals story, Fanny Adams said in a 1988 interview: "I am at work on a vampire story which was supposed to be in Code 7 v, but which will go on the circuit now that the zine has been canceled."
In the end, issue #4 became another Starsky and Hutch anthology in the Code 7 series. The novel "All Our World in Us" remained a widely-shared drawer fic, and there was no fifth issue of Code 7.
==Fans Look Back==
In 1993, a fan looks back at the evolution of slash in Starsky & Hutch fandom and writes: 
==OK, But What Did The Readers Think?==
In spite of, or perhaps because of, Code's 7 extensive back story, most readers were impressed with the quality of the writing and art.
In 1995, Michelle Christian posted to Virgule-L the following review of the overall series of zines, some ten years after publication. It is reposted here with permission:
==Issue 1==
Code 7, 1 was published in Summer 1981 and contains 184 pages. 
Author's names were not included in the zine itself; author's names below have been added to this Fanlore page by cross-referencing them with stories that were later posted online or in other later zines.
Quote from the title page: 
As of late 1982/early 1981, over 120 copies of this zine had been sold.so says the editor in S and H #38
* ??? (3)
* White Lies (4)
* The Hour Before Dawn (reprinted in The Collected Starsky & Hutch Stories of Alexis Rogers) (45)
* Sirocco (48)
* The Only Truth I Know (49)
* Storm (56)
* Quiet Night In (71)
* Dandelion (winner of an Encore Award) (80)
* Lucifer Descending (94)
* Recompense (95)
* The Fighter Still Remains by Dargelos (100)
* The Classics Reclassified (117)
* My Blue Heaven (an alternative ending to the episode "Starsky vs Hutch") (119)
* Afterward (124)
* Requiem (this story has a sequel called "Fall with Lucifer" by Jennie Mai Butkis in Pushin' the Odds) (125)
* Eperdu (128)
* The Butterfly Bush (reprinted in The Collected Starsky & Hutch Stories of Alexis Rogers) (129)
* Into Your Hands (140)
* Souvenirs by Valerie Dawson (reprinted in The Water is Wide) (141)
* Desideratum (183)
File:code7art1.jpg| from issue #1
File:code7art2.jpg| from issue #1
File:code7art3.jpg| from issue #1
File:code7art4.jpg| from issue #1
File:code7art5.jpg| from issue #1
File:code7art6.jpg| from issue #1
File:code7art7.jpg| from issue #1
File:code7art8.jpg| from issue #1
===Reactions and Reviews: Issue 1===
==Issue 2==
Code 7, 2 was published in September 1982 and contains 120 pages. It contains art by Cheryl Frashure, Connie Faddis, Ruth Kurz, Jean C., Edith Crowe, Chris Ripley. Unlike the first issue of Code 7, writers, artists and the publisher were given full credit.
From the preface: 
To read some of the editorial, see A Peek into Production Hell.
* Editorial (4)
* Snap Decision by Catherine Stewart (5)
* Inheritance, poem by Robin Alderson (11)
* The One Left Behind by Alexis Rogers (12)
* Moon Glow by Dottie Lawrence (13)
* Buried Treasure by Jean C. (winner of an Encore Award) (16)
* Secret Ingredient by S. Soliste (22) ("Mama Starsky spitefully leaves out an essential ingredient to the Paul Muni Special recipe she gives Hutch, and Starsky realizes what he has known for a while, that he is in love with Hutch.")
* Fine Madness, poem by Robin Alderson (33)
* S/H Script Generator by Paula Smith (winner of an Encore Award) ("Have you ever wanted to write an S/H story, but couldn't think of a plot? For those of you who are still virgules in these woods, we present the one & only: S/H Script Generator." See: The Same Old Plot) (34)
* Prince of Thieves, poem by Jacqui Wilson (36)
* Secrets by Terri Beckett (38)
* Hutch’s Puppy by Madelein Lee/Madelein Roper (42)
* One Side Blind, poem by Jean Chabot (44)
* Changes Impending by April Holt (49)
* Night of the Living Dead, poem by Paula Smith (54)
* The Talisman by Fanny Adams (56)
* The Water and the Wine, poem by Chris Power (62)
* Renegades, poem by Jacqui Wilson (63)
* Cost of Love by Alexis Rogers (expanded and printed later as the standalone The Cost of Love) (112)
* Pussywillows, Cat Tails by Fanny Adams (114)
File:code7-2art1.jpg| from issue #2, Cheryl Frashure (copy)
File:code7-2art2.jpg| from issue #2, Connie Faddis (copy) (possibly "The Prince of Thieves" - winner of a Huggy Award)
File:code7-2art3.jpg| from issue #2, Connie Faddis (copy)
File:code7-2art4.jpg| from issue #2, Jean C. (copy) 
File:code7-2art5.jpg| from issue #2, Ruth Kurz (copy)
File:code7-2art6.jpg| from issue #2, Chris Ripley (copy)
File:code7-2art7.jpg| from issue #2, Edith Crowe (copy)
File:code7-2art8.jpg| from issue #2, Araminta Carrington (copy)
===Reactions and Reviews: Issue 2===
==Issue 3==
Code 7, 3 was published in May 1984 and contains 118 pages. It has art by Sandra Chapman, Jean C., TACS, Edith Crowe, Maureen B., Connie Faddis, Carol Davis.
From the editorial: 
* Crying in the Rain by Roberta Wynters (4)
* My Sturdy, Tawny Mount, poem by Pat Massie (22)
* Enchanter’s Nightshade by Terri Beckett (24)
* So Let It Be Written, So Let It Be Done by Billie Phillips, winner of an Encore Award (28)
* Babe, poem by Ima Fool (30)
* Revelations by Rosamund Clifford (31)
* They Went Thataway by Jody Nye ("'Doctor,' said Hutch, raising one slanted golden eyebrow. 'We of the planet Duluth pride ourselves on being smartasses.'" Star Trek fusion.) (35)
* Circle’s End by Sandi Chapman (39)
* At Your Own Risk, poem by Lyndy Harding (46)
* Crying For the Moon by Fanny Adams (crossover with The Professionals) (48)
* Whisper, poem by Fanny Adams (57)
* Lonely People by Rosamund Clifford (58)
* The Vintage Years, poem by Lyndy Harding (63)
* Consummatum Est by Terri Beckett (64)
* Hop on Cop by Not the Berenstains, illustrated by TACS (66)
* Cookie Monster by Libby Ames (68)
* Quietus, poem by Jean Chabot, winner of an Encore Award (75)
* Night Patrol, poem by Fanny Adams (76)
* I’ll See You In My Dreams by Kate Wallace (78)
* God Bless the Child by Fanny Adams (80)
* Ebb Tide by Syn Ferguson, winner of an Encore Award (83)
* Tender Me to Sleep, poem by Pat Massie (86)
* Time It Was by Fanny Adams (88)
* Three Senryu for Sweet Revenge by Fanny Adams (90)
* Death by Water, a Tale of Faery by Fanny Adams (91)
File:code7-3art1.jpg| from issue #3, Maureen B (copy), winner of a Huggy Award
File:code7-3art2.jpg| from issue #3, Maureen B (copy)
File:code7-3art3.jpg| from issue #3, Marueen B, (copy), winner of an Encore Award, a Huggy Award
File:code7-3art4.jpg| from issue #3, Jean C. (copy)
File:code7-3art5.jpg| from issue #3, Jean C. (copy)
File:code7-3art6.jpg| from issue #3, Carol Davis (copy)
File:code7-3art7.jpg| from issue #3, TACS (copy)
File:code7-3art8.jpg| from issue #3, Jean C. (copy), for a much better image and more art from this story, see Death by Water, a Tale of Faery
===Reactions and Reviews: Issue 3===
==Issue 4==
Code 7, 4 was published in 1987 (sometime during or before May, as a fan recalls reading it on the way home from MediaWest*Con a comment in [[Tell Me Something I Don't Know! #4). The zine contains 203 pages.
It has art by Suzan Lovett, TACS, Merle Decker, Carol Davis, Jean C., Ruth Kurz, Karen Eaton, and Maureen B.
From the editor: 
* Foster-child of Silence and Slow Time by Suzan Lovett (4)
* Take It to the Limit by Chameleon (also in the pass-around novel The Chameleon Universe) (8)
* House of Cards by Terri Beckett (21)
* Friend and Lover, poem by Jean Chabot (43)
* Thanksgiving Day by Belle Eyre (44)
* It Was a Dark and Stormy Night by Suzan Lovett (47)
* Fata Obstant by Lyndy Harding (54)
* A Fine Storm by Suzan Lovett (55)
* The Sweetest Taboo by April Valentine (sequel to A Fine Storm) (90)
* Beginning to See the Light, poem by Jean Chabot (94)
* Take it Out in Trade by Paula Smith (96)
* The Best I Can by April Valentine (99)
* White Wolf by Pat Massie (116)
* Winter by Lynna Bright (117)
* Tales of Just-as-Good by Paula Smith and Jody Nye (138)
* Summer ‘61/Winter ‘82, poem by Lyndy Harding (146)
* Somewhere in the Night by Betsy L. Barr (147) (possibly touches upon AIDS)
* Delivered to Thee by Leah S. (149)
* Starsky: Book of Revelations by Chameleon (also in the pass-around novel The Chameleon Universe) (152)
* Blinded by the Light by Katherine Robertson (This is a case story interwoven with the a confession and a discovery of Starsky and Hutch's sexual attraction for each other and then ultimately acknowledgment of their total love for each other.) (165) 
File:codehuggy.jpg| from issue #4, Maureen B, Huggy Bear & Hutch for Take It Out in Trade
File:code7-4art1.jpg| from issue #4, Ruth Kurz for "Thanksgiving Day"
File:code7-4art2.jpg| from issue #4, Suzan Lovett for "House of Cards"
File:code7-4art3.jpg| from issue #4, TACS for "The Best I Can"
File:code7-4art4.jpg| from issue #4, Maureen B for "Foster-child of Silence and Slow Time"—the author used a variation of this image for an illo in Don't Give Up On Us, Baby
File:code7-4art5.jpg| from issue #4, Jean C. for "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night"
File:code7-4art6.jpg| from issue #4, Merle Decker for "A Fine Storm"
File:code7-4art7.jpg| from issue #4, Merle Decker for "A Fine Storm"
File:code7-4art8.jpg| from issue #4, Carol Davis for "Beginning to See the Light"
File:code7-4art9.jpg| from issue #4, Suzan Lovett for "Starsky: Book of Revelations"
File:code7-4art10.jpg| from issue #4, Suzan Lovett for The Sweetest Taboo
File:code7-4art11.jpg| from issue #4, Maureen B for "Delivered to Thee" Note the name "EVIE" in the graffiti by Starsky's butt. The artist commented on this illo and others, see Delivered to Thee 
===Reactions and Reviews: Issue 4===
==References==
Category:Starsky & Hutch Slash Zines
Category:1981 Zines
Category:1980s Zines